Thread to track my BYOC project

Yikes! Well for the record, mine are all on Gisela 5. I will avoid 6 which is fairly new!

You are my kinda ‘girly’. !!! So organized. And . . . always thinking and changing things up! (I am the same way. Charts. Graphs. Lists. Plans.) Never quite done. :grin: But, that’s the fun of it!
Thanks for the great and detailed introduction. It’s fun reading about the way that we all think about our plants. The plans, the goof ups, and the questions - all of it. This forum has become a very enjoyable hobby of its own, for me. Glad to have another fellow ‘girly’ on board. - Karen in VA

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(Love the ChapStick for scale - (as in measurement - NOT as in bugs!)

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I second what @subdood_ky_z6b says. “So neatly planned and executed”.
Plus, I’d like to know what kind of tree rings those are? They are simple and very nice looking. I don’t want anyone ‘weed whacking’ near my trees - or mowing too closely.
Been reading what others are saying about mulch harboring mold and insects. So true. But what can be done to keep back the weeds efficiently - and retain enough moisture without it being too much moisture?

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Thank you Karen!
Its a bender board. Landscapers use it for edging around lawn… Its a strip of wood that you can bend to any shape. Easy for DIY too.

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You can mound the trees, it’s a good idea anywhere if you ask me.
Unlike many plants, most trees, not all, do not like being buried deep. Roots should flare to the surface when older. Mounding helps as the soil settles, and adding more is a bad idea if planting area is flat. Like mulch around the trunk, soil is even worse! Mounded you can add more soil if the roots start to be too exposed. Some exposure is fine, desired even. At least that is the thinking of many experts these days. Mounded they will drain well too, so don’t stay too moist. Buried trunks are stressful to the trees, a stressed tree is more prone to viral, bacterial or fungal attacks not to mention insects.

Backyard pics - Spring 2018

Apricots - Blenheim Espalier. 4 in 1 - Tomcot, Robada, Orange Red, Moorpark

Peaches and Nectarines
From Burchell - Honey Halo, Snack Time, Scarlett Halo, Pink Halo

Indian Free and Snow Queen

Evas Pride and Honey Kist

Evas Pride - full bloom on super bowl day

Spice Zee, Baby Crawford, Arctic Jay, Snow Beauty

Parfianka and Red Malaysian Guava

Seckel and Comice Pears

Washington Orange

Lemons and strawberries

Fuji Apple and strawberries

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Very nice looking trees you got there. Nice and clean backyard just the way I like it.

Tony

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Man I look like a slob after looking at these pictures. Great job! So many heading cuts, do these cause a major vegetative growth problem for you?

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I do the same thing. I want my trees small and under 7 feet. I found that it is not a problem. Knocking off the dominant central leader knocks the apical dominance back for a loop… Which keeps it well in check. Plus if you do these cuts in the summer, it reduces vigor, not increase it. Usually the tree takes some time before it grows again. Winter pruning seems to really stimulate vigor, I’m trying to get away from it. I will be pruning my trees when I graft this year. Apples are very crazy growing, and I don’t grow them, so the best approach for apples, I don’t have a clue?

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Like drew said, my main reason for the heading cuts is smaller trees. I have less than 2500 sq.ft. of growing space and am way over planted… So have to keep these trees fairly small. Based on limited harvest experience - production is not too bad but just starting out… Will have to wait a few years to see what the harvests look like… Of course - the more I cut the more aggressively they grow!

If I had the space - one experiment I do want to try is a row of 7 feet tall trees on Tall Spindle Axe (TSA) or Super Slender Axe (SSA) system.I wonder how the yields will compare with the open vase system that we all usually do.

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That would be interesting. Some of these methods are more productive. On production my trees produce about 80 fruits after thinning 60% of the fruits. Yours will too. About 20 fruits a scaffold, probably should thin even more. The 2 ,3 or 4 in one hole are like one tree, so production of 80 would be for one hole. I have trees from 1 to 8 years old. Most are 6 years old. Yes they will produce for you that much! I keep them at 7 feet.

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I LOVE LOVE LOVE her landscape orchard approach! I have my pomegranates (first 2 of them) in my landscape and it makes me feel good to see everything so tidy!

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May 7th 2018
First harvest of the year :slight_smile: - A bowl of strawberries mostly Earliglow and a few Mara Des Bois. The taste was OK, not as sweet as the farmers market Albions.

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All my cherries are gone. didn’t even get to taste one :sob:. He stole it all just before mothers day. They were not even fully red !!!
SQ

The Bing on Gisela3 produced 2 cherries its first year! Looks promising. The Rainier on Newroot died - didn’t come out of dormancy this year.
Lapins on Newroot produced 20!

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it’s a neverending battle all of us fruit growers face…sorry to hear that…sounds like you might need to do some trapping next year if you hope to get any fruit…

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Boooooooooo!!!

If you are expecting fruit later this season, I would start trapping right away. I have been trapping squirrels and rabbits since early April, so far caught seven squirrels and two rabbits. I am not seeing much squirrel activity in my yard now, but I am sure curious ones from neighboring yards will be visiting to explore in the near future, so my trap is ready… Luckily squirrels are easy to trap with peanut butter bait.

Thank you guys! Trapping not an option here :frowning: Luckily they have not touched a single strawberry / blueberry in my backyard! I am definitely going to net the cherries as soon as it sets fruit next year. Hope they are not smart enough to get past the netting.

Last weeks Mara Des Bois harvest was outstanding! It is now my new favorite strawberry. It beat Albion to the top! Earliglow has been a disappointment for me, great eye appeal, fully red inside but tastes sour always. May be its the potting mix, may be its the plants,will give it 1 more year. If it tastes the same will replace with another variety.

Mara Des Bois 2018 05 26

https://youtu.be/wjG3mdvY_s0

2018 Harvest dates were May 7, 12, 18, 26 for both Earliglow & Mara Des Bois. Just a few on June 2.

Earliglow
https://youtu.be/je6Zks_Yvgs

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