With the technique known as espalier and time, I think anything might be possible – in fact, I might even be able to protect a cherry from the birds and get to eat one of two of them myself!

Espalier is much more frequently practiced in Europe than in North America (at least I can’t say I’ve seen many around Toronto) except look at this wonderful picture I found of an espaliered pear tree.

Joe Boles of the SHS grew this beautiful tree

Here’s another lovely tree. In this case an apple just after it’s been pruned as seen in the Hillwards blog

Espalier can be trained against a wall, where the extra warmth and shelter can create a microclimate and enable you to push the climate a zone or more. Espaliered trees can be trained to a wall 9 often along a sturdy wire or against a fence. When they’re fence trained away from a wall, they’re correctly referred to as espalier-aere or contre-espalier.

Even in the winter they’re striking. Like this apple from the UBC Food Garden

One more wonderful thing to occupy my daydreams.

As soon as I realized that my attendance might be terminated by moving, I started to think about a place to continue my practice and while I need a spot inside, the simple truth is that my happy place will always be somewhere surrounded by plants and trees, complete with weeds and bugs. And so a part of my new garden will be my yoga garden. It will be built to surround a small patch of grass sized for one person lying down, but able to accomodate two sitting up. It will be, to some extent my secret corner. I’ll use shrubs and maybe a small tree to separate it from the rest of the yard and it’s occupants.

My first vision, given the idea of yoga, which says calm and quiet was a shaded retreat in mutued tones with lots of foliage, probably an oriental influence – which will work well because I can also integrate some of my bonsai into the space. Then I realized that the shady idea might not be the best. If I’m going to lie on the ground and practice my breathing, I’d rather be warm than cold.

As I understood that sun and warmth would be important – for at least part of the day, I realized that the muted Vita Sackville-West “white garden” appeal was really more of my intellectual concept of yoga and was not necessarily what I would choose in a retreat to make me feel deliciously happy. And that’s what I really want.

I’m going to hope for morning sun and afternoon shade. I still want my shrubs to help define the space and give me some privacy. It wont be a slam the door in your face, no one can see in and I can’t see out type of privacy. Afterall, this is going into my back yard and not the middle of a school yard. It will just be the kind of privacy that says to anyone who can see me “she wants to be alone”. Very Greta Garbo.

I’m going to add some colour for sure. I’ve no idea which plants will make the cut and much of that will depend on just how the sun will hit the space and if I can put some of the garden in enough light to support a few annuals, which pack the biggest bang for the flowering buck. That means I can look at some different salvias, some calendulas or zinnias and perhaps some of the newer gazania hybrids ( I might have spelled that wrong) I can run a rose or more likely a clematis over an arbour to create an entrance. Siberian irises, peonies and lavender might show up- just because they are among my favorite plants. I feel the arrival of a big blue hydrangea. Something that might attract hummingbirds would be cool too. If I can’t figure out the plant, I might just cheat and put in a feeder.

But it won’t be the cool, shady and sophisticated retreat I had first imagined. No. first I think I’d better make it honest.

I need to keep a fruit tree away from my eating area because it will attract those pain in the neck yellow jackets. Fruit trees also attract birds and squirrels (at least) who are intent and usually very successful at stealing the fruit that survives the early summer drop. And finally, when all goes well a fruit tree can be like having too many zucchini plants (that would be two zucchini vines) because it pretty much all comes ripe at around the same time.

But if I do have a fruit tree it will be a peach. They’re good looking and the size is easy to control and I can think of lots of things to do with peaches . One of my favorites involves a hefty amount of brandy. I can freeze them for smoothies all winter and I know of a great peach marmalade I can add to the Christmas baskets (OMG that makes me sound like such a perfect little Martha Stewart, but the real truth is I’m just cheap!)

But that leads me to start thinking about all the other food producing plants I plan to grow. At the moment the plans are pretty fuzzy, but nothing will make the cut into the final planning until I am satisfied that I’m growing something I like to eat and I know what to do with. That might sound like a silly thing to say, but bouncing back to the subject of the much maligned zucchini, how many people do you know who grew it and then had no idea what to do with it – besides try to pawn it off on their friends?

People get sucked in by seed catalogues and garden centers and end up growing vegetables that they either don’t like or don’t know what to do with. And a lot of home gardeners grow plants that just don’t fit their space. Take corn for example. I know a few people who’ve tried to grow corn and met with dismal failure because they couldn’t grow a big enough patch of it to get any real pollination going and for all the space and the plants, the actual yield of corn was pitiful. I nearly get seduced every year by Brussel sprouts. Have you ever seen them growing? They are so cool looking the way the sprouts grow up and around the stem and the leaves pop out the top, they remind me of a palm tree and I love the way they look, but I don’t like to eat them.

