Treating the root system might be an effective route… I know many don’t like using herbicide though.
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The gardening chore I hate most is spraying for powdery mildew on my cucurbits in the summer. I wear a mask and a hat and have to wear long sleeves due to my sensitive skin and all that makes me feel so uncomfortable!
I enjoy most other chores. I have started saving seeds using isolation bags and since this is a new skill, I think I enjoy it the most.
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i have a large balsam poplar about 30 yrds. from my plantings yet that sucker sends suckers almost 70 yrs into my plantings. not into the woods behind. and each root sends up a half doz. suckers. i dig at least 2 doz. roots every summer. at least in my clay they dont go down more than about 3in. but the mess ripping them back towards the mother tree is a royal pain in the a**!
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im lazy. i throw it on top of last years mulch. scratch it in with a rake and top dress with more mulch. doing it like that for 8 yrs now.
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I love planning. My family says, “mommy’s casting spells again!” because (apparently) I walk around moving my forearms and fingers talking to myself (and the yard) about what to move where to fit in more things and maximize happiness. I can get lost talking to the plants and doing this, but I swear I’m sane!
I despise mulching. I get an arborist to dump their truck, but I have to move it virtually all by myself in time found between life as quickly as possible to unblock the driveway/garage because that’s the only place to have it dumped. I might skip it this year…
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after 7 yrs., of mulching everything meticulously, i gave up last year. too much time. so now i just mulch around new plantings and cover spots with alot of weeds with cardboard then mulch.
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Honestly, I’m frantically removing mulch right now (leaf litter etc) since discovering the pill bugs have eaten/killed 10+ plants!! I created way too nice of a habitat for them!
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It’s my understanding that the pill bugs tend to work on already decaying matter.
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I had to raise my strawberry bed 3.5 foot off the ground because of earwigs and pill bugs. The year before last I had to use Sluggo Plus. Works but rip off for small container and I still don’t trust it on my food.
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Sounds like voles to me.
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Chores? I don’t care to put up the shade cloth in the hot afternoons over my sensitive trees and plants then I remove at evening, reconfigure water lines, feeding, grafting, rooting, weeding, waiting. Probably the worst is having to root prune and shape trees in pots, reinvigorate the soil. I’m sure there’s a few more I missed.
I just like getting new ones, harvesting and enjoying the fruits of love and labor. I do love to see everything grow and thrive. I love to build soil and see happy trees.
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My issue that I have what is called sandy soil. I call my soil beach sand. It took me years to understand how my soil type effects my trees. I would fertize like you mentioned early on. Never got any blooms so no fruit. As an amature fruit tree grower at the time I did not understang my specific soil type.
Sandy soil has no nutrient content. In my case beach sand is worse. I need to fertilze more than usual. Sandy soil drains fast and so does the nutrients. Then when I finally started fertilizing more then came the micronutrient deficiencies. Finally figured out it was an iron deficancy.
What works for you does not necessarily mean it will work for others. What you see on YouTube does not always apply to your environment. Took me years to understand that. I finally understand how to best treat my fruit trees and what has workes for me. My entire Miniorchard is covered with wood chips. That is how I am treating my soil over the long run. The front area I started chipling about 8 years ago has rich black soil now. Only the top layer but as it breaks down it also feeds the trees. Those trees grow so much faster and bloom way better than the back trees treated with only 5-6 years of chips.
Now my trees finally bloom extensively. I never seen anything like it before. I was so happy until I realized how much time thining will take.
Maybe now like you mentioned I can fertilize on top for the front trees but I would hate to get back to very little blooms.
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My favorite is probably just collecting and grafting out new apple varieties. Messing around with different grafting styles is fun.
My least favorite is either cleaning out chicken coop or spraying fruit trees. The anxiety of when to spray with rain and wind and bud stages etc is a PITA!
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Exactly, walk around. Old farmer saying: Best thing a farmer can put on his soil is his shadow.
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My least favorite chores are making wire cages and putting up fencing. The second is spraying. That includes having to spray myself with tick repellent. I don’t like the smell on my clothes.
A favorite is watching for sprouts on my seedling flats on the heat mat on cold days of early spring.
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yep. night and day. i have heavy clay soil so i was mulching to try and lighten my soil but nutrient wise i now dont need to even fertilize unless i see a drop off of fruit production. if you could get some manure down that would help hold nutrients it in place or use organic fertilizers. they are less likely to leach compared to synthetics.
Here in MO in heavily mulched areas pill bugs will eat living plants. I think I read somewhere this can happen when their population get too large. I’ve watched them chew on young tender leaves on several types of plants. At least a few other gardeners around here have observed this as well.
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I think it depends on the environmental conditions. I had an experience where my rotting garden bed walls created an ideal habitat for pillbugs, their population got out of control, and they started going after living plants.
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