Spring madness

I have been away too long I know. But it has been so super busy in the gardening world I haven't had a chance to talk about the changes in my garden. They of course have not been fast changes as I have been tied up with the garden that pay the bills...

Anyway I left you with ground zero I believe. Here is the tree I decided on to replace the liquidambar

She is in flower can I hope for olives this year?

Yes it had to be something that would fruit and enjoy all the sun the front garden is going to throw at it. I grabbed 2 manzanillo and a picual which are both Spanish in origin and pollinate better together. They are quite different in shape so I have the mananillo in one bed and picual in the other. I tried to get a photo to demonstrate this but as they are still quite smallish I just couldn't get one to do it justice. Another time once they have grown a little more.

My biggest concern is of course with the removal of the liquidambar is the nitrogen drawdown in the soil so I have decided to plant vegetables only for a little while rather than putting something new in and it suffering while the old tree breaks down. I expect despite all the blood and bone, cow manure I added to the soil the carbon from the ground down liquidambar stump is not going to be enough. So I will have to use a high nitrogen liquid on the plants.

I did a walk about and look what else is growing in the garden

Two tall tomato towers

Finally the akeba has something to climb on

First time I have grown squash and they seem to pollinate easier than zucchini

loving the broad beans after such a long break

 Hope your gardens are flourishing