Winter – action time!

Now is the time to prepare your soil for planting trees this winter.

Dig a good size hole (50cm x 50cm), then grab some broken down organic matter, add some gypsum, and a handful of organic fertiliser, and dig these into your soil as you refill the hole….then sit and wait for the trees to come on sale at your local garden nursery!

Potted trees (grown in potting mix) are available all year around, but our bare-root trees are currently being dug ready to hit the retail shelves in the first 2 weeks of June. Bare-rooted trees are only sold during the winter months. And Winter is a great time to pick up your trees bare-rooted – not only are they a bit cheaper, but they are also safer to handle because they are in their dormant state when the tree drops its leaves and shuts down for the winter.

A tree planted in June has a great chance to be fully bedded into the soil before it starts to shoot away in the Spring. And it’s all about good soil-root contact, so be sure to firmly stamp the soil down around the roots of the tree as you plant it.

This year’s trees are especially large due to the fantastic rains we have experienced over the summer months.

Happy fruit growing!

Well, the weather is warming up, and gardens are now on the move!

Early in the bare-root season the ABC Gardening crew came out to Balhannah Nurseries to do a film shoot for a segment on fruit trees with Sophie Thomson, Garden writer and Horticultural extraordinaire. If you happened to miss the segment, there’s a summary on planting and pruning your fruit trees that you can find by logging onto:

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s2613562.htm

Spring is here and it’s vital to make sure a few basics are done:

• Most fruit trees need a copper spray PRIOR to budburst to prevent curl leaf and other diseases – if the buds are starting to swell, then time is running out. If the buds have already burst, unfortunately it’s too late and you may have to remove any curly leaf by hand!
• Now is the time to trap all that good rain we have been having in the ground by applying some high quality organic mulch, which will also build up the organic material in the soil and keep all the microbes fed and active! But remember - not too thick or the mulch may prevent further rainfall penetrating into the soil!
• And before you cover all your soil up, take the opportunity to give your fruit trees a liberal dose of organic fertilizer to get them off to the best start in Spring when they are coming out of dormancy – hungry and rearing to grow!

With the bare-root season over, trees are now available in pots for planting all year round – drop into your local Garden Centre to see what’s in stock! It won’t be long before summer comes on, so a nice ornamental in the right spot will give some relief when the heat turns up.

Enjoy a great gardening season!

For some time now the owners of Balhannah Nurseries have been looking for a practical way to help the families severely affected by the devastating bushfires which ravaged the Victorian countryside in January 2009.

In total 173 victims died and over 400 were injured as a result of around 400 fires, the worst of which hit on the 7th January – the day now known as Black Saturday.

Whilst the residents are extremely resilient and the countryside is covered with a spring flush of green grass the native plants and trees are re-shooting, the most difficult times are no doubt still ahead for many victims as they run down their reserves. So they still need help to carry them over whilst they re-establish their properties, livelihoods, and income stream.

It was with this predicament in mind that Kay, Mark, and Brett Joyce set about planning to send a semi-trailer load of Balhannah’s potted fruit trees into this fire ravaged area to help re-establish gardens and provide a long-term practical benefit when these trees bear fruit in years to come.



Over 1200 peach, nectarine, apple, plum, almond, and apricot trees were delivered in the Joyce’s own Joyson Orchards semi by driver Gary Ashford who stood out in his bright orange safety vest!
Bev Harris and Machelle Crichton from the CWA did a fantastic job in gathering a host of helpful volunteers to unload the truck at their Labertouche depot, from where the trees were distributed thoughout the shire northwards up to Marysville.





The Joyce family have been delighted to be able to help out in this practical way and to see that their trees have made a real difference. Best of luck to all the victims on the road ahead!

Bev, Victorian CWA:

‘The tree's have been received with such real and obvious delight that while being hard work, it has again been very rewarding and we can't thank you all enough….many have just noticed the blossom as they have driven past and this has bought them into the centre…the effect is uplifting because it is a real sign of new life, so again another aside to your wonderful gift to us. 
We have also offered to deliver to the local schools two Angel PeachTM trees each, this offer again has been taken up with real delight, we are going to deliver these ones later today.
Again Sam, on behalf of everyone here in Labertouche, victims and volunteers alike,  we can't thank you all enough for the wonderful donation to us from you all.’

Rosemary, Bushfire Victim, Labertouche:

‘We would like to thank you for the fruit trees as we were affected by the bushfires at near Labertouche, Vic. The kids and I are looking forward to getting some fruit off them for years to come! Once again thank you for your kind offer.’

Catherine, Bushfire Victim, Labertouche:

‘I just wanted to say thankyou for the fruit trees that we were able to get from Labertouche that you sent over. We lost all ours so the four we got are greatly appreciated. Again, many thanks. Kind regards Catherine and Family.’

They’re DWARFS, they bear good fruit, AND they’re ORNAMENTAL!!! 2009 has seen the release of two complimentary dwarf fruit trees – the Sunset PeachTM and the Sunset NectarineTM. Both are frost tolerant, low chill varieties, bearing early white flesh fruit which ripens towards the end of November.
As the first releases of the exciting Backyard BeautiesTM series these two stone fruit trees have set a high standard. The brilliant burgundy leaves of the nectarine and the deep red coloured rosette of the peach create uniquely ornamental trees whilst still producing great tasting full size fruit.
As dwarfs, these two beauties are ideal for the modern small home garden or for potting up as a feature on the patio. Both the peach and the nectarine have been a hit since they became available this year. To top it off, double pink blossom marks the start of the fruiting cycle of these two very attractive species.
Winter is the time to have your soils prepared to plant dormant bare-root stock. These stone fruit lines prefer well drained soils, with plenty of mulching and a healthy application of spring and summer fertilizer. By keeping the water up through the fruiting season and thinning any clusters of fruit, these SunetsTM will produce good size red skin fruit to be enjoyed early in the summer months.
Enjoy!
Sunset Peach | Sunset Nectarine