Finally...this has been a long time coming

[brettjm]

Closed on a house yesterday. 2.6 acres (really more like 1.75....some of it is land under a big pond). What did I do today? Dropped 7 figs in the ground, as well as a dogwood, azalea, magnolia, and a few other goodies. Later this week I'll throw in some blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, etc. Over the next month, I'll drop in some black tupelos, sourwood, persimmon, and pecans, to name a few. This place was a freaking blank slate for me to work with, and I'm not being shy about it. I want my yard to shine during all seasons, as well as be productive.

I've been torn for ages on which varieties to trial in ground, and today I said to hell with it and threw all my varieties that even hint at cold hardiness in ground.
-Champagne
-Marseilles Black
-RdB
-Excel
-Strawberry Verte
-LSU gold
-Adriatic JH

I left VdB (as it stays small-ish) and Smith (not so cold hardy) in pots, as well as a Green Ischia (seemed redundant with AJH and SV), plus a few I'm going to scrap for lack of production, vigor, or practicality.

Thanks to the community for all the help you've been over the past few years. You guys are tremendous.

[Kelby]

Congrats! Shortly you will start jamming in even more figs. I'm up to 15 in ground on 1/3 acre and a lot of shady areas.

[brettjm]

Thanks! Question though. I'm currently asking myself what I'm going to do with 7 fig plants that might produce up to 500-1000 figs each within 4-5 years. What does one do with 5000+ figs?

[Kelby]

Eat them

[brettjm]

That's a lot of figs....lol. Preserves? Wine?

[ako1974]

Congratulations! I miss digging in the ground...

[brettjm]

It's less fun in GA red clay!

[growcrazie]

Sounds exciting, have fun

[Fygmalion]

Congratulations.... I wish I had a blank slate to work with in a fig friendly environment... I would try and implement a hedge model using Frank "FMD"'s setup.... I would really enjoy that! best of luck with your new place...

[brettjm]

I'm working on a hedge...ish. 2 of them bordering the property. I'm willing to share with the neighbors if they want some. I'm just hoping all of my figs can survive the cold well enough to create a good hedge. 7b/8a is pretty forgiving to figs, but another polar vortex could end that really quickly. 3 of the varieties I put in on the north side of the house are very, very exposed.

[Harborseal]

Congratulations! I hope they all do really well for you.

[brettjm]

Thanks! What does one do with that many figs though? Serious question. You can only eat so many fresh figs and make so many preserves. Wine?

[brettjm]

Also, it took forever, but Preto finally rooted. Hopefully I can keep it happy! Thanks!

[CoolClimateFigger]

Congratulations! Very happy for you.

[don_sanders]

Sounds like a nice place. Congratulations!

[brettjm]

Hope so! Time will tell. It's a new construction house, so it looks fancy, but we are paranoid that it's made cheaply. At least the outside will be pretty.

[figgrower]

I'm glad you'll have your own little piece of paradise.

[brettjm]

Thanks! I'm excited as well. I keep telling myself that we have to actually...you know...MOVE there first. It's about 5 miles from our current house, but we're only half way done packing.

[Rewton]

I'm impressed that you already have a landscape plan and are planting stuff just after closing! I moved onto a large property last May. It's great but I still feel overwhelmed with everything that needs to be done. I need to take a one month vacation from work and work on all the outdoor projects I have in mind.

[brettjm]

Well, it was sort of a winter project. I didn't have much to do up until closing. I wasn't allowed to start seeds for the garden yet, since we'd have to move all of it and it'd be a pain. We've been packing, but we have a 4 month overlap between our lease ending and when we closed, so packing/moving was not super-urgent. Meanwhile, it is the perfect time of year for planting trees/bushes here in the south!

[randy/ga]

hey brett, congrats on the larger space! which side of athens will you be relocating to? im only a bit north of you....in franklin county.....with all the cows and chickens. btw...which means i have a ready supply of fertilizers great for figs! even though you are dealing with a larger plot, it is finite also. as for the cold i wouldnt let it bother me. as a native here, and having been around figs since childhood yes there will be some winters with minor damage, a few rare ones to kill to round level plus some mild enough to get great breba crops! have you considered muscadines? non-astringent asian persimmons?? two new blueberries are keener and titan (developed at uga) that i hope to try someday. wishing you all the best, good growing!
randy

[brettjm]

We're over in Oglethorpe....technically Winterville, although we are only 5 minutes from Arnoldsville. Went to the city hall of Arnoldsville on Friday...it's definitely a double-wide trailer!

