That’s my plan. The snow is deep; that cage goes up 2’, but I’m going to extend it another 2’ tomorrow.
What I’m trying to figure out is if that tree is going to make it, or if I need to bridge graft it to hope to help it make it, and when to do that. cc @hambone for more insight on that.
Found a PDF of bridge grafting from WVU extension. It recommends collecting scion now, but not doing the bridge graft until early bloom begins: Bridge Grafting – Saving Tree Life Despite the Odds | Extension | West Virginia University
Can’t help you there, bub. I don’t do grafting. I only plant big trees. I’m old and need the fruit now, not in 10 years.
If it was me, I’d pull it and plant something new if it does not sprout in the Spring. Or maybe just sprouting in the Spring won’t say if it will live long-term, just dunno.
If you got land, that would make a good experiment for you to do right there…see if it will live and plant a backup if it won’t…if you got the land. It is all part of the school of hard knocks.
I’m on a tiny postage stamp. And while I’m relatively young, we’re probably at this place for <10 years if our family planning works out as we hope, so I don’t want to lose too much time.
Either way, I’m going to save some scion and graft to some rootstock so that we can have some continuity.
Many of my trees were girdled in December… fortunately only 2 were girdled all the way around. The others I will attempt to bridge graft them later. I found that covering them a 1ft by 2ft piece of chicken wire, metal window screen, etc works really well to protect the trunk.
This is the only kind of bridge splices I do, bub…
I will recycle cut off pieces to build up length until I can use a full-length protector. This season I’m swapping from solid to mesh protectors for most of the trees. I tried the cheaper solid protectors for 5 years but had problems with ants and dampness. I trashed all my old mesh protectors years ago when I thought I was all done planting trees. Then I had to buy them all back! You are never done in the orchard, bub.
The voles actually chewed up half of my plastic plant name tags. I have a feeling they will rip through any plastic protector.
All of the orchards here use the 1/2” or 1/4” hardware cloth.
As a counterpoint, I was worried and posted this tree last year. No noticeable detriment, kept right on going and growing. I’d get in real close and see if there’s any bark layer still there.
I purchase rolls of 3 foot wide metal window screen, cut to the appropriate width and staple it around the trunk of the trees I wish to protect. Never have rabbits or voles try to get through the screen. I sometimes make a row of staples close tot the trunk and then an inch or two further away I make a second row of staples. As the tree grows the first row of staples pop off and then there is the second row that will hold the screen in place. I highly recommend this technique.
To give added protection from rabbits when the snow is high and to protect from deer browse I circle the tree with fencing that rabbits also can’t get through.
This is a Cornelian Cherry that needed to have the window screen replaced since it has been stretched too much and has exposed the trunk lower down. This is when I will replace with lobster wire.
youre right. if they get hungry enough they will get in no matter what you use. 3 winters ago it was so bad that just about every sapling in the woods here was eaten 3ft and some at a angle 4ft up. was really weird looking with all that light colored wood exposed. luckily i kept them in check under the snow with bait stations around the property. the foresters said it was due to a explosion of thier population due to warmer, longer summers. we are seeing that happen in our deer population as well. why i leave thier predators alone to do their jobs.
Bridge grafting is essentially two bark grafts- one on each end of the scion. So I do them starting first week of April here in new zone 8A, after the bark has started “to slip,” a requirement for bark grafts. You’ll want to make a test cut on bark to confirm bark is slipping before doing bridge graft. Must be a video on this somewhere- it essentially means you can peel the bark away from the cambium- this only becomes possible in Spring.
I see you’re in Zone 5- maybe someone from Zone 5 will say when bark usually starts slipping there- am guessing late April to early May, but just a guess.
You have nothing to lose by trying a bridge graft.
I grafted the last two years to pear and apple in mid April (and late April and early may because it took me a while to get it done). Early-Mid April is right around when apples bloom here. I could peel the bark easily at that time and most of my grafts were successful. So that would be a good time, like hambone said.
Thanks. These trees are in zone 6b. Most of my trees are at my folks’ larger property in 5b.
I did find some useful grafting videos but I guess I was confused — I am new to grafting but I don’t even know what bark slipping means.
also, I guess I’ll have to find a way to store some longer scion for bridging purposes that I cut now, before dormancy breaks.
Here’s a real pro explaining bark slip and bark graft: Google Search
Amen.
That’s for voles, mice, rabbits.
And I use 6’ galvanized wire fencing for deer. That fencing stays around the tree until it is tall enough that the scaffolds are out of reach – >7’. Even then the hardware cloth remains to prevent damage from buck rubs.
Bottom line – I do not (can not) grow anything that is not inside two layers of fencing and/or out of reach.
That’s just to protect the trees. To protect the fruit against raccoons, squirrels, possums there are traps. To protect against birds, there are nets. It’s a dog eat dog world.
I use 5’ cement re-wire for fruit tree cages for the most part. Mainly because it’s cheaper (at least it was when I was buying it) and sturdier. It does allow fawns to browse due to the larger openings, so it is inferior in that regard. I’ve got maybe 15 galvanized 5’ welded wire cages. I’ll use those on trees in the highest deer traffic areas
I agree with you 100% on the necessity of two layers of metal protection for fruit trees.
I’ll add that if I had to deal with snowshoe hares, I’d use 5’ hardware cloth instead of 4’
I have rabbits and voles around but never had any issues with girdling … until this year when something, probably rabbit, abused this young fig. Odd they would go after the fig instead of all the cherry, apple, pear, etc. in close proximity.
This is the first year in over a decade we had snow cover for several weeks so I guess they just got hungry enough.
