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If
plants are crowded together, they start strangulating
each other even before they reach fruition. In the case
of fruit plants, except kinnow that bears internally too,
the fruit bearing is terminal, that is at the end of the
branch. When the branches of various trees start joining
hands, they shade each other resulting in the failure of
fruit bearing, THE gardeners who live in the region comprising Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Ropar, Chandigarh, parts of Patiala and Ambala, can grow upto 25 fruit plant species successfully. Visiting some of the home gardens, I find the temptation of growing even more than 20 species without any consideration for space. The general complaint, therefore, is ‘these are not bearing any fruit’. The reason is overcrowding and less air and sunshine for the plants. |
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 It is better to have a few good growing
plants, instead of many useless varieties. The selection
of species can be based upon your own preferences. Before
selecting the site of planting, imagine the kind of
dimension the plant will attain when it is full grown.
Adjust other plants accordingly. If plants are crowded
together, they start strangulating each other even before
they reach fruition. In the case of fruit plants, except
kinnow that bears internally too, the fruit bearing is
terminal, that is at the end of the branch. When the
branches of various trees start joining hands, they shade
each other resulting in the failure of fruit bearing. Growing fruit plants in the front yard is usually not recommended, except certain fruit trees like litchi that have shining ornamental foliage and excellent canopy or peach, plum, pear etc, that are priced for their bloom as well as ornamental fruits.
While we are discusing the disadvantages of close planting, let us consider the shading of places under the trees. The area under the tree is rendered barren. The condition is worse when the tree is growing in the front lawn where even grass fail to grow under the trees or till the area the roots spread. In case where the trees are growing in backyard or in the kitchen garden, you could grow vegetable crops like haldi, adrak, arbi etc and in front lawns there is a need to decorate the base with stones. Chips or pebbles as is seen in the accompanying picture. |
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There are ornamental fruit plants
like Chinese orange (Kumquat) Chinese guava of
pomegranate, too that dwarf and fit well in landscape
planning.