I have certainly considered muscadines, and I will grow them...eventually. I have too many other projects I'm working on, including getting my garden started and my landscaping finished. I would want to trellis the muscadines proper, and I think the deer will get them if I don't fence them in. Persimmons....the one I'm after is a Saijo. Just Fruits and Exotics carries it. It's an astringent variety. I'm not opposed to getting a non-astringent variety to lengthen my season though! I've not seen those blueberries. I've heard of titan, but I've not seen it anywhere. Cofer's here in town is kinda pricey, but they usually have blueberries for 10 bucks a pop...I'm going to keep an eye out on them in the coming weeks. They're the only ones I've seen with Ochlockonee, which is quite good. Also a fairly recent UGA cultivar, so maybe I'll see the other two varieties you mention there as well.

Oh yeah...and Cows n' Chickens...I'm surrounded by them!

[Admin IT]

I've been torn for ages on which varieties to trial in ground, and today I said to hell with it and threw all my varieties that even hint at cold hardiness in ground.

Brett, great job and wonderful plans. AND you are adhering to an old axiom, Not letting perfect be the enemy of good!

Excuse the OT philosophy, but sometimes this may be helpful!

"Better a diamond with a flaw than a pebble without."
Perfect is the enemy of good is an aphorism, an English variant of the older "better is the enemy of good", which was popularized by Voltaire.

Brett you are doing what I wish I had done a long time ago! Best Luck to you in your new home and your property plans!

[brettjm]

Right? Worst case scenario is that they die. If they die, I have more to replace them with!

[newnandawg]

Brett, that sounds great. I am in 7b also about 40 miles sw of the Atlanta airport in Newnan. I have about 85 varieties in ground and another 55+ in pots. Over the years I have lost only a few to cold weather when we had single digit temps. All the others died to the ground and bounced back and produced that same year. There are a few that just plain out want produce. One being Nero600m for some reason. Do you ever get down this way? I could hook you up.

[brettjm]

I'm not down there too often. Glad to hear that most varieties will only die back to the ground, and will bounce back. You buy chance have Preto in ground? Curious to know how it does.

As for hookups, I appreciate it, but I barely know what to do with all the plants I have! I'm at the point where I'm ready to start giving them away. I'm starting to branch out into other fruits/flowering plants as a hobby. I think I'm just tired of dealing with things in pots.

[newnandawg]

Brett, my Preto will go in ground this spring. My goal is five or less in pots. Ha

[WillsC]

Brett,

Congratulations

[Taverna78]

Belle! Congratulation in new home!

[lilfiggy]

nothing is nicer than having a lot of dirt to root around in. I am sending you imaginary shovel to start your digging.

[randy/ga]

hey brett, sorry so slow getting back to you man......busy week. got a laugh on the double wide trailer city hall!! you are in the sticks if your city hall is a trailer......unless the real city hall is be updated/remodeled. as for cows/chickens my suggestion is to befriend a poultry farmer, most will be willing to share their "poultry byproducts" with you. a never ending source of free fertilizer!! just be cautious to keep it well away from plants as chicken manure is stronger than other animal manures.
if you are close enough to a poultry farm you may notice a slight lingering fragrance on some evenings...
welcome to the country!!! randy/ga

[Visceral]

I'd love to have that amount of space to plant on. I didn't see any mention of peaches though!! A Georgia orchard type property has to have at least one.

[brettjm]

I would agree, but I'm just too lazy to spray, and I don't know any other ways of keeping the bugs out of them. I'm open to suggestions if you've got them though!

[Visceral]

I'm going to try organza bags on my tree. I used them on some figs to keep out fruit flies last year, and they worked really well. I think if you only get one good peach tree and keep it small, your insect threat pressures won't get too big.