i am currently in the middle of creating my small garden in the tropics

[Gato Moteado]

here in the san jose area in costa rica, houses don't normally come with huge yards. my little yard is probably somewhere between 20 and 25 square meters in size. originally i considered pulling out all the grass and making a jungle out there. instead i extracted all the soil around the perimiter of the yard, along the cinder block wall. then i painted the wall. then i replaced the extracted soil with higher quality soil and compost.

so far i've planted a few palms (1 areca and 2 lipstick palms), some terrestrial orchids, some heliconias, some gingers, bananas, some small wild papaya seedlings and sunflower seedlings. i have some aristolochia grandiflora seedlings i germinated recently and i will put a few of these in. i was saving one corner of the yard for another palm, but then after talking to one of my neighbors i found out that the grafted fruit trees really don't get big, so i'm thinking about sticking in a grafted tomy-atkins mango tree (that i originally bought for my pacific coast property) into the corner. then i was bummed that i didn't save any room for other grafted fruit trees, so now i'm thinking about digging a couple large holes in what's left of the lawn and sticking in a grafted lemon tree and maybe an avocado tree. if there's any room left in the garden bed i'll fill it in with plants like tropical milkweed and some small flowering plants to attract butterflies and hummingbirds. i'll finish off the place by hanging orchids along the garden wall and also hanging some from the eave that runs along the back of the house.

i originally wanted a garden to attract parrots, hummingbirds, butterflies and any other airborn wildlife in the area. i figured the heliconias and gingers will bring in the hummers and the papayas and sunflowers will attract the parrots that fly over my yard all day. the bananas i planted produce fruit that are smaller than the common variety that people eat and the birds love them. being able to grow some fruiting trees for my self (mangoes, citrus, etc) is a bonus.

we'll see if i've over-done it and packed too much in a small area. i really wish i had more room out back...i wanted to include things like brugmansias, cinnamon, allspice, guitite, and some other things out there but there just isn't enough space.

does anyone here have experience with grafted fruit trees? is it true they don't get as big as regular trees? i have mango trees on my property out by the pacific coast and they're huge. also, i was told you can prune the grafted trees to keep them small and that the canopies will stay small and tight and be filled with fruit.

[FloridaPat]

1. Grafted trees get as big as regular trees unless they're on a dwarf

rootstock. The reasons fruit trees are:
1. If you plant a seed you may wait 8-25 years to get fruit. If you graft a tree that has fruited, you may get fruit the next year. Definately a lot sooner that the above years.
2. If you plant a seed, you really have no idea what kind of fruit you're getting until it fruits. With a graft, you know you will get the cultivar that it says it is.

What about the front and side of your yard? Any room their from plants?

As for triming - you can trim any tree to keep it reasonaly sized.

Enjoy.

[Gato Moteado]

2. thanks pat!

exactly....i bought grafted trees so i could get fruit within a couple years.

i don't know if they're on dwarf root stock, but it's possible they are. it'll be interesting to see how the mango tree grows...like i said, the ones on my finca are old and huge.

it's cool to experiment here if you have enough space because you can get grafted fruit trees for about $2 each. at my house in the san jose area i don't have a lot of room. there's no side yard and not a big enough plot of dirt in the front. so the back yard is my only option. once i'm living out on my property near quepos, i will plant a ton of fruit trees.

[FloridaPat]

3. A thing about mangos - the Carrie mango I heard doesn't get as

big as the other ones and it's also the best tastly one. I'm going to get one this year and put it in a large tub. That way when freezes come along, I can tip the tree over and cover it with blankets. We get 1-5 days of freezing here which really makes it tought to grow the real tropical fruits. Wish I could get trees at $2 each! Wow.

I am just getting into the veggies from the Carribean. Yams, sweet potatoes, taro. You can also grow moringa, beans, okra. All sorts of neat things.

[Gato Moteado]

4. ah well, then, you should move a little farther south!

i lived in miami and they really don't get cold enough to kill off anything.

but the variety of fruits here in costa rica is amazing. i can't wait to have the time and $$$ enough to be living on my property near quepos. i have plenty of room there and i'll certainly have every fruit known to man growing there.

[FloridaPat]

5. I lived in Miami. Too many people. I am sorta looking around for

a nice tropical place to go to that is not run by the US gov't. Haven't been to Costa Rica but I have heard all sorts of nice things about it. It's on the list.

[Gato Moteado]

6. yeah, you'd like it down here......

.....i lived in miami too. first in cutler ridge until hurricane andrew knocked me outta there. then i lived in miramar before i left the state.

what part of florida are you in?

[FloridaPat]

7. Currently in Lakeland. Centrally located. I have a small farm

and am really getting growing things. Lots of fun.