The Orchard

Well it's not really an orchard - yet. It's just a group of 4 fruit trees at the end of the driveway.

I don't know anything about growing or caring for fruit trees. I've spent a lot of time trawling the internet, reading about the topic. I can identify one of the four trees (because it's got lemons hanging off it) but the other 3 are a bit of a mystery. I thought maybe a lime, a mandarin and an apricot or peach? I took some sample leaves into the two nurseries today to get an expert opinion but didn't find much joy.

Tree 1 (I thought this one might have been a lime). Neither nursery thought so. One of them thought that the tree has actually reverted to it's rootstock type - a telltale sign is the very nasty thorns on the branches; they're about 5cm long.

When I got home again I had a look a the trunk; I think she's right. I'll give it a bit longer to see if it produces anything but if not, it has to go.

Tree 2 - I thought (hoped) this one might be a mandarin but, again, it's stem doesn't look so good. Smelling the leaves doesn't offer any idea either.

Rootstock growth?

There is this tiny little bud though so I'm going to see what it grows into before I give up on this tree as well and remove it.

Tree 3. Apricot or maybe peach? I don't mind either way. It needs some fertiliser though.

So that's the orchard. Four trees that might soon be only two. I want to eventually plant a tahitian lime, a kaffir lime, an orange and a mandarin; maybe a pear, apple and plum too.