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Damage like you're seeing did not happen this last winter. It takes a while after damage is done before the bark would loosen like that. Most likely was the summer before last.
Sunny is good for apples and no the bark is peeling because that branch is dead.
I would properly prune the dead branches later this summer when you can tell which ones are truly dead with no new sprouting occurring.
" your tree is way past its prime.. and has been dying for at least a few years.... at least 5 ..... "
I'm not sure I agree with this statement. Apple trees can live and be productive for many decades and we have no idea how old this tree may be with regards to its "prime". They will even live for many years with issues like canker or anthracnose, so a bit of a stretch to say it is dying, although vitality and productivity will decline over time.
ETA: posted before photo of very radical pruning was shown. I doubt that has helped the situation much. It's tough for almost any tree to recover from that severe a pruning. And ditto for all the hanging accoutrements :-)
Here's my apple tree the last year I owned my old place.
~40 years old 'HaralRed'.
Never did anything to it. No sprays, no prune, no nothing, just enjoyed the Apples. ;-)
4-7-2024:
Today, 37df windy and cold all-day rain, continuing into tonight.
Yesterday, near 60d and sunny so got all the composted manure spread under the expanded mulch piles on the newly planted trees and lightly spread granular (10-10-10) fertilizer around the deciduous yard trees, hoping to get a little more growth this season after 3 in a row near drought summers.
Didn't have a chance to get the rain gauge outside yet but it's looking like ~3/4" if forecasted correctly. The ground was already somewhat moist with the recent snow melt.
It just doesn't get any better than this, at least not where I'm located. :^)
Keep getting wind storms. Tired of it
Here in New England, we had beautiful weather for the past two days, but above normal temperatures. They forecast a high of 53F which is about average and I ended up with 60F on both days. So now, I'm concerned that we are going to skip over spring again and right into a HOT dry summer.
Now they are forecasting another round of "showers" and a big downpour on Friday with wind. My garden is loving all this rain. I am just fortunate that our neighborhood and this property for some reason, handles extra rain. We have a lot of mature trees in a small area and I assume the roots absorb it. Our entire neighborhood is flat level land and streets, maybe that has something to do with it.
Anyway - still - the weather has become more unpredictiable and way more stormy here. And what is with all the wind? Last year we had a lot of "showers" in the forecast which often meant, days of cloudy weather with no rain. I had trouble getting plants to bloom in less sun.
And has anyone else noticed that weather people are having a hard time forecasting the weather? They will give a 5 day forecast and whatever they forecast for that 5th day, by the time it gets here, the weather pattern is just the opposite of the forecast they gave 5 days ago. Is it really a forecast if you have to wait for the day before for it to be accurate? Something seems to have shifted.
Thank y’all! ❤️ thank you RoseCanadian!!
DD, behind the Bliss is an incorrectly labeled body bag rose that I bought at the Texas grocery store chain HEB. It was labeled as ”Scentuous,” but I think it is Double Bubble. they are small high centered roses that point out sharply as they open.
For science ;) - i counted the petals, 41 petals, minimal rose scent (last year I registered zero). Roughly 1.5 inch blooms that open to approx 2.5 inches.
Karin, that’s funny, I never think of the shorter zinnia! The only one I’ve grown are the tall ones. I should try that this year. I didn’t know they had doubles.
I love alyssum! I probably sow 5 packets every year around the edge of my front full sun bed. I just have to keep them moist for about 3 days and they germinate so quickly. Usually they reseed for me too, if I don’t disturb the area. I’ll look for ‘North Face’. I like ‘Oriental Nights’ from Botanical Interests…purple. Of course, I Love the fragrant varieties too.
I will be interested to hear how you do with Bacoba and Coleus from seed. I haven’t tried that and I didn’t think they were easy.
We have a hand truck too and it helps a lot with everything, but some of the larger pots are not easy to fit on it. And I have Rubber Trees and other larger houseplants that I want to bring outside for the season, and they are in larger heavy pots and the hand truck doesn't do me any good getting them down the stairs. And I don't want to empty them to do that either. So, it then becomes a two person job, one person on each side. Works fine.
That is a great photo of your main fenced garden. I remember older posts you made of the garden you had then, and it sounds like you have expanded a lot. Is that right? It has to be a lot of work to keep up with all that. Did you install that fencing yourself?
We have rabbit problems, not deer and the babies can fit through a very small space. I’m still working on trying to keep them out. Cattle panel we use for trellis, but I’m going to try hardware cloth for the rabbits in certain spaces.
