Thursday 22 March 2007

GOING NUTS




Hello Ian
We really like eating nuts in our house. We would like the challenge of growing some for ourselves. Are there any varieties that we can grow in our medium sized garden? Regards, S.C. Moville.

Reply
Nut trees will be a great addition to any medium or large sized garden. These trees and bushes are often ignored despite their low maintenance and high returns. The only thing you will need for most of the varieties is a bit of patience. The hazel, cob and filbert nuts are all similar, forming large bushes. A mixture of several varieties will do best, as this will help the pollination. These are best kept as informal hedges or windbreaks,(maybe the council could plant them in between the willow on the main roads!). Most of these will prosper even on poor, stony soil.

Almonds require richer conditions and could suffer from peach leaf curl, so they could need spraying with a fungicide; it’s a bit late now as February is the best time to do this. Sweet chestnuts grow too big for most gardens and only crop after long summers, which could limit us here in Inishowen a bit. Walnuts are also huge trees and take years to crop so you could plant one for the next generation!

Horticultural.

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