28-09-2005, 12:35 PM
It just struck me whilst mulling over what to do with the garden this winter how practical the old boere were when it came to planting up their towns and gardens.
My mother is from the Transvaal (as it was back then) and she remembers that most backyards had apple, fig or pear trees in, usually more than one. She also remembers that the streets were planted with date palms, and sometimes other fruiting trees. How practical is that? The trees fulfill the civic function of beautifying the town and giving shade, but also fulfill a practical function of providing food.
I look to my own housing estate here in Dublin and am impressed with whoever did the tree planting on the estate 18 years ago when it was built - many back gardens have at least an apple tree in them, and along the road in front of the houses there are cherry trees - the type that produce edible fruit, not the ornamental variety.
It makes great sense to combine aesthetics with practical function when planting up a community or garden.
I was wondering how your neighbourhoods/gardens compare, and if there are no fruiting plants in your gardens, what would you plant if you could?
My mother is from the Transvaal (as it was back then) and she remembers that most backyards had apple, fig or pear trees in, usually more than one. She also remembers that the streets were planted with date palms, and sometimes other fruiting trees. How practical is that? The trees fulfill the civic function of beautifying the town and giving shade, but also fulfill a practical function of providing food.
I look to my own housing estate here in Dublin and am impressed with whoever did the tree planting on the estate 18 years ago when it was built - many back gardens have at least an apple tree in them, and along the road in front of the houses there are cherry trees - the type that produce edible fruit, not the ornamental variety.
It makes great sense to combine aesthetics with practical function when planting up a community or garden.
I was wondering how your neighbourhoods/gardens compare, and if there are no fruiting plants in your gardens, what would you plant if you could?