The cherries seem like a waste of time. I had 6 of them. Down to 3 left. I barely get any blooms but I have heard that they take a long time to mature for that. I rather pull them and replace with peaches but I don’t think I will get my way. $5 would buy more cherries in the store than I’ve gotten in 10 years.
We have been keeping the mulch rings roughly the size of the drip line. It’s hard to maintain and I don’t know if its safe to spray any chems that close to the trees. It takes almost no time for grass to find it’s way up thru the mulch. Got any tricks for that? We usually freshen up mulch in May.
That pic was after a fresh mulching in 2022. I usually open them a little more each year with a weedeater. Then we mulch right after that and top off. I think the other pictures posted are smaller appearing since the grass is coming back thru. I’ve been scared to try any herbicides around the mulch thinking it could possibly affect the fruit trees. I do realize that mode of action plays into it and it sounds like you have been successful.
I appreciate all the advice. Sure wish there was someone around here to lend an in-person opinion. Pruning has always been my struggle.
Only have one container peach left and the rest of my stuff is in the ground. My in ground nectarine is in full bloom today. I get the benefit of once its gets cold in November, it stays cold. Anything out of the 40Fs is pretty much not happening DJF–except on rare occasions. That keeps buds asleep, but many times we get to -20F or colder and that will zap them–this year that didn’t happen.
This is today. I was going to chainsaw this tree last summer.
Well… here we go again. Forecasted -11 degree temps about a week out. We had no stone fruit last year as a result of -12 temps. The only difference might be that the buds are further into dormancy this year. Sigh.
Year 2 of minimal stone fruit due to extreme cold. We’re coming out of dormancy and the fruit buds are just popping off on almost all of my peach trees. Sigh. Two years in a row is tough.
I am in Chicago, north of you and half zone colder than you. If it is just -12 degrees in the winter, I would have tree full of peaches every year.
Our temperature goes down to -20 range every year. It is really not the low temperature alone that caused the peaches production problem, it is the warm up then dip into cold temperature does the damage. Plus, later spring frost does a lot damage too.
It is to me that later spring frost is getting
later and later in recent years in my area. we got fairly low temperature/snow/frost
in mid to late May which also damaged veggies garden such as tomatoe, pepper plants as well.
