The Sandbox

[sandbur]

Some of my new grafts planted down through the reed canary. Golden hornet in the front
.

Kinder crisp in the front in the second picture.. The wind did not break it off (yet).

 

[sandbur]

A finger goes down along the swamp.



B118 from last year planted as is.



That tree directly behind it is a seedling crab.

 

[sandbur]

Looks good Art, is that the seasonally damp area you dropped a roll of wire at last spring?

Yup. Southeast of the house.

 

[sandbur]

In that finger is another crab that I started from a piece of root. It is a slow process. I have this tree and all of the rest shaded on the south side.

And also a violi's crab from sln. It has started to grow in it's second leaf.

 

[sandbur]

This graft of a wild crab I call Guard Dog is on dolgo. It is called Guard Dog as it drops a 2 inch crab about on Veteran's day.


It's neighbor is the Long Prairie crab on B118. Thanks Stu for the scion!

 

[buckvelvet]

In that finger is another crab that I started from a piece of root. It is a slow process. I have this tree and all fo the rest shaded on the south side.View attachment 5975

And also a violi's crab from sln. It has started to grow in it's second leaf.

View attachment 5976

Now thats a heck of a bend! :)

 

[chummer]

Tress are looking good. I am going to start leaving everything on the south side as well.

 

[sandbur]

Tress are looking good. I am going to start leaving everything on the south side as well.

You might not need to do so if the south side is not exposed to the winter sun.
You should also see what maya says, since he knows your climate better than me and also has much more experience.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

Your fruit trees are looking pretty good Art. Maybe I can pay you or Stu to graft me up some varieties each year. This hopefully will be the next step in my habitat plans. Only problem is I suck at it. I did 5 grafts this spring on those dolgo rootstock and they all failed:(

 

[Ben.MN/WI]

Fair point Bnb :eek::oops:
I do have more room...but it will require starting to fill foodplots with fruit trees. I just may turn those foodplots into fruit tree/clover plots in the future.

Stu - Ever think about trying adding a row or two of apples along the transition area from woods to fields? I need to take some pics to show what my transition area orchard looks like, but I planted a dozen apples this spring in that kind of area. It looks like oak wilt took out a bunch of canopy trees on the woods/field edge several years ago before I bought our place. They cut the oaks down for firewood, but once they were gone the area grew thick with a shrub mix of buckthorn, hazel, different dogwoods, plum and raspberries, blackberries and black raspberries. Rather than trying to make a pretty looking clover filled orchard, I took out only the buckthorn and planted the caged apples right in the shrubs. I've had good luck bowhunting farms growing up that had abandoned orchards on the field edges that filled in with similar shrubs and it really made a great stand location since the deer felt safe feeding there in daylight before hitting the fields. Taking out a few large canopy trees and leaving the rest is also a lot less work than trying to clear out everything and that's always a bonus.

This little spot borders about a dozen other standard apples that I planted in open former fields, but I'm starting to think the apple/shrub mix might be preferred by deer in the future because of the good mix of food and cover.

This spring an adjacent 1/8 acre of red oaks were killed off by oak wilt, so I'm already planning an expansion of my transition orchard.

 

[sandbur]

Your fruit trees are looking pretty good Art. Maybe I can pay you or Stu to graft me up some varieties each year. This hopefully will be the next step in my habitat plans. Only problem is I suck at it. I did 5 grafts this spring on those dolgo rootstock and they all failed:(

It would be good to sit down together and work on a few of them. I hope to do a dozen or so next year and have areas sprayed. They marked with a single conduit or stake in the picture.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

I'm game!

 

[sandbur]

We'll get 'er done then

And probably some good BS'n besides.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

I was thinking of inviting a few of you guys out to my property in August once the fricken deer flies go away. Any takers?

 

[sandbur]

I was thinking of inviting a few of you guys out to my property in August once the fricken deer flies go away. Any takers?

I would like to do that. I work most Saturdays.
I learn something everytime we have a get together.

 

[Riggsgwp->]

We can plan for a time in August if all goes well. I will keep you posted.

 

[sandbur]

View from the stand. I'm not sure if the corn will be mature enough or not. There are a few rows of beans in there, also.

View attachment 5621 View attachment 5622

Update.

 

[sandbur]

This is probably a seed apple from Grandma in law. It drops in Dec. and January. I call it Yellow Dog. Maybe even later.

 

[sandbur]

Crab apples from seed I collected in the fall of 2007 from a wild tree.
Lots of variation. There must have been some red splendor pollen mixed in.

 

[sandbur]

Whitney crab cleft graft on one of the 2007 seedlings. Last year this tree had tiny green apples.