Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
I just got the new SLN catalog. I saw NO Winter Wildlife, All-Winter-Hangover, Centennial, Centurion, Violi's, or Trailman crabs in it. I guess Connor Hardiman has given up on raising them?
SLN new catalog
- Thread starter Bowsnbucks
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trampledbyturtles
5 year old buck +
Talked with him about it.
Said with the drought they had, he didn't feel comfortable selling them at the size they were.
Hopefully it's a sign of learning from the past few years
Said with the drought they had, he didn't feel comfortable selling them at the size they were.
Hopefully it's a sign of learning from the past few years
Chainsaw
5 year old buck +
The only Rains last summer in this area of Northern New York came from spotty thunderstorms so it made tough growing conditions for those that weren’t in the right spots. It was very frustrating; we could hear the storms coming, smell the air, feel the coolness and the breezes and then the storms inevitably turned and went by us. Evidently the same must have happened at the ST. Lawrence Nursery area last summer. We hauled water for our little apple tree seedling garden and lucked out with up to five ft. of growth on them. Still though they didn’t get the diameter on them I would have liked. More frequent and earlier watering likely would have helped our apple tree seedling growth significantly. Hauling water is a normal activity for many people here. Some of the dairy farms here haul water daily for their oversized cow herds. It is just one of those things they have to do to stay in business. In the towns surrounding us there are town water stations where bulk water is purchased at about a penny a gallon. I don’t know if they have that option in the ST. Lawrence area but wrote this just in case the folks at the nursery have that option and never looked into it. Someone close to him can mention it to him, please. All of us that have been in business understand that business is just one struggle after another and one can not just sit back when these inevitable struggles seem impossible. There are usually solutions at hand. Hope they figure it out at ST. Lawrence. They apparently have a few wildlife trees with great genes to work with.
Tree Spud
5 year old buck +
Which ones are for wildlife? There were none listed on their website in the group tree selections.
Chainsaw
5 year old buck +
Tree Spud, as Bows and Bucks stated in his original post none of the “wildlife“trees are listed and the nursery owner stated the trees were too small to offer due to the drought. In 2019 I was only able to order three winter wildlife from them as they were otherwise all sold out Of what I wanted. The Winter Wildlife trees received in Spring 2020 were quite small, like really tiny. I intended to purchase more from him when he gets his size issue straightened out. Apparently he is not there yet. Further he doesn’t separate his wildlife trees out. I recall seeing Enterprise listed for sale which works well as a wildlife tree here but frankly the other nurseries are mostly priced less and have much larger trees as well. He may have others that might work dependent on your disease susceptibility level. Here if it is not strongly resistant to at least cedar apple rust and fireblight we are not considering using them. Apparently though, none of the very few he “owns” referred to by forum members as wildlife trees are available.
I think if I was going to buy more I'd get their wild apple and pear seedlings. They'd get the cage/weed mat/ screen treatment then be left to live or die. I live far enough away from my hunting place that any trees I plant will have to do it on their own for the most part. I planted 16 trees from SLN two years ago. About 8 lived. I don't think I got bad trees. It's just tough living in the far North, for a lot of reasons. I also *might* have gotten a little 2,4-d on one or two of them with overspray.... Maybe.
I planted Cabot, Ely and Schroeder Pears and Dolgo and Violi crabs. Like I said, half of them are still alive.
I planted Cabot, Ely and Schroeder Pears and Dolgo and Violi crabs. Like I said, half of them are still alive.
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chummer
5 year old buck +
I will crow bar this in here. I don’t see Kerr mentioned enough for top wildlife trees and they to are hard to find. Mine have produce a few apples for three years now and has never had any FB. FB in my area is a top concern. I was hoping to add the Franklin to my list but they got hammered with FB the first year they had blossoms. SLN use to have Kerr but I have not seen them in a couple years.
Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Agreed guys. SLN today doesn't have a number of the tree varieties that they used to have when the MacKentley's owned it. They used to sell Kerr, Trailman, Centennial, All-Winter-Hangover, Winter Wildlife, Centurion, and Violi's. I've planted all of those at camp, and only lost 1 of our Trailmans to an unknown cause. The rest are all growing fine.
I have to say, the 4 seedling apple trees I got from SLN have grown really well. I planted those back in the Spring of 2013. They're all about 16 to 18 ft. tall now, but haven't made fruit yet. No surprise as they are seedlings - I expect fruit in another 2 or 3 years. A couple of them have REALLY good crotch angles all on their own.
I have to say, the 4 seedling apple trees I got from SLN have grown really well. I planted those back in the Spring of 2013. They're all about 16 to 18 ft. tall now, but haven't made fruit yet. No surprise as they are seedlings - I expect fruit in another 2 or 3 years. A couple of them have REALLY good crotch angles all on their own.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
I am still waiting on fruit from my Violi’s. It must be 6 or so leaf.
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Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Bur -
Ours too. Violi seems to be taking it's time. We had 1 crab apple on it a year ago - crows, ravens, probably got it - or it fell off and some critter ate it. All our other trees from SLN are doing really well - especially the Winter Wildlife and All-Winter-Hangover crabs. But they were purchased when the MacKentley's owned SLN. Bigger trees then.
sandbur
5 year old buck +
sandbur
5 year old buck +
Their easily the biggest crab I grow (Kerr, Winter Wildlife, Winter All Hangover, Shafer, Chestnut) and the couple I've try have been spittersbut maybe I tried them too early in the fall.
Thanks. How does Shafer taste?
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Bowsnbucks
5 year old buck +
Those 2 pics of Violi's crab are doing MUCH better than our 1 tree at camp. It's not in a great location though - doesn't get enough early morning sun. Too many pines on the east side of it, although they aren't real close to the Violi's tree. 10:30 to 11:00 am is about first sun for that tree.
Our fastest growers and producers from SLN have been the Winter Wildlife crabs, Those things sprint right out of the gate. 1" bright red crab apples that hang on & drop slowly for us. Tart / tangy taste. All-Winter-Hangover crabs from SLN have been ALMOST as fast at growing. 1 3/4" apples on those. AWH taste tart with a bit of sweetness.
Still waiting on Sherry and Minnesota 1734 from SLN to produce. Growing well, but no fruit yet.
Our fastest growers and producers from SLN have been the Winter Wildlife crabs, Those things sprint right out of the gate. 1" bright red crab apples that hang on & drop slowly for us. Tart / tangy taste. All-Winter-Hangover crabs from SLN have been ALMOST as fast at growing. 1 3/4" apples on those. AWH taste tart with a bit of sweetness.
Still waiting on Sherry and Minnesota 1734 from SLN to produce. Growing well, but no fruit yet.
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