Sunshine Not Shade: A Most Important Part.

Back in 1982 we were house shopping.  We looked at a nice place on half an acre.  Its backyard had a wonderful sunny, gentle south slope.  The owners had all the space in the world to put in their smaller vegetable garden but they chose to place it just north of a large cherry tree.  I’d bet the shade from the tree cut their production in half.

When my grandad retired and sold his dairy farm, he insisted he only wanted a house on a lot.  He said he was tired of looking after a big place and wanted things small.  It turned out he was in his small backyard gardening every day.  As the trees grew taller on the east side of his yard the shade increased and his vegetable production decreased.

Recently while driving back from White Rock, we noticed an acreage with a new greenhouse that was built in the shade of a large pine tree.  No wonder so many home greenhouses are used for storing firewood.

My Lovely Wife and I enjoy the occasional walk in Vancouver.  We admire the great variety of mature trees and landscaping.  Vancouver is so proud of their trees.  They plant more, by the hundreds, (probably thousands) every year.  But in a climate that gets 60 inches of rain per year, the place can be the shade, mold, and mildew capital of Canada.  And there are very few sunny spots for growing vegetables.

I’ve never thought of myself as being a tree hugger.  I’ll save that for the granola crowd.  But I really like trees.  A tree is just a tree until you recognize its type and variety, its growth habit, leaf shape, flower, and seed type.  Then it becomes a work of art.  A wonder of creation.  And it even hurts me when I see one badly pruned and struggling because of it.

The Walnut I planted in my front yard 35 years ago is now 50 feet tall and 55 feet wide with a trunk circumference of 60 inches.  On a good year it gives us two 5-gallon pails of nuts.  My Fig tree is doing well next to the house and gives us 70 lbs of figs each summer.  I have a Plum beside the deck, an espaliered Peach on the south facing side of the house and a dwarf Jonagold spread along the north fence.

But my Stella Cherry tree was way beyond its prime.  It was very diseased, bug infested, and non-productive.  Since it was over a certain girth, I had to pay a fee and get permission from my city to cut it down and I had to post a bond ensuring I’d replace it with another new tree.  They sent out an arborist who gave the okay.  It was the only tree in my yard that I hadn’t planted myself and the previous owner had placed it, as you’d expect, on the SOUTH side of the back yard.

So, we finally got it down and left its stump – for a bird bath or planter or something.  (I no longer have the physical capacity to remove the stump).  And we planted our first ever ornamental tree. 

 

It’s a pretty, little Japanese Maple, with rose red bark all winter and it won’t grow higher than about 12 or 15 feet.  It is planted due south of the cherry stump so it will only shade the stump and its roots. 

And now, after all those years, my garden gets even more sunshine.

Happy Gardening.