My guess is your crab doesn't have fire blight but cedar apple rust. Fire blight will completely kill the tree in a month.
I think you are trying to farm a court yard...I suggest you concentrate on hiding the neighbors with soemthing like arbor vitae and get your color from container plantings.
Linda C

Plants do get more frequently diseased when they are in small planters or containers. Given the history, I would take out all the plants, dig up the dirt and discard it, treat the remaining area just in case, then start over with fresh dirt.
I like Linda's suggestion -- plant a good climber/cover - maybe something fragrant.

There are probably a number of things that would work nicely there, but I just want to commiserate about the wild morning glory. I had a neighbor who let them get out of control and now I am constantly pulling them off my azaleas, which divide the properties. The current neighbors have little interest in gardening, although they are very sweet. They hire a landscaper to come in twice a year and clean things up. It takes about a week for the WMGs to start their relentless spread. Between them and my ivy I spend a lot of time keeping things in check.

I love clematis. There are so many wonderful varieties and they never get invasive. You need to prune them once a year.

I meant cedar apple rust. It is just such a firey orange color! Wild clematis is a different animal than the pretty garden flower. It is also called "virgin's bower." It has small white flowers and star shaped seedheads. It is very fragrant--smells like baby powder!! It is also a very aggresive plant, but maybe that's not a bad thing if I'm trying to cover the fence. I could try regular clematis, but I seem to have perrenial bad luck with that plant. I'm wondering if any of the garden variety ones are fragrant. I've never seen a smelly one at the garden centers.

I wouldn't mind it if the morning glories just covered the fence, but they grow EVERYWHERE--all up around and over all my plants in the most sneaky ways!! That's why I don't want them anywhere near my garden if I can help it. But it only takes one neighbor to neglect the back corner of a fence around here, and the morning glories take off from there with birds spreading the seeds.

I tried containers. What you don't see is that the patio is so small, that with a table and four chairs, I don't have much room for containers since I have to walk through there to get to my car/garage. Yes I do have some. I grow hot peppers and marigolds and basil and cilantro in containers, and sometimes tomatoes. I've even toyed with the idea of hanging those half planters on the fence but I think that would be too much weight.

I have evergreens all along most of the fence in the rest of the yard. This spot is troublesome because it is so narrow. It would be drabber than drab with just a wall of evergreens.

Someday, if I find a full time job and stay in my house, I will replace the chainlink with something nicer to look at. It is in good shape though, and for now serves its function.

If you are looking for an easy to grow clematis that smells nice, you might try 'Clematis Montana Rubens', I have one that is at least 11 years old and I had to move it once from a rented house to my current home after I became a home owner. This one blooms on old wood, so pruning needs to be done after flowering, and if you don't want it to take over the area where planted, pruning will be needed. This one smells like vanilla! And the pink flowers are really nice. Check out the link below for more care tips and pictures. (hope the link works, this is the first time I have tried to add one)
Good luck finding something to replace your lost plants.
Kat

Here is a link that might be useful: http://www.gardenvines.com/catalog/clematis-montana-rubens-p-44.html

Come on over! I'll happily share my wild berries with you and the local deer population!

AM
The Dinner Chronicles

For an edible, would Nanking Cherries grow where you are?
They are more a shrub and grow 6-10 feet tall and up to 15 feet wide, but can be pruned to manage it's size. Mine are not nearly that large.

They are lovely in spring and in summer are covered with small, sweet cherries that make delicious sauces and jams!

Linda

Here is a link that might be useful: Nanking Cerry

L, I second the Nanking Cherry. If you don't want a tree/shrub, how about strawberries? They won't climb the fence, won't get too tall, and they'll spread everywhere to fill in empty spaces, plus get berries.

Otherwise, I'd probably stick to herbs, Chives get pretty flowers at least.

Or you could grow some of the alliums, garlic, shallots, leeks. Not terribly decorative, but useful, edible and green....

Annie

Initially I had strawberries as "groundcover" in my gardens. They went hog wild and were strangling everything, it was like Little Shop of Horrors!! I gave them away. That was my first "edible" flop, lol! I would tuck some of the alpine strawberries in here and there if I could ever find them in a nursery.

Maybe the nanking cherry could fill in for the soon to be history crabapple. I only grew it for the scent anyway, it never actually even bloomed to speak of, and the apples were not the edible kind. I grow these trees in an espalier way, so the cherries might work, couldn't hurt to try. I had considered the bush cherries, but ruled them out because I am not a fan of the scent of cherry blossoms--the acrid hint of cyanide gets to me, lol! In the close quarters of my yard it is a consideration. How do those nankings smell? Needing two would be a bit of a downside. I think I have decided to hedge up a rose there for starters--Blanc Double de Coubert I found out is a rugosa so should at least have some interesting hips. (Not like my hips, which are expanding by the day!)

I also think I am going to replace the crabapple with diablo ninebark. But that still leaves me one more spot against the fence next to the compost bin for a possible cherry bush.

I also may try some clematis up against the fence, what the heck. That Montana Reubens cultivar looks like the wild kind. I suppose scarlet runner beans would be an option. My neighbor has a grape arbor, that is also a beast full of jap. beetles. Looks good but I'm glad it is his problem, lol! I might also try passionflower, what have I got to loose.

What about herbs? Basil, rosemary, parsley?