So really the point is that if you want to grow something to eat, you’re definitely thinking in the right direction, but like everything else you also need to think it through. For the last few years I’ve had very, very little space to devote to vegetables and the ones I’ve grown have been raised in hydroponic containers where space was at a super premium. Planting them into the ground offers me the luxury of more space than I’ve imagined in a long while and I plan to use it well.

Have I abandoned hydroponic vegetables in containers? Heck no! I’ve just moved them to my greenhouse for the winter.

I’m moving in six months. When I do that, I will have something I want very much. Actually, I’ll have a lot of things that I want very much. In some ways I am truly blessed, although it doesn’t always feel like it. But what I’m here to talk about is the garden I’m getting. I like to grow things. In fact, I love to and more accurately, I think I need to. It keeps me sane. Sort of. What I am getting is more than just another garden to take over and make my own. I’m getting something much better than that. I’m getting an open yard.

That’s right. My new backyard-to-be has virtually nothing in it. The current owners have two large dogs who I guess needed somewhere to hang around outside. I could learn to love those dogs.

The front has been well taken care of. There is at least one decent sized tree – I don’t remember what. There are some perennial beds and a rose – a floribunda, I think. It’s seriously overgrown and close to a path and I can’t wait to get up close and personal with my trusty Fiskars in my hand. Unfortunately, by June it might be a little late to do a lot to it and I’m not certain what kind of rose it is and without knowing that – Thou Shalt Not Cut. But I’ll check into it.

My new backyard isn’t huge, but it’s a good enough size for me – fairly wide – maybe 65 feet across the back, which I’ll guess is about 25 feet deep . Both side yards are opened to the backyard but closed off from the front of the house. The back of the house faces west. There are a few trees in the neighboring yards, but I get a seriously good shot of western light. One side yard is a south and a west exposure. The vegetable garden will have to go there. It is a perfect spot and I’m pretty sure there is enough room.

It might be six months before I can even get a good look at it again, but I love to think about my plan for that back garden. I’m getting a greenhouse, which in itself is a 30 year old wish. Can you imagine getting something you’ve wanted for thirty years? Maybe something good about getting older is that you can understand what that actually means. But, I know it will mean a few headaches, a nasty surprise or two, extra work and more than a touch of fear that I’ll make a mess of it. But I know I can do this. It will probably sit empty in the summer, but in the winter I will grow vegetables and indoor bonsai trees and I’ll have a small lemon and key lime tree. I’ll keep a chair and a very small desk area in there and it will be my bolt hole. One of them.

Before I sign off for the night, here’s a real quick overview of what I will have in this garden of mine.
I’ll have a vegetable garden and perennial herbs and rhubarb.
I’ll add herbs and blueberries into the perennial and foundation gardens that I think will be stretched out along an interlock or possibly flagstone path and around the patio.
I’ll have some growing beds for outdoor pre-bonsai and bonsai in training.
I will have a greenhouse> It won’t be huge and could easily be as small as 8×12, but I’m a little more excited when I think about 8 or 10 by fourteen.
I’ll probably need some cold frames. Normally, I picture them around a greenhouse, but I’m not sure that giving up the extra insulation from the ground is a good idea.
I am making what I call a Yoga garden . It will be a peaceful, secluded spot – probably close to the greenhouse and the vegetable garden. It will be a warm and sunny place to lie on the ground and breathe.
My patio will get sun – I’m thinking- up to about 2 in the afternoon and then it will get some shade from a very impressive wall of cedar hedge.
The north side will be a shade garden- but I’m really fuzzy about this area so far because I also need a good spot for the barbeque and it sure would be nice to have it close to the door and in some kind of shelter. And I need a good light. That one needs to percolate for a while yet.
I’ll need some outdoor benches in a spot that has shade in the hottest part of the afternoon for my potted bonsai.
So, I think that pretty much covers it – vegetables, herbs, shrubs, perennials, a shade garden, a bonsai nursery and yoga garden, patio and barbeque area. And I’ll need a spot to hide the compost bin.( I think I know where that will be – around the side near the vegetables.)

