Thanks for the reply s guys, I agree the problem with peaches in wichita is that it warms up to soon my current peach tree buds are swelling up right now, I like the warm weather but it really is a problem when you no your going to have another freeze. I have been doing a lot of research and have been maintaining an orchard for a number of years at the house, when I say community I should better phrase it as a company orchard, its a family run and owned company, there will be about 10 of us taking care and maintaining it, there will be a spray program, we have designed the irrigation system, and layout. I know several people have suggested Bing and I have talked them out of that, because everyone wants a sweet cherry I am doing what I can to come as close to it as I can. I have montamercy at home so I know they wont like the tartness for fresh eating. I sent an email to wagon wheel in gardner ks but no response as of yet, I like Adams but was trying to target local growers hoping I would get better suited trees for Wichita, or at least Kansas area. We have a tree nursery here in Wichita that really seem to know what they are doing but they are not particularly focused on fruit trees, they carry a broader range of trees with individual prices being rather inflated. I need to contact adams and see if I order from them if the trees will be bare root or not, I hear fall plating is better for bare roots. Thanks again for your help

It is a learning experience for me too -- our tap water is Acidy... so I gotta go see about a PH meter to make sure I don't wipe out all my little trees when I start spraying this year... And.. Oil just seems so simple and foolproof... Who would think you could kill everything so easily... I was planning to spray at night -- wind is low, bees and wasps and neighbors are asleep and the Moths and Curcuilos are out in force... but if I gotta have good, fast drying.. I gotta do it in daylight after the dew and fog burns off on a bright, sunny day instead. I did some more reading last night, and Arsenic also has similar symptoms... Arsenic Sources: Pressure treated wood (Did you burn some and dump ash under the trees?) Creosote? Rat poison... Especially watch out for fresh, newly purchased PT stakes that you would use to stake up plants.... I still believe you need to get a tissue and soil sample tested to see what is going on... Copper and Arsenic would probably be persistent in a tissue sample (Maybe in soil too)... Oil won't. Thanks John

THere is one thing: Many of those "native/naturalized weeds" are some of the best cover crops! Also, in theory there are no native weeds, just plants that we dont want in the yard.. For some people that can be oak trees! First off are clovers - White and red. Cold hardy, attracts bees and parasitic wasps (beneficial). They have massive roots for soil retention. You can make tea from them as well. They are also a nitrogen fixing plant which aids other plants. Dandelion - Thats right, dendelion. One of the earliest flowers here, so it attracts insects first thing. You can make butter wine and eat the young leaves like lettuce. The best thing is the fact their tap root goes so deep it collects minerals from hardpan and sub soil. They basically aerate your soil while putting minerals and nutients on the soil surface. The thing is they will eventually be ut competed wiehn your soil profile is filled and undisturbed. Strawberry - How can you get any better then a ground cover plant that fruits? Strawberries are native to much of the US (F vesca) and make great ground covers. The varieties that produce runners will ensure that you really dont have to do too much to get them to spread. Strawberries have roots that can go 10 feet into good soil. Lupine - These guys are awesome plants. They fix atmospheric nitrogen (like almost every legume), are native, hardy, produce massive root systems and have some of the best flowers in the garden. Bees LOVE these guys along with a plethora of beneficial insects. You usually see them in ditches but they are not limited to moist soil. THere are also a few shrubs that will work with coppocing ( basically cutting them down by half or more in early summer). The one that comes to mind for up here are caregana AKA siberian pea shrub. Hardy, can take being cut down to the ground and regrowing can be used as fodder as well. Once summer comes unto ful swing and these guys are floweriing you cut them down to what ever height you decide and lay down the cut material around the trees as mulch. These fix nitrogen as well. They can also be hacked down every year and still survive for 20 - 50 years. You should also use some annual cover crops like vetch. Any pea will do this as well. The same with beans. At the end of the season after you harvest, in the first few years of establishing the yard, these should be dug into the soil, and then use a cold season grain planted on top to be cut in the spring. Alfalfa is great as well... Perrennial, large roots, hardy and fixes nitrogen.... Interplanted in all of this should be flowers. I hated flowers when I first started gardening but the more i put in the more insects arrive. The flowers will attract beneficial insects to aid in pest control and pollination. These can be short native shrubs like some rose species (which also have hips you can eat and cook with). Things like flax, poppy, herbs (rosemary parsley, mints, oregano, lemon balm etc), native and non native lily and iris, black eyed suzan, coreopsis..... at this point the list is endless and should be done to personal taste! Some perennial grasses will work as well. The thing is in terms of cover crops the trick is diversity. Diversity can protect and build your soil and help protect your plants from stress therefore disease and infestation. I personally advise against only lawn. It causes its own problems. You want a variety of root depths to ensure proper soil retention. Only grass is generally one level of root structure. The higher the diversity of plants and trees, the more root structure therefore the greater soil retention.

Note: I am the originator of this post and a self-taught gardener! From my understanding, it's a great thing to have an established v-shape already, so YAY on your pickens! I would start by pruning for the three D's - dead, damaged or diseased. Also, the smaller branches I would completely cut back 10-20'' from the ground. Also, be very cautious about when you prune in the spring. This past year, I pruned around my usual April 1st timeframe, and then we got hit with an untimely and detrimental frost that messed the entire growing season for so many plants. I'm in New Haven, Connecticut for reference. My peach tree got inflicted with a serious case of leaf curl and I thought it would die! I saved it by making a homemade anti-fungal solution of water and oregano oil. I also gave it one dowse of a water and beach solution as a Hail Mary since the harvest for the year was shot. All these leaves had turned brown and fell off. Then, the tree came back with a fury, more than I could've imagined, and made a full recovery sprouting new leaves everywhere. :) Next year when I prune, I will be dowsing the tree in my homemade oregano oil solution to hold back the spores that come with the spring season and could possibly reestablish a fresh case of leaf curl. It's good to do this as a preventive since they are so susceptible to the disease. I've read to remove and burn old leaves, but I haven't done this and am going to see how the solution helps alone. If it's helpful, I'm also going to try this method on my peonies that caught leaf blotch this year, too.