More Leaves, Fruit and Other Young Tree Maintenance. 11.19.18

Five-Year Old Apple Tree With Rodent Protection Sleeve.  11.19.18

 While I was spreading leaves for mulch, I noted several trees that were outgrowing their rodent protection sleeves.  When the trunks have expanded to the point where there is risk of the guard girdling the trunk.  In addition, I followed recommendations to have the bottom of the guard partly under the soil surface which for some trees result in roots growing into and through the guard, which is challenging to remove.

In this case (first and second photos), once I cut through one side of the sleeve, it opened easily with no harm to tree, bark, or roots.

Apple Trunk Freed from Hardware Cloth Sleeve.  11.19.18

Removing Rodent Protection Sleeve from 5-Year Old Apple Trunk.  11.19.18

 For the second tree, about the same age, the tree guard also came off very easily.

Now I'm leaving these tree trunks unprotected.  I think they are tougher and more woody, so less likely to have vole damage this winter.  However, I am keeping the leaves raked away from the trunks. 

AdColumnar Apple Tree With Rodent Protection Sleeve.  11.19.18

Columnar Apple Tree With Rodent Protection Sleeve.  11.19.18

Smith Fig Tree Before Pruning.  11.19.18

Smith Fig Tree After Pruning.  11.19.18

The next two photos show the vole guards on trees that i recently transplanted.  These trunks also look fairly woody, so I don't know if the guards are needed.

The last two photos show the Smith fig tree that occupies a spot in the blackberry pen.   This tree is still plus/minus in this climate.  They originate in Southern Louisiana, bayou country.  Here, I lost one Smith fig tree to a freeze that did not kill other fig trees.  The crop took a long time to ripen here, and I lost more to cold weather preventing ripening of the last figs, than I got to eat.  However, of the ones that I did get to eat, the tree proved its reputation as a really good fig.  So I'm keeping it. 

However, this tree takes more space in the blackberry bed than I want.  The lower branches are not productive, and are in the way of maintenance.  So the last photos show what I did, mainly cutting off the lowest branches, and opening up the center for better sunlight.  I cut away branches that impinge on the nearest blackberry plants.  The blackberries are much more productive, whereas the fig is yet to prove itself worth the space and effort.

Fall Chores. Collecting Tree Leaves for Mulch. Blackberry Maintenance. 11.17.18

 This is a good time to collect tree leaves from around the neighborhood, for mulch and for compost if there are enough leaves.

During 2018, the leaf mulches helped a lot.  They keep the soil more moist, prevent most weeks from growing, cool the soil, and add to humus and nutrients.  Last year's mulch is almost completely degraded, so needs replacing.

I already mulched around many of the fruit trees.  This time, I cleaned up the blackberry bed and mulched that.

This year, I pulled out all of the Cascade Star blackberries.  They didn't produce enough, and they are more trouble, compared to Prime Ark Freedom and Triple Crown.  I also pulled out the Ebony King - way to thorny, not as productive, and the berries are not as good as PAF and TC.

That left Prime Ark Freedom, Ebony King, and two one-year-old Arapaho.  I'm not that impressed with Arapaho, but giving them another chance.  I did move one out of the main blackberry bed, and replaced that with a Prime Ark Freedom that was crowding the other two of that variety.  I also pruned them to about 6 feet tall, pruned out all of this year's floricanes (canes that already bore fruit and are dying off), and pulled the few weeds that are present.

Then I mulched with about 9 inches of loose maple and sweet gum leaves.  Those will flatten to a couple of inches, over the winter.  I repaired the trellises, and that's about all.  Now they are ready for winter and for next year.

Removing Vole Guards. Stanley Plum. 11.17.18

Vole Guard - getting tight.   11.17.18

Plum Trunk, Freed from Vole Guard.  11.17.18

Stanley Plum, about 8 years old.  11.17.18

I planted this plum tree about 8 years ago, and moved it to its current location in 2012.  At that time, I added a hardware cloth sleeve for a vole guard.

This is a good time of the year to go around and see which trees are outgrowing their vole guard sleeves, and remove those sleeves.  As the trees age, the bark is less appetizing and I don't have problems with voles on these more mature trees.

The main problem with these vole guards is if they are partly underground, roots grow through them, making them difficult if not impossible to easily remove.  This tree had some rootstock suckers that grew through the guard, and I had to cut the guard off, leaving a bit, on that side.  I also removed the suckers.

The irony is, I'm not that crazy about Stanley plums.  They don't have the flavor of Asian plums, but are much later which is nice.  This tree also has a couple of other European plum grafts that have not bloomed yet.