We have deer in our neighborhood. My DH was out walking the dog last week and came across a deer just standing in the middle of the road, 3 streets over. But my yard is surrounded by other yards that are fenced and for some reason, I’ve never seen a deer in any of these yards and the fences are only 6ft tall.
Your gardens sound gorgeous, I hope you will post a lot of photos this season!!
Yes FrozeBudd and PrairieMoon, fences seem to be an unfortunate necessity for some of us. I resisted it as long as we could, but boy it is nice to keep the plants to ourselves. My husband made that fence, and I'm eternally grateful.
FB, I'll check out the Preciosa series. I did grow Profusion last year and it was excellent - but Zaharas were better for me.
Erasumus - Zahara double salmon was a new one for me last year and it was brilliant. It was my favorite annual amongst all the containers. I hope it does great for you, too.
The coleus and bacopa have all germinated at 100%. Woohoo! Onward!
I've bought roses from many different nurseries . Started with Almost Heaven Roses, which was about 30 miles from me. I'd visit there every spring. Used to buy from Pickering. Have bought many from Burlington Roses in CA, Roses Unlimited, David Austin Roses, Countryside Roses, Palatine, Edmunds, Hortico, The Antique Rose Emporium, Rogue Valley Roses, Vintage, and I have had a number of trading buddies.
Yes, l collect the hips in my own garden in fall. I usually wait till they turn orange though not all turn orange. I cut them open with a small paring knife like you'd cut a grapefruit. The seeds are pretty big and white. I dig them out with the knife. Here's what they look like:
Yes, if you want hips you don't deadhead. Most of the new seedlings bloom within two months of sprouting, maybe 3 months. I did have one that grew pretty big without blooming. I figured it was maybe a climber, one that would put most of its energy into growing before blooming. Well that plant finally bloomed and was beautiful but so far doesn't look like a climber. But many bloom quite early while still a few inches tall.
I have made alfalfa tea in a huge rectangular low Rubbermaid type tub. If you make it in the cool part of the spring and steep it four or five days it doesn't stink. It smells like fresh hay. I think it's because it gets more oxygen with greater surface area. IMO the stink of it made in deep trash cans is anaerobic bacteria but I could be wrong.
The ground is still frozen, but I was pretty excited yesterday when I noticed my tulips are emerging 🤩
Omg the thought of planting 400-500 bulbs makes me start shaking lol. I love the bloom of spring bulbs but hate planting them! Hadn't done any for the last few years but last year I bit the bullet and planted some more daffs and crocus and am certainly glad NOW that I did!
You guys MUST show us pictures of your hundreds of bulbs in bloom!
:)
Dee
Garden not essential! On the canal this morning.
I watched the video through while making dinner. Yes, it's a nursery showing how they do planters, so of course they want you to buy large annuals and stick them in for immediate effect - bam. I'm cheap, so I would be divvying up all those plants and placing the bits in each planter I do - because they will grow happily and fill out the space. Like right I will buy THREE full-sized creeping jenny pots to put in one planter LOL! But they are a nursery, so of course they just want you to buy without a thought. I've learned to fill containers with things like succulents - go out into garden, rip a handful of succulents, place in container - done. So, I guess I'm a spaced out cheap guy :-)
I basically have one main plant per pot...but will add spare annuals to any space around the crown, if I can transplant without mangling roots. Have no problems whatsoever poking a handful of sweet peas, cornflowers, phlox drummondii, calendula, , limnanthes, nemesia etc. in existing pots because as soon as the annuals start to go over, I chop them down to the base. I don't really raise any long-blooming, tender bedding plants so am mostly talking about simple things like red flax or larkspur..or biennials. Also, it appears that many of my pots contain later flowering plants (salvias especially) so who doesn't want to see some blooms in May as well as September.
Glances guiltily as one pot with a large purple leucantha and 4 (FOUR!) scarlet geums stuffed in. Will sacrifice the geums as soon as they look dull cos I raise them from seed every year, so have no scruples about chopping out). I have heaps of smaller containers which only ever have room for a single auricula or handful of small bulbs, which I stash out of sight when gone over.
Yep, I do the succulent thing too, Lallennoxa - sedums are so easily raised from seed.
My neighbour does that sort of planting Rouge - they spend several hundred £££ every spring, then rip it all out in October. I absolutely don't garden like that at all. In fact, l don't even recognise it as 'horticulture' but it comes under another rubric altogether (one I am not immune to, just not plants) - shopping.
