Ever hear of a step over?

 Neither had I until this week.   A stepover is a form of espalier.  They are only about 15 to 24 inches tall so you can easily step over them...   and work best for apples, pears and vines.    They are also used in cold areas as a way to provide protection for figs.  Since the trunks are under 2 ft tall you can easily mound  mulch and dirt over them to provide protection for them.  This lets them be raised as far north as parts of Maine!  I still think I will stick with a pot for my fig tree(s). 

So back to a stepover.  They are often used alongside walkways as a way of defining a yard.  I would have to figure out where the safest place would be to plant the trees but I can visualize a step over on the east side of the front yard with two trees planted 8 ft apart.  That would give me the pollination I need for a crop of apples.  AND make a nice little barrier for the public

Lots of changes happening in the back garden. I added my tumbling composter and was thrilled to discover it fit perfectly into a formally unusable corner :)

While I liked last years design there were some things I wanted to improve.  I had thought of moving the south box up in line with north box making a U that faced west.  And moving my narrow box next to the trellis that was in the wider box I moved.  While I liked how this worked the amount of effort involved in moving that one box and me worried.   

New idea hit me yesterday.   What if I move the north box instead.  Leave the east and south box in place, turn the north box so it runs north to south and line it up with the edge of  south box so I am one again making a U but this time with the open end facing north.    And leaving my narrow box in place.   Tried it in real life today and it looks like it will work EXCEPT the narrow box will interfere with the arch I want over the gateway...  AND for some reason I don't seem to have as much outside room as I did the other way...  I will have to give this some more thought but I do like the fact that would have 3 boxes running north to south giving my garden boxes better sun exposure.  

I need to get out there with a tape measure and a notebook and make sure I really have accurate measurements for the area and my boxes.   I need room for my potato grow bags, my asparagus bed, my short perennial vegetables I wanted to get started and my cherry tomatoes and peas...  so that will take a bit of work to figure out.