I saw other vole guards around the orchard, also in need of removal.  A good project for the coming weeks.

Apple Scion Order for Spring 2019

One of the great things about multigraft trees is, if you do't like a variety, you can remove the limb or graft others onto it, and still be ahead of removing or replacing a whole tree.

I'm not happy about Chehalis, which for me has given large, tasteless apples and not many, despite the branch being very vigorous.   I also have doubts about Akane, which has not produced apples despite other branches on the tree being productive.

So, next Spring I want to cut those two branches short, and graft something different.  I'm choosing mainly disease - resistant, PRI varieties.

PRI stands for "Purdue Rutgers Illinois" apple breeding program.  They interbred exce;lent apple cultivars with a disease resistant crabapple species, Malus floribunda, then crossed other apple cultivars, and tested them extensively.  Most of these are scab resistant, although there is change happening in the scab disease so that is not as sure as it once was.

Regardless, I've grown Priscilla and Pristine, and they were both excellent apples.  The Pristine branch broke, but is still partly connected to the tree.  So I will see if that has some viable scion for grafting in the late winter.  Most, but not all, PRI varieties, have the letters "P", "R", "I" somewhere in their names.  Often consecutively, such as in Priscilla and Pristine. 

Meanwhile, I want to try others.  I chose:

Prima - Early Fall, red disease-resistant apple. 

Goldrush - despite no "PRI" letters, except "r", a PRI variety.  A long keeping golden, disease resistant apple.  Heavy cropping, has Golden Delicious and Rome Beauty in its ancestry. Sweet, very late season, keeps 3 months.

Williams Pride.  Mostly red, disease resistant apple.  Early maturing, tart fruit.

Honeycrisp is also scab resistant.  Most people know Honeycrisp.  I have a tiny tree on ultradwarffing M27 rootstock.  The tree is 3 feet tall and had 5 apples this year.  I want to add that to a more vigorous tree.  I have other grafts of Honeycrisp but jot far enough along to harvest more scion.  I think Honeycrisp is not very vigorous anyway, so needs a more vigorous rootstock. 

For what it's worth, the PRI varieties have all been disease resistant in my garden, and the apples from each of those varieties have been very good to incredible (Pristine).    My Winecrisp tree, also a PRI introduction ("cRIsP" does have PRI in its name) has not borne a crop yet.

Firewood and Wood Ashes. 11.12.18

Rufus keeping warm by the woodstove.  11.12.18

Over the years, we've had many trees fall on our 2-acre property.  Most have been scrubby, especially cascara trees with trunks about 1 foot thick at the base, tapering up the trees' approximately 30 foot height.  I've also collected some trimmed branches with dimensions that fit in to the woodstove.  We use the cut pieces to supplement the house's heat.  The woodstove makes a big difference, keeping the house warm on cold days.

After the wood is burned, I collect the ashes and spread on the yard and garden.  I avoid spreading ashes on areas where acidic soil is preferred, such as near chestnut trees, or near rhododendrons, or where I will plant potatoes next season.  Those plants do not appreciate alkaline conditions or wood ashes.

This is where a soil test is handy.  Our soil was quite low in calcium, then magnesium.  Wood ashes are alkaline, so can buffer an acidic soil.    Their major component is calcium carbonate - so they have an effect similar to lime, although not as strong as lime.  Wood ashes contribute calcium to soil, then potassium and phosphorus, and some magnesium.   Ed Hume recommends spreading ash around trees and shrubs.  I avoid around acid-loving plants, like chestnut trees, rhododendrons, azaleas, or evergreens, as well as where I will grow potatoes next season. Ed Hume recommends 1 gallon of dry wood ashes per square yard of garden, or 1/4 to 1/2 inch on lawns and flower beds.  Farmer's Almanac recommends 20 pounds per 1000 square feet, which would be 2 pounds per 100 square feet, or 1 pound per 50 square feet - a 5 foot by 10 foot bed.  I apply less, figuring I don't want to overdo it.  I just use a dusting on the vegetable beds for next year, and on lawn around fruit and specimen trees.  Less than the recommend 1/4 inch, so I doubt any problem will occur.

My philosophy is that the trees and garden are already goring nicely.  By adding ashes, I'm returning some of the minerals that trees and vegetables have removed from the soil.  That will help growth in future years. Our soil is high in potassium, the next ingredient that is high in wood ashes, so that aspect is not needed.  The magnesium and phosphorus content of ashes is not much, but would be helpful.as well.