Telemark
5 year old buck +
That link is pretty much how I plant trees. Not sure if it applies to all trees, but it's my general method.
-
If you are posting pictures, and they aren't posting in the correct orientation, please flush your browser cache and try again.
Edge
Safari/iOS
Chrome
Crabapple timeline
- Thread starter sandbur
- Start date
That link is pretty much how I plant trees. Not sure if it applies to all trees, but it's my general method.
Oaknut
5 year old buck +
My rationale for burying grafts is:
1. I am in Michigan’s elk range. I want vigorous trees that will grow out of their reach, and as rapidly as possible.
2. We also have bears. I hope to have trees that will someday be large enough so that bears do not totally destroy them.
3. If voles, mice or rabbits girdle my trees I want a chance that root sprouts might be from the scion variety.
4. I hope for trees that will endure for generations, and I have several seedling trees that I believe are at least 80 years old, and perhaps much older than that.
Unfortunately, many of the trees that I see are simply grafted too high to make burying the grafts practical.
My first two reasons are less important with trees produced on full-sized RS, like those from Blue Hills. But trees from big box & farm stores that I’ve seen are often on semi-dwarf or unknown RS. I have no use for trees on dwarfing RS, except as scion donors.
I’ve been planting apples & crabs this way for 35 years when the grafts are low enough, and it has worked for me. But I have extremely light, sandy soils. Perhaps it would be less successful in heavier soils or in clay, I do not know.
I am not saying that burying grafts is right for everyone. But in my situation I believe that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
1. I am in Michigan’s elk range. I want vigorous trees that will grow out of their reach, and as rapidly as possible.
2. We also have bears. I hope to have trees that will someday be large enough so that bears do not totally destroy them.
3. If voles, mice or rabbits girdle my trees I want a chance that root sprouts might be from the scion variety.
4. I hope for trees that will endure for generations, and I have several seedling trees that I believe are at least 80 years old, and perhaps much older than that.
Unfortunately, many of the trees that I see are simply grafted too high to make burying the grafts practical.
My first two reasons are less important with trees produced on full-sized RS, like those from Blue Hills. But trees from big box & farm stores that I’ve seen are often on semi-dwarf or unknown RS. I have no use for trees on dwarfing RS, except as scion donors.
I’ve been planting apples & crabs this way for 35 years when the grafts are low enough, and it has worked for me. But I have extremely light, sandy soils. Perhaps it would be less successful in heavier soils or in clay, I do not know.
I am not saying that burying grafts is right for everyone. But in my situation I believe that the benefits outweigh the disadvantages.
Last edited:
sandbur
5 year old buck +
Interesting advice for your light sandy soils.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
Me, too. I mean, me was. Well I am done as of today.Of course non of this applies to me because Im done planting fruit trees!
Luke had some small Prairie Sensationn on dolgo that I couldn’t pass up. I told him how I struggled with tree tubes 30 plus years ago and how the trees wouldn’t harden off by fall.
He also has vented tubes so I followed his suggestion. Plant and tube. Sink the tubes at least four inches in the ground. Then pull the tubes in late summer. I will window screen and fence then.
I thought I had lots of trees. I would estimate he has 3x on his hunting ground. Better soil and more wind protection than my location. I am expecting to have to tie some of these trees to conduit when I pull the tubes.
He is in wooded hills. I am in open ag, former prairie lands. I had a 20 minute tour of his set up. Impressive.
Well, I am done planting trees….. for now.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
It's amazing what those little b'trds can do to trees. Once a tree gets a few years of growth & gets established, even bears don't usually do enough damage to kill a tree - but voles can kill a full-grown tree without protection. In winter - everything edible is fair game to voles & mice.
Derek Reese 29
5 year old buck +
One of them was a three year in the ground Wolf River that I was expecting fruit on that year till I noticed it kinda tipping sideways an when I went to move it the whole dang thing popped out of the ground! My little guy was with me and may have learned a new phrase or two that day…
jsasker007
5 year old buck +
I'm a little pissed for you with that experience. Deer decided they would "trim" a bunch of my evergreens this year for some reason. 15 year old trees that they never touched before this year. Still pissed about it.
TonySoprano
5 year old buck +
sandbur
5 year old buck +
You have a nice selection of crabs. Have you tracked deer usage/preference over gal into winter?
sandbur
5 year old buck +
Fall into winter, not gal.
MW22392
5 year old buck +
Very nice collection, thank you for sharing!
To date, my deer density has been too high and fruit yield too low for them to exhibit any preference. All that's mattered has been drop time as all available fruit is gobbled up in short order.
That could be changing very soon as yield is growing exponentially (expecting decent crops on 80 or so trees this year) and EHD wiped out most our local deer herd last summer/fall.
Most of the trees I have a pretty good handle on their drop, but a few are in areas that I don't really visit during season nor do I have cameras on.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
Have you had the EHD before? Do you see any deformed hoofs on survivors?
Teeder
5 year old buck +
Do you have any that drop consistently around late November- early December?
Went through it in 2012 on a lease. Never saw deformed hooves but we only killed 1 deer in the 3 years we had the lease following the outbreak.
I only did two sits on my property last year and those were really just to get a feel for the herd condition. I had a weapon, but wasn't really hunting.
No crabs that drop particularly heavy that time of year, but many have extended drop times that trickle down for several months that'll keep deer visiting then. Droptine, 30-06 and Franklin Cider are examples. I do have a ditch pear I grafted that drops Thanksgiving thru New Year. It's golf ball size, gritty and taste like crap, but deer gobble them up. I suspect it has some Bradford genetics in it.
I should have a lot more data to share in coming years as 80% of my trees/varieties haven't produced big enough crops yet to really determine anything. Thats changing.
