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Wondering about winter-
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Crankyankee
Connecticut
79 Posts
(Offline)
1
November 17, 2020 - 6:39 pm

Snow is around the corner here and I'm wondering what else I should do to prepare my trees for winter. I've cleared out all the leaves to suppress pestilence. I bought a bottle of dormant oil but I haven't yet applied it as I'm a bit hesitant about  overdosing. I had read some posts earlier about applying an organic clay-based elixir to the trunk, is that recommended?

What do other people here do to winterize?

Zone 6a in the moraines of eastern Connecticut.

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John S
PDX OR
2800 Posts
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2
November 24, 2020 - 7:19 pm

Not a lot.  Keep leaves and mulch away from tree trunks lest you provide a cozy home for voles, who will eat you tree cambium until they kill the tree.

I bring in tender plants.  I put a rain cover on plants that need excellent drainage.  You probably don't get so much winter rain.

We hardly get any snow in Portland.

John S
PDX OR

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buzzoff
84 Posts
(Offline)
3
November 29, 2020 - 10:31 pm

Ummm.  What kinds of trees do you have?  This can be an important consideration.

Not all trees can tolerate dormant oil sprays that utilize Sulfur.

Tell us more.

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John S
PDX OR
2800 Posts
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4
November 30, 2020 - 12:58 pm

I put the Biodynamic tree paste, but only on the trees that look like they need help.

JohN S
PDX OR

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Crankyankee
Connecticut
79 Posts
(Offline)
5
December 3, 2020 - 12:43 pm

Buzz, mostly I have apples and sweet cherries with a couple tart cherries, a dwarf peach, a pluerrie, a plumcot all of these on M27,  G935, Newroot-1, Citation and St Julien. I've got Sweet Shelly grapes, a trailing blackberry and a dwarf blackberry. There are a couple of mature pears as well, and the trunks on these have split to varying degrees.

 

John, that's the elixer I was reading about. So, it's not a general prophylactic? Seem like a lot of work but maybe worth the effort if it wards off disease and pestilence. I was thinking of painting the trunks with latex paint which I've read can prevent trunk splitting. Iirc it's a clay based mixture. What type of clay do you use?

Zone 6a in the moraines of eastern Connecticut.

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John S
PDX OR
2800 Posts
(Offline)
6
December 5, 2020 - 8:28 pm

It's not really a lot of work.  Just finding the biodynamic/permaculture cow poo is the hardest. Mix with sand and clay. Maybe diatomaceous earth.  I just use local clay from my yard or close. Lots of clay soil here.

John S
PDX OR

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