Iowa 25

[williams111]

We won’t be down there until March 11-12. Should be sheds around.

What crabapple has worked the best for you ? I’m going to plant some this year.

I dont have any trees producing fruit yet. Hope I can answer that question in a few years though.

 

[Troubles Trees]

Have any of you used anything to kill the wasps so this doesn't happen?

You could try using screening to cover the top and all the air holes in the sides. I like to live dangerously and knock the nests down with a stick a few times every year when they are small, one I must have missed because it had a huge hive in it. I clipped the zip ties and drove by on the 4 wheeler and pulled the tube on the fly, I still got stung twice so maybe not the best approach in that situation lol

 

[williams111]

I was able to get 10 more fruit trees planted last night before the rain starts today. They are weed matted, screened and caged. I have read where people have slid the cage up on the posts when using shorter wire. Does this look sufficient? I found a bunch of this 4’ wire on marketplace for a good price. If I need to make the cages bigger and leave them at ground level I will.
These trees were grafted in 2020 and planted in the garden. They definitely lost some roots when I dug them up so I pruned them down a bit as well. Hopefully they will take. I will not let trees grow this long in the garden again before transplanting them. Some of them had really long tap roots already.
I was also able to finish bench grafting this year. I only did 10 apple on MM111 as I am running out of places to plant. I did 5 plums as well, damson and Lavina on Myrobalan RS.

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Will the scion buds push through that wax?

 

[Mortenson]

You're a pro! Nice looking work. I also got the right price on some 4' remesh in 8' sections. Less than ideal but this year anything counts. I happily pulled a bunch of small 18-26" trees from my nursery and planted them in window screen, inside tubes, inside the small caging. They transplant really well when small.

 

[williams111]

Will the scion buds push through that wax?

Yep, started doing this last year and it improved my success rates big time. It’s just soft paraffin wax.

You're a pro! Nice looking work. I also got the right price on some 4' remesh in 8' sections. Less than ideal but this year anything counts. I happily pulled a bunch of small 18-26" trees from my nursery and planted them in window screen, inside tubes, inside the small caging. They transplant really well when small.

That’s good to hear, I’ve got more from last year I need to transplant.

 

[williams111]

 

[williams111]

I was able to get 12 more apple/pear trees planted/matted/screened/cages yesterday. Most grafted in 2021, but a few in 2020 and field grown until I dug them up yesterday and planted them. All apples were on Dolgo, I replaced a wickson on B118 planted last year after hearing all of the horror stories here. The apples were Arkansas Black, Enterprise, Franklin, Yates, Droptine and 30-06. Most pears on Bartlet RS and a couple on OHXF87 and Betulifolia. The pear varieties were Kieffer and a couple old locally grown trees that I am assuming are known varieties, but I don’t know what variety. I refer to them as Ditch Pear and Dirks pear. They are fall droppers and haven’t received any care for a long time and still produce heavy crops of large pears. I can’t wait to see what this property looks like in 10 years. I’m guessing in 15 acres I have planted 55 apple/pears, 35 Chestnuts, 40 persimmons, 40 Sawtooth Oaks, 50 SWO, 50 Bottomland Bur, 25 northern Pecan, 25 Hazelnuts and 25 Norway Spruce. I still want to add some Pawpaw in a couple groves of existing walnuts. I have read they will survive under/around walnuts. I have more apples/pears to add as well. I think adding more norways or cedars will benefit my property as well, it is lacking some thermal cover that I believe deer seek elsewhere, especially when the snow starts to fly.

 

[buckdeer1]

Just keep far enough apart I squeezed mine too close and have had to move some.I also had to thin a couple so you could shoot out of blind as they got bigger.

 

[williams111]

Just keep far enough apart I squeezed mine too close and have had to move some.I also had to thin a couple so you could shoot out of blind as they got bigger.

They are 8-10 paces apart which I’m thinking is 24ft ish. Hopefully that will be enough.

 

[buckdeer1]

Looks really good,lab looks just like mine but I would say several years younger.

 

[williams111]

I have been doing some spraying around my trees the last week or so and finished cleaning out tree tubes. I have been spraying a mixture of;
4oz/gal Glyphosate
2oz/gal Simazine
2oz/gal prowl
1oz/gal surfactant
What mixture do you all prefer for the best long term weed control? I usually don’t use gly but the buds have not broken here yet, atleast on the things I have planted. I sprayed a bunch of multi flora rose as well. I have never done that, but hopefully it will nock it back. Most of it had a few leaves emerging and it is turning into an impenetrable mess.