This year is going to be so brilliantly exciting for me. I’m moving in the spring and as much as I love vegetable container gardening and think its a very important trend for the future of cities and city livers (not to be confused with chicken livers) I’m thrilled that I’ll be able to have an inground vegetable garden again. And I’ll be adding a few small nursery beds to fatten up some of my beloved outdoor bonsai trees including hornbeams (if they make it through their first winter) Amur Maples, Japanese black and white pines, Sargent’s crabapples and some lovely larches.

Late in the summer, if all goes well, I’ll get my greenhouse. It won’t be a big honkin’commercial size, but I’m looking at something between 8×12 and 10×14- I just need to fit it to my site and my budget.

The yard that will house these wonderful things belongs to a house whose current owners have two large dogs and so the back yard, which isn’t immense but is a more than reasonable size has never had anything done with it. It’s a blank slate and to be able to plan from scratch is just a delight to me.. I’ll be adding a small private yoga garden and of course a patio for outside eating and entertaining and some perennial and annual flowers.

I’ll be incorporating as many food bearing shrubs and plants and trees- so I already know that blueberries will feature in the foundation shrubs and a hardy kiwi vine will make an appearance along with rhubarb and maybe a peach tree.

As a rental gardener I handed out pieces of favourite plants every time I moved so there are some daylillies and a peony or two whose offspring will return to my garden in the next year or so.

Happy New Year to one and all. I’ve been waiting for this one all my life.

I think that I’ll get the ball rolling tonight and start my tomatoes, peppers and basil. I’ve got three heirloom tomatoes this year – a cherry, a plum and a beefsteak, three peppers a Passila, a Serrano and a hot Hungarian Paprika for drying, two different Thai basils, a lime basil, and I’m going to try growing some Stevia. Stevia is used as a sweetener.

I have a French heirloom cucumber that was grown for cornichons so I’m hoping that this will be the year that I can be organized enough to grow some cucumbers for pickling and pick the darned things when they’re ready and make small batches throughout the year.

One of the best parts of all of this is that I’ll be using a full Gourmet Garden -12 planter version of my new self watering container garden system which was launched this year at the Canada Blooms Garden and landscape show in Toronto. It’s called the H’Urban Garden and I created it last year for people – like me- who are growing vegetables in containers and want to get the best yield and the best quality…..or for those with more modest expectations – just keep them alive.

I’ll have four planters for my tomatoes and cucumbers- a total of 16 plants, another 5 planters for herbs, peppers and snow peas ( I’ll start them early and train them to the trellises in the back row. By the time the tomatoes are ready to take over the trellises, the peas will be done anyway.

How can you have your very own Korean Hornbeam trees or small white cucumbers or striped tomatoes? Start them from seed! Really, it’s the only way, unless you happen to be living close the worlds most exotic nursery.

The best part of all of this is that, when you’re talking about vegetables (and annual flowers) starting from seed is not at all complicated. In fact it’s easy.

So why are so many people convinced that it can’t be done and why are some people not successful. Two reasons I can think of.
1. Failing to follow simple instructions.
2. Failing to pay attention.

So, the flip side is that all you need to do is follow some simple instructions and pay attention.

The seed pack will tell you if you need to cover the seeds or not. Typically, very small seeds won’t be covered because they need light to germinate. They simply get sprinkled on and then pressed into the surface of the starting mix. You’ll notice I said starting mix and not soil. You can make your life a little easier from the get go and use one of the soiless seed starting mixes which have a better texture than most garden soil and are also sterile and that’s important too, because it will help to prevent “damping off”which is a disease that can kill seedlings.

If the pack says not to cover the seeds – don’t cover them. If it says to plant them 1/8th of an inch deep- don’t stick them an inch into the ground and expect them to ever see the light of day.

If it says to keep them warm, keep them warm and ditto for cool. Figure out the not too fine line between bone dry and soaking wet. It might take a little practice, but trust me- it’s quite possible.
So – step one is ready the flippin’ instructions and follow them.

Step 2 is pay attention! Once you’re seeds have sprouted – which for most vegetables will be within a week or so, check them every day. Just look to see that they’re not too wet and they’re not too dry. What you want are chubby, stocky little seedlings as opposed to tall, wobbly, spindly little guys that only grow like that because they don’t have enough light.

If you pay close attention to them, there’s a really good chance that as time goes by it will get easier and easier to look after them because rather than feeling a obligation to see if the little suckers are dead yet, you’ll be grabbed by a wave of curiosity to see what your plants are doing. They will become familiar friends and you’ll find that there is something very rewarding by starting at the beginning.