Always gather the earliest blooming species first. As soon as recent snow melts and I have time I will begin gathering J. plum wood here. Normally I could wait until mid-March, but it’s starting to smell like early spring (actually its the long-term forecast that has me concerned).
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A small tip that has made my orchard decision-making a little easier – wooden clip clothes pins, painted several different colors. I also use tree tape, especially for a branch or limb I know I want to cut off later (particularly for those summer pruning cuts) but I’ve found painted clip clothes pins nice for marking various possibilities – pruning cut, graft, scion, don’t-cut, pull-down. A different color for each job. I can keep some in my pockets, easy and ready to hand to use whenever an idea occurs. Then as I wander around the orchard, working or not, I see the painted clothes pin and consider/reconsider that choice, and can easily move/remove it as many times as I want BEFORE the actual commitment. It works a lot better, and less stressful, than trying to keep those ideas/choices in my mind, especially as my orchard has grown. Sue
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My pears tend to bloom by variety and some have very little overlap. With a few grafts most of this issue is corrected. But what I wanted to say was that my apples appear for the most part to bloom with good overlap. Looks like Arkansas Black, Liberty, and Honey Crisp will be near the last. Within the last three days I have seen a few Winter Banana, Pink Lady, Unknown June, Hackworth, and William Pride blooms.
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My onion planting stick - for seedling transplants
Old wooden broom handle. Cut the bottom on an angle about 2 inches up. Poke into the ground to make a hole, drop in onion plant
Mine is about 2 ft long, with marks at 6 inches for spacing guide
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Nice tip. Thanks
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To guarantee the best possible soil conditions for planting trees, or even veggies in any weather is to tarp it ahead of time. Arrange the tarp to guide water runoff. If the ground tends to freeze, put the black side of the tarp up. I’ll sometimes do this in the fall to also discourage weed growth. Never have to worry about the weather when stuff arrives, the soil is always in a ‘go’ condition. For a tree, I’d fold the tarp to about a 4X4 or larger depending on how your soil wicks.
This tip also applies for tilling beds in the spring. Tarp in January. Tarps are reusable every year. No need to delay spring planting or any garden work.
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Thanks Anne. Good tip
I have not had the time to read all these tips of the day. So if my tip has been mentioned prior to me posting this I apologize for repeating what someone else may have mentioned.
TIP: Keep a diary from year to year as to what you plant and how well they do throughout the year. Also mention odd or unusual weather that may have affected the outcome of your trees, garden, etc.
I have been doing this with my new orchard and it helps me with how to manage the trees for this upcoming year. What sprays I used the year before and what may not have worked to change things around for the upcoming year. I also include measuring the height of the trees, when and if they bloom. Blooming sometimes does not = fruit with younger trees.
I kept a diary with my garden years ago. It helped me pick out different varieties of plants and seeds to buy through the years.
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Good tip. We need to keep records.
I consult my log regularly
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How bout a tip on where to buy wooden clothes pins these days.
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I got mine at dollar store, can’t remember which one though.
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Last time I bought them it was also at a dollar store- but years ago. Almost no one hangs clothes from a line these days- at least around here.
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I have gotten them at Menards and at Target.
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Oh around this area they’re common. I probably got the last ones at the local hardware. Some of us still do hang clothes out! Well, not yet - we still have snow. But soon and i love hanging clothes outside. Like trees I guess, it depends on your location. Sue
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I often see folks here talking about having low/wet spots on their property or low quality dirt. Or perhaps you’d just like to build some tree mounds or planting boxes but can’t/don’t want to spend a fortune on dirt. You might want to go to your local city hall and speak to the director of the water, gas, and public work’s department. You would be surprised how often city governments (and perhaps state DOT’s) have projects with lots of left-over top soil that they just need a place to put. They aren’t going to haul it across town for you, but if you tell the department head’s where you live and that you would really like to get some good top soil the next time they have some in your area, there is a pretty good likelihood that you will end up with some really nice free soil. You might have to accept some broken concrete or old pipes with it, but you can pull that stuff out pretty easy. You also will have to spread and relocate it yourself, but if you only get 1-2 loads you can do that with a wheel barrow and shovel.
As a City Manager, I’ve given away probably 25 loads of dirt in the last year (and we are a small town), and a lot of it has gone to people just like you all who just asked for it. One good source is when cities clean out ditches that have filled in over time. The is usually the highest quality top soil since it is mostly black, rich silt that has settled into ditch bottoms over time. It won’t have anything but high quality, rich dirt. Another source is when a city extends water, sewer, and gas lines to a new area. You see, not only does dirt “fluff up” so that it takes less to fill a hole back in than what came out (of course over time it settles but they won’t leave all the extra dirt needed for that). Also, they almost always back fill with some percentage of gravel, and if it is under a street they will use all gravel, leaving all the dirt left over. There are also building sites and other projects that produce dirt. It is true that sometimes it will be low quality “fill” dirt, but most often it will be good top soil. They have to take it somewhere, and they are usually very happy to have a place near the job site to dump it. Saves time, fuel, etc. Some cities have big dump areas they are trying to fill in and require all dirt go there, but most will give a load or two to people in the area. Just make sure you ask BEFORE you see a construction crew in your area. Its too late then. By then they have already formed a plan for where it will go, and/or someone else has already asked for it. There is always a chance that if you take coffee and donuts to the crew they will still give you a load or two, and it is certainly worth trying that, too.
Anyway, we gave a local farmer 3 really nice dump truck loads of super nice dirt today simply because he had told me he’d like some next time we had some in his area. So that got me thinking maybe some of you never thought about this, or figured the city sold it all or usd it else where or whatever. Sometimes that is true, but I’ve worked for 7 different city governments and 6 of them gave free dirt to people who asked for it. SO you might give it a try. Like most things, it is free to ask and the worst they can do is say no. Good luck.
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The kind with the spring?
I get those at the grocery
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That would be nice but in my town the city has a a wareyard where they have stockpiles of topsoil, tree mulch/cuttings, and gravel. If they have leftover material it goes into the stockpiles and is used by the city for other projects or when the need arise. It’s generally clay-based soil here so topsoil is somewhat of a commodity. It’s easier to find tree mulch than it is top soil for giveaway here. Most sellers of topsoil around here charge about $30 / scoop from a skid-steer bucket. Which is probably only 1/2 yard. IT’s cheaper to buy it by the tri-axle.
That’s too bad, but not unheard of. I mentioned that 6 of the 7 cities I’ve worked for gave away top soil at least part of the time. The one that didn’t had a large piece of land that was basically a 2 acre hole in the ground (a low place between 2 hills. For many, many years they told all departments to take any and all fill material there to dump it so they could make that property level. It always pained me to see them dump loads of beautiful, rich, black topsoil in the same hole with big chunks of concrete and other construction trash, then cover it all up with more of the same. It also seemed wasteful because- just as you mentioned, they could have sold those dump truck loads of top soil for a lot of money. Oh well…governments aren’t exactly known for making wise financial decisions-if I do say so myself. ha BTW, a 25 ton dump truck full of top soil around here sells for about $300. Is that comparable to your area?