Fruit garden

A memento of former horticultural activities. In the past the whole area of the garden was covered with a multitude of trees and fruit shrubs. It was an orchard, which was the beginning of today’s company SĘKOWSKI FOREST NURSERIES & ORCHARDS GRZEGORZ SĘKOWSKI. That is why the owners of the facility decided to commemorate their own gardening roots in this particular place. At the center we have memorial apple trees. There are trees there that have been recreated from the last specimens of the garden of the great­grandfather Jakub Sękowski from Złotów near Czersko. There also is a Golden Reinette tree ­ the only one that has survived from the second great­grandfather Adam Sękowski’s orchard. There are also trees from the ancient orchard in Kłodnia ­ a place Władysław Sękowski visited during the last years of his life searching for Nieżurawa ­ the nowadays non­existent main headquarters of Sękowski family. There are cherries that come from the old alley leading to the small estate of Sękowski family. Next to the memorial headquarters there is a romantic orchard ­ sparsely planted trees of Golden Reinette, early apple and Kalwilla ­ the essence of the old fruit growing. On the opposite side a concentration of apple trees can be found. A dozen decorative varieties grow here; both from flowers as well as fruits. Next to them there is a patch of fungus­repellant and disease tolerant ones ­ more than twenty trees from which our Guests can taste various apple delights. Under the apple trees in the fruit garden there are cherries, wild cherries, pears, plums, apricots, peaches including the famous Siewka Jerzykowska, a variety once cultured by Franciszek Sękowski. Given that there is a small amount of space the amount of varieties was limited to the most interesting ones or to the most traditional like common plum, Klapsa and Conference pear. From rarer species: Japanese plums, Asian pears or edible quince as well as local dwarf cherries. Fruit shrubs are richly represented by many types of raspberries, blackberries, grapevines, hazels, currants and gooseberry. From the less typical edible plants ­ flowering quince, saskatoon, huckleberry and actindia. Also worth mentioning are a couple of types of edible dogwood brought from Ukraine from Professor Klimienko from Botanical Garden of Kiev. The incredible tinctures made from dogwood are a source of fame for SEVEN TREES.

 On the edges of the apple patches a couple of types of strawberries were planted. All of the trees and shrubs grow in loose groups accompanied with non­fruit oaks and colorful sycamore maples. At the center of the alleys a big Acacia tree trunk stands covered with a reedy roof. The trunk has been filled with pieces of broken bricks, bunch of reeds and blocks of punctured pieces of wood. It is a house for the insects. In that part of the garden there is a water reservoir ­ a second, smaller pond in which all the water paths of the park converge. In case of an intense flood (storms, thaws) it protects the park from overflooding. Excess water can be drained from it with an underground pipe directly into a ditch. Boarding in the corner of the pond has been constructed for that purpose. There is also a waterspout made out of an old millwheel. There is a natural swamp on the edge of the pond that is trying to recreate itself with plants characteristic of raised bogs. Introduction of cranberry, Marsh Labrador Tea, bog bilberry, calla and cotton grass has been successful. The plants were brought from as far as Czersko in Tuchola Forest ­ a homeland of the Sękowski family. The mass building of houses on the plots bordering with the fruit garden from the south created a need for covering it with tall vegetation. For this very reason a path of conifer and leaved trees has been planted in order to hide the unpleasant sights. Luckily douglas fir, serbian spruce and thuja grow quickly.