Apple Tree/ Pear Tree LOVE!

Welcome to the worlds smallest backyard :) One thing about the area we live in, is it seems that everyone wanted HUGE houses (ours is 5 bedrooms) and teeny tiny backyards! Personally I'd rather something a little more balanced, but this is the area we really wanted to be in, and Lee reminded me that in our climate it's mostly raining so we'll spend most of our life indoors anyways :) LOGIC won and we are now the very proud owners of the smallest backyard in the world :) and we couldn't be any happier! I have a feeling the word SMALL is going to come up a lot over the next few minutes so I consulted our thesaurus too keep things from being repetitive, Welcome to our pint-sized yard.

Since our yard is so minuscule, we needed to be smart about what we planted. First thing was first and we needed to block the view into our alley. As much as we like our new neighbors, we don't love looking directly at their garage doors :S
So we planted some trees, but we figured if we're going to plant trees in our tiny backyard, they're going to need to work double time, meaning they need to block the view and give us some fruit!!!
We planted two trees, but in a weird way we actually planted 9 trees. Because of the humble size of our yard, we were not able to plant multiple varieties of fruit trees needed for optimum pollination. So we choose, semi-dwarf graphed trees, meaning they grafted multiple branches from different varieties on to one tree! Long story short we'll have 5 different varieties of apples from one tree and 4 different varieties of pears from the other tree :)

 In case you're wondering the grafted tree cost us a little bit more, around $59.99 but it really suits our needs best so we didn't mind shelling out the extra $20 per tree.

These trees are great for wee yards like ours, they only grow to a height of 18-20 feet, they make pollination easy!! and they provide you with lots of variety with out having to plant 5 trees, because in case I haven't mentioned it, our yard is a bit cramped.

Here's how to plant a Tree:
~Buy a Tree :) Put some serious thought into this step, depending on you climate, yard size, proximity to your foundation, your view, there's a tree out there for you!
~Dig a hole! Fairly simple, Make sure to dig the hole twice the size of the pot your tree came in.

~Spread some Bone Meal in the hole, and add some compost or manure.
~Put tree in hole :)
~Depending on your tree and your wind conditions, stake it!
~Spread some mulch on top, keeping it clear of the base of the trunk, the trunk likes a little breathing room!

~Water!!! Tree's would prefer a very heavy watering's infrequently as opposed to frequent light watering's, which promote shallow root growth.
~Sit back, relax and look smug in your recent contribution to the betterment of the earth :) *not that we did that >:)



 Bonus Picture:
Max joined us in the yard . . .  Just ignore Lee in the background Digging the hole, it was definitely me who dug the hole, I would never just pose beside the hole, making it look like I dug it :0
Who Me? . . . . NEVER!