Was out cutting the grass yesterday when my head became entangled in a couple of branches on my Lychee tees. I looked up and was surprised to notice how much fruit had developed. If you have never tried Lychee you owe it to yourself to try it. It truly is an amazing fruit. I first encountered it while travelling in China on business. Oh, and just in case you are interested my head is doing fine.
Sounds interesting but it can only grow as a patio tree in my area and that's more work than I want to add to my routine.
I put these trees in the ground about 8 years ago and they are enormous. The have a trunk about 8 inches. I don't see how you could grow them as a patio tree (container tree ??). Some asian stores here sell the fruit for around $7.00 lb. Not a bad price especially if you have a small orchard of these trees.
The problem is the temp gets below 30F every winter here so in the ground they would die, wikipedia said all that, I had never heard of it before so looked it up. I am in zone 8 and they said it has to come inside in the winter so only container/patio plants.
Out here in the NW I plant everything from Windmill Palm trees (flowering right now) to Giant Sequoia's.....a few of mine are 100 feet tall and 4 feet across at the base.
Out here in the NW I plant everything from Windmill Palm trees (flowering right now) to Giant Sequoia's.....a few of mine are 100 feet tall and 4 feet across at the base.
But then I started doing this 36 years ago.
WOW!!!
When I moved in 3 1/2 years ago the builder put in 2 palm trees, regular ones you see everywhere in the South, 1 of them has done great while the 2nd one has to be replaced for the 3rd time!!! I'm thinking there must be something wrong with the dirt in the area of the dead tree as it grows for a bit then just totally quits doing anything no matter what I do to it. Not 1 tree has lasted a full year in that spot!!! I'm thinking of putting something else there but the wife likes the damn things, most houses have 2 of them 1 at each of the front corners of the house.
I also put in a windmill palm tree, in another spot, and it died because I planted it too low and the water all ran towards it and it drowned. My wife now wants to make the area a 'rock garden' thing.
The problem is the temp gets below 30F every winter here so in the ground they would die, wikipedia said all that, I had never heard of it before so looked it up. I am in zone 8 and they said it has to come inside in the winter so only container/patio plants.
I am not in total disagreement but my Lychee have survived some extremely cold weather. In fact I thought I had read that you want some periods of cold weather to get them to flower in the spring. Also Lychee being very popular in China would suggest that they should be able to handle cold weather. I wonder if it depends upon the type of Lychee you have. To be honest I bought mine several years ago and could not tell you the "type" I have. Maybe some are more tolerant of the cold.
Out here in the NW I plant everything from Windmill Palm trees (flowering right now) to Giant Sequoia's.....a few of mine are 100 feet tall and 4 feet across at the base.
But then I started doing this 36 years ago.
Looks great. Like the fountain!! or is it a table?
Looks like a bumper crop this year. Now if I can only keep the squirrels away. The fruit has a way to go before it is ripe. Some are showing the transition now by showing a red blush but the entire fruit should be solid deep red.
Get a trap and bait it with peanut butter and you will catch squirrels every day, take them to a local park more than 1mile away to make new friends and it will take awhile for new squirrels to move into your back yard. While at my old house I moved over a dozen squirrels and had a squirrel free year before the new ones moved in. I did a squirt of silver paint on the tails of the old ones to see if they came back and none ever did. Th experts say a mile because squirrels can still find their way back if it's less than that. I had a National Park about 1.5 miles away and across a busy road, it had lots of room for them to make new friends. I just pointed the door at a tree and zoom they were gone!!
IF you don't have a pickup though put the trap in a trash bag to transport them, some of those guys can figure out how to get out of the trap in transit and that is NOT fun while driving.
Get a trap and bait it with peanut butter and you will catch squirrels every day, take them to a local park more than 1mile away to make new friends and it will take awhile for new squirrels to move into your back yard. While at my old house I moved over a dozen squirrels and had a squirrel free year before the new ones moved in. I did a squirt of silver paint on the tails of the old ones to see if they came back and none ever did. Th experts say a mile because squirrels can still find their way back if it's less than that. I had a National Park about 1.5 miles away and across a busy road, it had lots of room for them to make new friends. I just pointed the door at a tree and zoom they were gone!!
IF you don't have a pickup though put the trap in a trash bag to transport them, some of those guys can figure out how to get out of the trap in transit and that is NOT fun while driving.
The thought of driving around with a bunch of angry squirrels in the car with me is just not a day that is going to end well. Luckily I do have a pickup truck.
On another note I saw an opossum prowling my property last night around 2300. Would not want to surprise one of these guys either.
Get a trap and bait it with peanut butter and you will catch squirrels every day, take them to a local park more than 1mile away to make new friends and it will take awhile for new squirrels to move into your back yard. While at my old house I moved over a dozen squirrels and had a squirrel free year before the new ones moved in. I did a squirt of silver paint on the tails of the old ones to see if they came back and none ever did. Th experts say a mile because squirrels can still find their way back if it's less than that. I had a National Park about 1.5 miles away and across a busy road, it had lots of room for them to make new friends. I just pointed the door at a tree and zoom they were gone!!
IF you don't have a pickup though put the trap in a trash bag to transport them, some of those guys can figure out how to get out of the trap in transit and that is NOT fun while driving.
The thought of driving around with a bunch of angry squirrels in the car with me is just not a day that is going to end well. Luckily I do have a pickup truck.
On another note I saw an opossum prowling my property last night around 2300. Would not want to surprise one of these guys either.
