(click on the image for a larger version)
I finally got around to doing something about the eyesore that has been Ladera Frutal’s road frontage. This is our new row of little Tecate cypresses (Cupressus forbesii), 19 in all, planted on ten-foot centers at the very bottom of the finca. As the name implies, the Tecate cypress is native to far southern California and northern Baja, on the inland coast-facing slopes.
Stand back! This species of cypress is among the fastest growing conifers. They can grow six feet or more in a year. In fact, they have been in the ground only ten days and already they have put on more than an inch. Not many plants start to grow so soon after planting, and even an inch in ten days is pretty amazing.
Once they really get going, they ought to look like the row that you can see at the website of Las Pilitas, the very nearby nursery where ours were propagated.
Cypress update
Here are the trees at about a year and a half in the ground. Pretty impressive. The tallest ones are about four feet tall, compared to six-to-eight inches when planted.
Scion grafted by Fruits and Votes — 05 August 2007 @ 20:21