I've started providing some care for the apple tree area. This is for the dwarf and columnar trees. One of the transplanted trees was without vole protection. Voles are the biggest reason these trees don't survive a winter. These are hardware cloth, helt in a cylinder using zip ties. I push them slightly into the ground, but no longer try to push them deep. When I have them under ground level, roots grow between the mesh and it's difficult to clean up.
I pruned the trees to remove branches the almsot touch the ground, and maintain the columnar shape of columnar cultivars.
They have a nice maple leaf mulch now. About 6 inches thick, which will pack down to a few inches. That provides excellent moisture retention during the summer, weed prevention all year, and nourished the soil.