Why are you getting rid of the crab apple? It needs to be sprayed with a fungicide....
Anything you plant will have to be mainatined, sprayed...maybe...pruned trimmed and weeded.
Raspberries are very carefree....they do occasionally get a borer or so in a stem....that's just the way it is. But remember, raspberries are not decorative specimin plants....they are sticker bush with berries.
Strawberries don't strangle other plants. They spread by runners. If you don't want them to spread, cut the runners.
No plant but for plastic ones will be beautiful and totally carefree....much less fragrant.
I think your expectations are unrealistic.
If you plant a rugose rose, it will grow very large and put out long canes, if it's happy. And the stems are stickery.
I think you had best make up your mind to annuals and not try to hide the view of the neighbor's playground.
Nicotinia smells lovely at night and reseeds well and is pretty well low care.
Linda C

Linda I work in my garden every day.
I also worked at an arboretum and taught horticulture. I know how to take care of my plants.
Talking about plants is just conversation I find interesting.

lpink,

As long as you keep any suckers shovel pruned (I am able to mow any I see), I don't think you can beat the rugosa roses for their good points. Excellent for trouble spots like sandy, poor soil, or shade, most of them have an exquisite clove/spice fragrance from repeating blooms with fall hips that are loaded with vitamin c and they have glorious fall leaf color. Rugosas are known to be disease free/resistant and can be organically grown; their wrinkled leaves prefer not to be sprayed with anything.
I have several kinds and they bloom great and the nasty J beetles mostly leave them alone. I don't use any chemicals in my garden, I would rather live with the little bit of trouble I sometimes get.
And I think the best thing about these roses is that they smell the way roses should smell!
My daughter has three of the ones you are considering, and they really bloom up a storm and smell so good.
Best of luck with your next planting in this area.
Kat

Caneberries can be so high-maintenance (which is why most berry farmers are lucky to break even).

But currants. Have you considered those against the fence? They're pretty tolerant. Flowers are wonderful and I'm not dissing rugosa, but if your leaning is towards an edible garden, that might be a possibility.

Carol

I've been trying like crazy to find that nursery catalog, it's called "One Green Earth" or "One Green Planet" or something similar.

It had wolfberries and cloudberries and things that I'd never heard of that are supposed to grow everywhere and bear under the most intolerable conditions. I'll keep looking.

Carol, you do have a point there, currants could be lovely and they make magnificent jam.

Annie

Yeah, that's the trouble with the cane berries. I can mess with all kinds of treatments, but with the few shrubs I have and the close proximity they are to my patio living area, it's the "unsightly" factor that is making me want to rip them out. That's why I'm torn, their appearance vs. the yummy berries they do provide. What I should really do is try and find a community garden plot somewhere for my more unsightly loves. That's the real challenge for me with edible landscaping, not the edible part, the aesthetics. I mean a well maintained vegetable garden is a "pretty" thing to my way of thinking, but in the right setting. Somehow for my courtyard, it's a different animal. Yes, I am asking a lot, but that's the fun of it, it's a real learning experience. The raspberries looked great until they became riddled with problems. I'm trying chemical and pruning schemes but it's an uphill road, like you mention Carol.

Funny you should mention "wolfberries." I was just thinking about them today. They grow in huge lush hedges around here in the wild. I pass by some along the road on my way to work every morning. They are on a bank next to the road, competing with every kind of aggressive neighbor imaginable. And I was actually thinking about currants too. There is a clove scented currant bush.

This has given me some more options to think about, so I won't feel quite so sad about ripping out my raspberries. Like I said, I'm just whining because I look at them every day and fuss with them to no avail, and this voice in the back of my head says, "Chuck them, they are a mess" and then this other voice says, "No, no, I like those raspberries, yum!" Which will win out, my stomache or my eyes?
:)

The whole yard is due for a major overhaul this fall. I'm tearing out one wild rose that was a case of "good plant, wrong place" since it is sending out runners into my neighbors yard, plus it wasn't that pretty. I gave most of it away to the arboretum where I used to work, but have to root out the last of it. That's why I'm thinking that spot I pictured above might be good for another rose. At least the runners can't get to my neighbors garden from there. Luckily they are patient with me, since they like to garden and have their own rose and grape battles!! There is another rugosa, called "Snow Pavement" which is supposed to be a bit smaller, but I haven't seen that one in years. I know those landscape roses would be perfect for my yard, but they aren't as fragrant and don't have the large hips. I gotta have a rose though, due to my last name--Rosenberg, which is where I get the "pinkmountain" from.

Decisions, decisions. Lots of great options here!

I may have to mail order though.

As a side note, I have just been hired to teach a horticulture class at Temple Ambler!!! I am sooooo excited. What a geat place that is, they have an absolutely gorgeous arboretum. I'll bet I can find someone down there who would know where to get some of the less run of the mill plants. I'm in seventh heavan, surrounded by plant weenies!!!

I was wrong about "wolfberries" since I just looked them up. Apparently they are some kind of plant from China. I've mostly heard them referred to as "goji." What I was thinking about is commonly called "wineberry" and looks a little like a raspberry. Sometimes people call them "wolfberries" too, which is why I got mixed up.

Here is a link that might be useful: Wolfberry arcticle in Wikipedia

We used to have several rows of raspberries and Boysenberries. Every February DH was out wrapping the canes on the wires. Then it was spraying, training the new growth into the rows, tilling and weeding. It was endless. But absolutely worth it when the berries ripened. There's nothing like picking your own berries in the back yard.

That ended when DH gave the neighbor permission to pick enough berries for a pie. Said "neighbor" sent over several family members (down to third cousins, I think) who stripped the vines and hauled home buckets and buckets. My DH was furious. He told neighbor, "That must have been the biggest d*mn pie in the world." Went out that fall and pulled out every plant. No way was he going to do all that work and not even enjoy a berry of his own.

I do love roses, but they don't grow well on our property, at least not without ongoing intervention to prevent black spot and mildew. I like roses that offer other benefits. Fragrant oils for rosewater, rosehips for tea.

Carol