GGal, is this the first time you are growing in galvanized stock tanks? I have had that idea to try that in the back of my mind for a long time. I’d love to hear your first hand experience.
Mxk3 - So funny, I LOVE watering. LoL I have to catch myself from spending too much time lallygagging around with the hose. I think when I am watering, I’m stopping long enough to actually get a good look at what’s growing. I find it meditative as well.
BTW, I hope you post more photos of your deck garden this year, I really enjoy it.
LaLennoxa - I agree, nurseries in my area do everything to try to get you to buy the largest size annual. To me, I don’t know how it profits them because they priced me just about out of the market. I buy a whole lot less and now I start from seed too, rather than spend a fortune on plants for containers.
One nursery near me, has someone on staff that does a really good job creating these very pretty sample containers and then they make sure that the contents are all available only in the largest size and the most premium plants. I don’t feel I want to reward that kind of decision making.
And I don’t consider your methods ‘cheap’. Your financially sound decisions are frugal. Which never used to be a bad word, in a different generation. I also do what you do, and use plants from the garden in containers. I normally need to divide some perennials every season and I will add my own divisions to containers for a season and plant them out in the garden in the Fall. Sometimes I will use a houseplant in an outdoor container. And sometimes I try to overwinter and use those in the next year’s containers.
Does anyone plant bulbs in containers for spring display?
I don’t normally cram a lot into each container, I try to give each plant the expected room to grow. But - I think I might try a few pots planted close together this year.
Marmiegard - I do like an arrangement of single plants in containers too.
Squirrels used to be pests in my containers until I stopped feeding the birds. I don’t see them in my yard nearly as often.
Good customer service - or the lack of it - is one of the primary reasons I frequent certain retailers and avoid others like the plague. It certainly seems to be in short supply these days!
It may very well be regional differences or the size of the establishment but most better retail nurseries and garden centers in my area have dedicated plant buyers on staff whose business it is to locate and order specific plants from the scores of wholesale growers they have access to. I was one, once upon a time :-)) Each week we received availabilities from the growers as to what was in stock, looking good and available that week and I would place my perennials and groundcover orders accordingly. The buyer for trees and woody shrubs would do the same, although most of the trees were preordered the previous fall.
Most of the larger nurseries will accept special requests as well. That's how my long desired Spigelia 'Little Redhead' came into my life! 😁
LaLennoxa, I hope you can locate and get your hands on the Ruby Slippers oakleaf. I grew one in a previous garden and it truly is a stunning plant. Very floriferous and with gorgeous late season and fall coloring.
My sister and I were out shopping for some supplies for my new garden last week - essentials like a new hose and a weed whacker - so we stopped at Home Depot. This is a retailer I only visit when it seems to be the last resort or the best pricing as a) their plant selection is dismal and not well cared for and b) decent customer service is almost nonexistent. We were pleasantly surprised when an employee in his early 20's went above and beyond the typical to assist 2 little old ladies pick out the proper weed whacker for the situation, showing us several different models he thought best, and then proceeded to carry the selected item to the check out for us. He was so helpful and attentive that we both had to compliment him on his superior customer service!!
So it does exist and sometimes in unexpected places, if maybe not as commonplace as it should be.
Cold damage is not always immediately obvious. And if it was that resilient to freezing temps, one would think the authorities would note that. Enough has been written about it.
Seems a shame to risk a nice little tree......for what?
Cold damage manifests itself in the weeks and months after a freeze. I wouldn't risk it. Especially not in a container - why wouldn't you make an effort to move it under cover. Last year, I lost ALL my agapanthus, salvias, scented pelargoniums and citrus after a perfectly normal UK winter (but had got lazy and complacent) so I guess I am a bit more circumspect now...although I do get it that you are keen to push the zone envelope.
This particular willow would not damage anything in your set up. They're away from any building, and they are small trees which do not have an extensive root system.
Oh, now that's something else! I have 'Skinner's Cutleaf' silver maple, that with each passing year increases in beauty. It's quite the effect to at night shine a flashlight up into the silvery underside of the lacy foliage.
FrozeBudd, yes, where I lived previously, there was a well-formed silver maple along a bike path paralleling a small stream, and the underneath was cooling shade but actually quite well lit up by the leaf undersides, kinda like a silvery cathedral.
