Wednesday, June 11, 2025

Update on lugging water

The guy who brush-hogged the Upper Orchard did a fabulous job!

The brown patches are where impenetrable brush blocked my way




 My movement had been restricted to walking to the end of the orchard and then up the rows. Now I can walk across the orchard, perpendicular to the direction of the rows AND I can walk anywhere in the direction of the rows. I still need to pick up the larger sticks before I can maintain it with mowing but it looks VERY nice!

Graft status 

The bright red is the top of a Tee-post. The pink is surveyor's tape so the brush-hog guy wouldn't miss the newly grafted trees. The wire hoop is 5' tall and made of 2"by 4" welded wire mesh.

This looks like a deer pulled it through the mesh with its tongue and at the new growth.

As you can see, a lot of variation from tree-to-tree.

This is a tall one. I have my fingers crossed that the deer don't find it.


All of these trees were Empire grafted to Geneva-890 rootstock and I put a graft of Liberty on top of the Empire.


Watering statistics

It still took two hours to drain the two, 110 gallon tanks. I had two phone calls in that time but they were short.

I really need a third tank because there were about 20 trees I didn't get to.

The soil still looked moist under some of the trees.

I am going to have to spray the vegetation beneath the trees again. TONS of Poison Ivy which is going to be a problem if I don't deal with it.

It was 78 degrees F when I finished watering. 

4 comments:

  1. What about woodchips for mulch? Can you get that ChipDrop service where the property is? Do you have access to a tractor/bucket? I relocated some blueberry's to a new and sunny spot, and lathered them up with a good 4-6 inches of mulch I got from tree services, and the ground stayed visibly moist almost the entire summer. I was really impressed at how much moisture it would trap in the soil.

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    Replies
    1. I have bark-chips!!!

      A local saw-mill sells the bark they peel off of logs for a reasonable price. I have ten yards. Now I need to schedule the old, retarded guy to move it around.

      The old, retarded guy (me) has been waiting for the 10 cubic-foot trailer to become operational. I can pull it with the garden tractor. While I COULD use a wheelbarrow, the pile of shredded bark is at the bottom of the hill.

      Great minds think alike!!!

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    2. Interesting story - was talking to a guy who ran a mulch yard, said you don't want to use woodchips in mulch, only the bark.
      What part of the tree do insects eat? The wood! Spreading rotting insect food around your trees and home isn't smart.
      What part of the tree does the tree use to protect itself from insects? The Bark!
      Make your mulch with bark, not wood.
      Its been 10 years, I still can't argue with that logic.

      Delete
  2. Sounds like things are coming together! And yes, knock down the poison ivy NOW!!!

    ReplyDelete

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