I did notice lots of what I believe is elderberry. That was a pleasant surprise. I attached some pics.

 

[Mortenson]

I've just been using prowl, atrazine and clethodim. I'd prefer to use Rup instead of cleth but don't want to risk it. Still haven't sprayed and my trees I assume are mostly breaking bud. Might shoot for tomorrow before 6 days of forecast rain. My Sithl backpack sprayer doesn't seem very precise, so I try to be cautious with the chems in it.

 

[Brian662]

I have been doing some spraying around my trees the last week or so and finished cleaning out tree tubes. I have been spraying a mixture of;
4oz/gal Glyphosate
2oz/gal Simazine
2oz/gal prowl
1oz/gal surfactant
What mixture do you all prefer for the best long term weed control? I usually don’t use gly but the buds have not broken here yet, atleast on the things I have planted. I sprayed a bunch of multi flora rose as well. I have never done that, but hopefully it will nock it back. Most of it had a few leaves emerging and it is turning into an impenetrable mess.

I did notice lots of what I believe is elderberry. That was a pleasant surprise. I attached some pics.

That may be Bush honeysuckle? I'm no expert but it looks very similar to the Bush honeysuckle I've seen. Should be able to tell shortly when it leaves out.

 

[williams111]

That may be Bush honeysuckle? I'm no expert but it looks very similar to the Bush honeysuckle I've seen. Should be able to tell shortly when it leaves out.

I do have lots of Bush Honeysuckle as well, I'm pretty sure this is not that.

I've just been using prowl, atrazine and clethodim. I'd prefer to use Rup instead of cleth but don't want to risk it. Still haven't sprayed and my trees I assume are mostly breaking bud. Might shoot for tomorrow before 6 days of forecast rain. My Sithl backpack sprayer doesn't seem very precise, so I try to be cautious with the chems in it.

My backpack sprayer isn't to precise either. If I'm concerned I feather the trigger just slightly and seem to get larger droplets which creates less drift.

 

[H20fwler]

You have had a busy spring planting! Will look AWESOME in five of six years when deer and turkeys are loaded up under them.

 

[williams111]

You have had a busy spring planting! Will look AWESOME in five of six years when deer and turkeys are loaded up under them

I hope your right! Many of the trees I have planted have scion you sent me, thanks again!

 

[PatinPA]

View attachment 42034View attachment 42035View attachment 42036View attachment 42037View attachment 42038View attachment 42033

How do you like that fencing for cages? How flimsy is it? I can get a 330 ft roll of it at TSC for $200 as opposed to 3 100 ft rolls of welded wire for $90 a piece. I have trouble getting stakes in the ground so if I had to use 2 I'm not sure it would work out well. I really need something that will stand on it's own.

 

[williams111]

How do you like that fencing for cages? How flimsy is it? I can get a 330 ft roll of it at TSC for $200 as opposed to 3 100 ft rolls of welded wire for $90 a piece. I have trouble getting stakes in the ground so if I had to use 2 I'm not sure it would work out well. I really need something that will stand on it's own.

Most of the wire Ive used this year is fairly light gauge and I wouldn't want to use it without at least 2 stakes. I do have 1 roll of heavier gauge wire that looks similar that may work on its own. Not sure what gauge wire your thinking. I got mine cheap on marketplace. I dont have trouble pounding stakes most of the time and I have a ton of fiberglass stakes shown in pictures. I found them on marketplace too, apparently they were overstock or something from “Fiskars” for making pole saws. A buddy and I went to Wisconsin to get them and got probably 2-3000 for a couple hundred bucks.

 

[PatinPA]

Most of the wire Ive used this year is fairly light gauge and I wouldn't want to use it without at least 2 stakes. I do have 1 roll of heavier gauge wire that looks similar that may work on its own. Not sure what gauge wire your thinking. I got mine cheap on marketplace. I dont have trouble pounding stakes most of the time and I have a ton of fiberglass stakes shown in pictures. I found them on marketplace too, apparently they were overstock or something from “Fiskars” for making pole saws. A buddy and I went to Wisconsin to get them and got probably 2-3000 for a couple hundred bucks.

I like the welded wire because it'll stand on it's own without a stake. Then all I need is a stake to keep it in place. If I have cages that need the stakes for support I'm not sure it will work. I use the fiberglass stakes too because there is some bend to them. It's easier to wiggle them around and get them down through a crack in the rocks. Way too exhausting to try to blast a Tpost or steel rod through the rocks.