Make yourself look REALLY REALLY big like they say to do when you see a bear so the opossum thinks you are not something to mess with, now if it has babies behind or near you are just going to have to run faster than it can. Remember it has 4 legs pushing it forward so move like a sprinter!!!
Looks great. Like the fountain!! or is it a table?
It is a concrete table I made back in 2010 after I got tired of replacing the wooden ones.
The last wooden one had the umbrella up and I didn't have it bolted down so the wind made it fly across the creek and crash into pieces.
The concrete circle I made about 34 years ago and used the bolts that used to hold the wooden version to attach the concrete base and pillar and put a pvc tube down the center that drains at the bottom and that is where the 9ft umbrella goes.
I have thousands of pictures and 10 pc's but as usual can't find a picture with the umbrella up since it is put up usually in May till maybe October depending on the weather.
The top is made out of the concrete and fiberglass mix just so it didn't weigh a ton and has stainless steel rebar.
Over 36 years here I have probably mixed over 10 tons of concrete by hand making things around the place.
Mikey.....the only way I ever killed a Windmill Palm is about 20 years ago its first Winter got down to 5 degrees so they died but since then I have that big one and 2 more that are 7ft tall now on the other side of the pond and a short one in front of the tall one.......that other type that grows in the south won't survive here unless they are protected from the cold weather........mine are all planted in just sand and gravel type soils and they seem to love it.
robl wrote: mikey
The problem is the temp gets below 30F every winter here so in the ground they would die, wikipedia said all that, I had never heard of it before so looked it up. I am in zone 8 and they said it has to come inside in the winter so only container/patio plants.
Out here in the NW I plant
Out here in the NW I plant everything from Windmill Palm trees (flowering right now) to Giant Sequoia's.....a few of mine are 100 feet tall and 4 feet across at the base.
But then I started doing this 36 years ago.
MAGIC Quantum Mechanic
WOW!!!
When I moved in 3 1/2 years ago the builder put in 2 palm trees, regular ones you see everywhere in the South, 1 of them has done great while the 2nd one has to be replaced for the 3rd time!!! I'm thinking there must be something wrong with the dirt in the area of the dead tree as it grows for a bit then just totally quits doing anything no matter what I do to it. Not 1 tree has lasted a full year in that spot!!! I'm thinking of putting something else there but the wife likes the damn things, most houses have 2 of them 1 at each of the front corners of the house.
I also put in a windmill palm tree, in another spot, and it died because I planted it too low and the water all ran towards it and it drowned. My wife now wants to make the area a 'rock garden' thing.
mikey wrote: The problem is
I am not in total disagreement but my Lychee have survived some extremely cold weather. In fact I thought I had read that you want some periods of cold weather to get them to flower in the spring. Also Lychee being very popular in China would suggest that they should be able to handle cold weather. I wonder if it depends upon the type of Lychee you have. To be honest I bought mine several years ago and could not tell you the "type" I have. Maybe some are more tolerant of the cold.
MAGIC Quantum Mechanic
Looks great. Like the fountain!! or is it a table?
Looks like a bumper crop this
Looks like a bumper crop this year. Now if I can only keep the squirrels away. The fruit has a way to go before it is ripe. Some are showing the transition now by showing a red blush but the entire fruit should be solid deep red.
Get a trap and bait it with
Get a trap and bait it with peanut butter and you will catch squirrels every day, take them to a local park more than 1mile away to make new friends and it will take awhile for new squirrels to move into your back yard. While at my old house I moved over a dozen squirrels and had a squirrel free year before the new ones moved in. I did a squirt of silver paint on the tails of the old ones to see if they came back and none ever did. Th experts say a mile because squirrels can still find their way back if it's less than that. I had a National Park about 1.5 miles away and across a busy road, it had lots of room for them to make new friends. I just pointed the door at a tree and zoom they were gone!!
IF you don't have a pickup though put the trap in a trash bag to transport them, some of those guys can figure out how to get out of the trap in transit and that is NOT fun while driving.
mikey wrote: Get a trap and
The thought of driving around with a bunch of angry squirrels in the car with me is just not a day that is going to end well. Luckily I do have a pickup truck.
On another note I saw an opossum prowling my property last night around 2300. Would not want to surprise one of these guys either.
robl wrote: mikey
Make yourself look REALLY REALLY big like they say to do when you see a bear so the opossum thinks you are not something to mess with, now if it has babies behind or near you are just going to have to run faster than it can. Remember it has 4 legs pushing it forward so move like a sprinter!!!
robl wrote: Looks great.
It is a concrete table I made back in 2010 after I got tired of replacing the wooden ones.
The last wooden one had the umbrella up and I didn't have it bolted down so the wind made it fly across the creek and crash into pieces.
The concrete circle I made about 34 years ago and used the bolts that used to hold the wooden version to attach the concrete base and pillar and put a pvc tube down the center that drains at the bottom and that is where the 9ft umbrella goes.
I have thousands of pictures and 10 pc's but as usual can't find a picture with the umbrella up since it is put up usually in May till maybe October depending on the weather.
The top is made out of the concrete and fiberglass mix just so it didn't weigh a ton and has stainless steel rebar.
Over 36 years here I have probably mixed over 10 tons of concrete by hand making things around the place.
Mikey.....the only way I ever killed a Windmill Palm is about 20 years ago its first Winter got down to 5 degrees so they died but since then I have that big one and 2 more that are 7ft tall now on the other side of the pond and a short one in front of the tall one.......that other type that grows in the south won't survive here unless they are protected from the cold weather........mine are all planted in just sand and gravel type soils and they seem to love it.