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Garden Gate:  Apple Trees  |
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
 Posted - Oct 15 2006 : 4:59:05 PM
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gurlz .. anyone have good advice for apple trees that need trimming? ours are so tall and so full .. i think i read once that a 'bird' should be able to fly through the branches when they are bare. i am sure we will have to hire someone to do this .. they are waaaaaaay above the rooftops! we get TONS of gnarly apples ... how about that dreaded word 'spraying' them before they bloom in the springtime? honestly, do ANY of you spray .. or is everyone organic? shall i just let nature take it's course? i'm not a total organic person. i buy organic locally when i find it .. but in these little towns, what i want can't always be found.
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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DaisyFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
1646 Posts
Diane
Victoria
BC
Canada
1646 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2006 : 5:25:31 PM
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There's a lot of "depends" Frannie. If they are really old trees, you must not go nuts and over prune them, but rather do it over three or four years. Otherwise you get alot of waterspouts and other weak growth. Some pruning is okay, but mostly just to open up the tree a little.
As for gnarly apples, again it depends on what makes them gnarly! Is it scab, canker or some other blight? Fixed copper will control some of it...spray right after the leaves have fallen and repeat it in December. Mildew can be controlled with sulfur, applied pre-bloom and again two weeks later. Dormant oil (lime sulfur) will also help and it can be applied in January or February in a severe winter. The upside of dormant oil is it will also take care of some insects that are overwintering as larvae and eggs.
There are other chemical alternatives, namely Benomyl or Captan that will do the job, but honestly I'd rather eat gnarly apples than use them. They are applied when growth starts in the spring, but please, PLEASE research them well before using them if you chose to do so, know them well and follow instructions to the letter.
I only prune out weak or broken branches and for the most part, just let the trees grow as they will. I do use a lime sulfur dormant oil every other year and find that usually is sufficient. I certainly don't have apples that would qualify as "art", but I don't have to worry about what else we're consuming when I pick them either. But that's just my personal choice.
Hope this helps...
Di
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ThymeForEweFarm
True Blue Farmgirl
705 Posts
Robin
An organic farm in the forest in
Maine
USA
705 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2006 : 6:10:09 PM
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Frannie, this should be helpful. http://www.farm-garden.com/feature/pruning_fruit_trees Nancy Reinhardt makes pruning very easy to understand. Wait until the trees are dormant to prune.
You can find safe sprays that work well and still keep the apples edible. Gardens Alive might have something. I don't spray any of my trees. There's an occasional blemish or mishapen apple but that's cosmetics only.
Robin
www.thymeforewe.com
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CabinCreek-Kentucky
True Blue Farmgirl
8529 Posts
Frannie
Green County
Kentucky
USA
8529 Posts |
Posted - Oct 15 2006 : 8:48:47 PM
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diane .. thanks so much for the great advice .. i will print it out and let my husband make appropriate plans for our THREE apple trees. i think they must be pretty old because they are so tall. i would rather not put poisons on them either. i have made some pretty tasty things with those little gnarly's. robin .. thanks for the site .. i'm going to go check it out right now! xo, frannie
True Friends, Frannie
CABIN CREEK FARM
KENTUCKY
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Garden Gate: Apple Trees |
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Apple Trees
