Urban fruit trees

Gardeners living on busy streets really garden in the trenches. There is the constant assault from traffic, litterbugs, the flyer people, salt trucks in the winter, and various tree pruning crews, looking to protect their piece of wire running over the yard. To garden in this hot zone you need to be a diplomat and a tyrant. The first line of defense is to create a buffer zone. I say do it by planting trees.

On my street in Hamilton, some yards are not much bigger than a bus shelter.

Artist Bob Mason has one of those microscopic spaces. But there is still room enough for two of the prettiest trees on the street. A flowering crab and cherry help to block out the street symphony.

In May, their dense blossoms frame his front door. The house looks like it belongs in the European countryside, not on a busy city street.

"I know with the house so close to the street, this kind of heavy duty planting allows some privacy. I can open the blinds in my front room, look out to the street and not feel so exposed," And Mason adds, "In the springtime those flowering trees really beautify the street."

He reckons he planted them 16 years ago and can't remember their exact names. But a look through any nursery catalogue will offer many fine suggestions for cherry and crabapple trees. The Profusion flowering crab will grow to 8 metres, with masses of deep pink blossoms. A Red Jade has an artistic weeping habit, growing to 4 metres. The fruit is small and ornamental and lingers through the winter.

One look at the Weeping Japanese Cherry and you'll wonder why you ever gave space to a Norway Maple. Snow Fountain for instance has double white flowers, on branches that twist and cascade in a poetic manner. At a mature height of 4 metres it fits easily into a small yard.

Mason's front yard is crisscrossed with the inevitable tangle of phone lines, cable and hydro wires, yet the cherry and crab don't threaten to hamper the information highway with their branches.

"I prune the crab every few years, to shape it like an orchard tree, and I take a bit out of the cherry so I can get out the front door," says Mason.

That light pruning also opens the tree up to more light and increases air circulation. Pay attention also, to soil fertility. A mulch of compost, or composted manure improves the composition of the soil and allows it to retain moisture. These housekeeping steps help to fortify the tree against disease and insect attack.

The two-tree orchard at Bob Mason's delivers sidewalk therapy. Stroll by and the spirit soars. It should encourage gardeners to plant more trees with flower, fruit and form.

The effortless way trees flower in spring is a serene lead up to the frantic ritual of choosing and planting annuals and praying that they will bloom.

Last year I gave up trying to create trophy window boxes. Instead I went for clashing colours, used $1.99 tropicals as big as a thumb, and planted things I'd never heard of. It worked as well as any strategy I've tried. I was especially happy with an annual with the unfortunate name of throatwort. The Latin name is Trachelium caeruleum. In California this plant is a 1-metre shrub, here it was perfect for my window boxes. The flowers are a hazy blue-purple, with a delicate profile like Queen Ann's lace, and they flowered with abandon. Depending on whom you would like to believe this plant either likes dry shade or full sun with moisture. My window boxes face east, and sometimes get neglected. So I'll call throatwort adaptable.

For the gospel on window box and hanging basket care I sought out the curator of container plants for the town of Niagara-on-the-Lake.

John Vandenberg, Parks and Recreation Foreman, says the lush annual plantings in the historic town are watered every day and fertilized once a week with 20-20-20. His favorite performers are, Dragon Wings begonia, Wave petunias, coleus and sweet potato vines. Bide your time for bidens though, this trailing annual really doesn't start its show until July, but from then on it's a blockbuster.

Enjoy spring with the trees in bloom and the bulbs in Popsicle colours, the torrid heat of summer is just around the corner.