Debra, hummingbird mint is hit or miss this far north, though today I spied some still green foliage of last year at the base of one plant and another having pushed up a mass of fresh small new leaves, they survived! ... wish I could say the same of my fancy echinacea, gggrrrr, lol.
You can cut back the Buddleia now in your zone--June is much too late.
Spring doesn't go by zone. It goes by latitude. If I had buddleia, I wouldn't even be looking at it yet.
No. But it can spread aggressively if happily sited. Just pull out what you don't want.
I agree with what others have said about the plant. I planted Black Scallop ajuga. Beautiful, yes, very, very aggressive, also yes. By the third year, it was was growing through and around very hosta and perennial I had. I could barely see my garden! AND….it’s not easy to get out because it spreads through underground stolons which then develop a new base head for other shoots to grow. It took me 2-3 years to get it all out and I just have city front yard where I planted it. Think twice!
debra
Update 4/2024: I'm going to have to re-evaluate my use of "Black and Bloom" this year. Couple reasons: While it was a large, robust plant, which is just what I wanted for the pot, a bit later in the season it got bare ankles, the underplanting of petunias was bloomed out so taken out, and the bareness on the bottom bugged me. Second, the cuttings are not easy to manage in the house over the winter. They're too vigorous and require constant cutting back or else they want to take over the whole window cart. I just hacked them back again by at least 2/3 this afternoon.
Now, my "Black and Blue" cuttings are doing fantastic. I managed to get nice full plants over the winter with minimal fuss (unlike the "Bloom"). So, if these "Blue" that I grew from cuttings end up growing vigorously once outdoors, I will stick with those instead of the "Bloom" and take the cutting route yearly instead of relying on purchased transplants (reference my above comment about being disappointed in recent years). I like the flower color better anyway. So we'll see.
I had trouble with winter cuttings of "Mystic Spires". The cuttings I took from outdoor plants in the fall rooted quickly, but the cuttings I took from those were a struggle; a lot of them did not take, so I don't have as many "Mystic Spires" and I would like. Oh well. At least the ones I have look good.
I could only grow atragene and koreana clematis in z3 Alaska. Here, I am having mixed results as the large flowered clematis can cook here and peter out.
My zone 3 in Alaska was just too cold for the large flowered beautiful plants I tried there. I tried and tried and the climate won out.
I will look to try a Koreana type or atragene here and see how they do.
FrozeBudd - that's too bad. Could you grow the large flowered varieties in pots?
Cori Ann, I order you to stop posting these gorgeous photos this instant! You are making me have sinful desires and cravings for roses I have can't have. It's torture. I especially focused in an unhealthy way on the ever so charming Gee Whiz. Shades of Augusta Luise and obsessions! Diane
It's been interesting to pop in/out of the this thread over the years. I will admit: I am very late to the YouTube/influencer games - somehow I even managed to go through the whole pandemic somewhat oblivious to it. But being enticed into it now, but also quite apparent how so many jumped on the influencer bandwagon and shamelessly endorsing products which they happily receive. The ones who are so obviously Proven Winners influencers - who can name off every single one of their named Proven Winners cultivars that make up their garden like "Pee Wee Me Pee Pee Hydrangea" or "Miss Dinky Winky Mighty Mouse Petunia" without referring to notes or bursting out laughing
A friend of mine had a big vole/mole problem until a ferral cat arrived in her yard unannounced and made a home under her deck. Now she has no problem with moles, voles or chipmunks.
Yes! I had a horrid experience from Violet Barn. Plants were dead on arrival and Rob the guy that answers phone and emails was rude and nasty. The plants are supposed to be guaranteed delivered safely...A lie. He fails to replace them. When I informed him that I would dispute it with the credit card company he yells in my ear "Go ahead, I don't need the business any way" and proceeded to slam the phone down in my ear.
Pine resin has pitch (with charcoal powder or ash) for grafting seems to work wonders in grafting, just dont use pine resin from a contacminated species, should be a healthy tree so you dont contaminate the graft. it seals from moisture and is natural, better than tape the best is to keep it betwwen gummie and mild hard so the graft can grow
You're gonna need a bigger garden.
Jaws.gif
I think there is a support group that helps you with continuous buying syndrome.
Unfortunately, you're at the wrong site. ;-)
I have a seedling species Acer pseudosieboldianum in fact two, but only one has the red new growth feature. The other comes lime green with red leaf margins. Much diversity with this species.
This was in August (2022), second flush of first year planted. So lower down the leaves have turned green already.