Renovating an Older Apple Tree
There are many century old apple orchards scattered around Puget Sound. The San Juan Islands had over 10,000 acres in tree fruits in 1900. Whatcom County had somewhere around 5000 acres that were apples, some pie cherries and plums. There were two packing plants, the Kale cannery in Everson and The Deming Delight Cannery that […]
The Best Time To Plant
I wanted to expand on my last post about summer planting. A more general question we get in the nursery at Cloud Mountain is “when is the best time to plant?” In our maritime climate, you can plant almost any time of year. But as I discussed in the last post, summer planting means more […]
Summer Planting
We’re often asked by customers if they can plant this time of year, or should they wait for fall. The simple answer- you can plant if you can water. Having said that, it is best not to plant during a real heat wave, when daytime temperatures are in the mid-80’s or higher. Put your plants […]
Multi-variety fruit trees and other musings
It sounds great, doesn’t it? 4 or 5 varieties of apple, all on one tree! Both pie and sweet cherries on one tree! How about plums and peaches together-an on-the-tree fruit cocktail! No worries about pollination, long fruiting season….why doesn’t Cloud Mountain carry trees like these? It’s a question we get asked every year. But […]
Growing in Containers
We talk to many people these days that want to grow perennial and woody plants in containers. Maybe because they live in an apartment or condo, and don’t have a yard, or because they find it easier to manage. But growing plants in containers is actually a little trickier than growing in the ground. Some […]
Pear Trees Problems
We’re hearing that many people are seeing problems on their pear trees this year. One pest that seems to be showing up is pear blister mite. This little mite overwinters in the bud scales on the trees, waking up as the trees break dormancy, then feeding on the leaves during the growing season. Because the […]