Hi LostLandscapes- Ok then, it's sounding like these trees are just too young to be bearing fruit. Just to confirm, could you guess at the diameter of the tree a bit above the graft union? My trees arrive at only about 1/2"-5/8" in diameter. If your 4' trees are small like that, then it is indeed too young, and you should even remove any remaining fruit to help the tree grow. I'd suspect you'd even need to do the same next year, but I think peaches to bear slightly earlier than apples, so get a 2nd opinion. Sorry to give you the bad news about waiting for a few years! I only know a little bit about apple trees, but not really anything about peaches/nectarines. Hopefully some other people will come back with info for you on that. Two suggestions though... 1) you'll need to remind people where you live so they'll have half of a chance at guessing what your pests will be. 2.) I bet if you search these forums you'll find lots of good info on peach/nectarine spraying. Good luck, -Glenn

Yellowdirt, Despite what you've been told, the reason for cultivation between rows is not to break up bacterial colonies, but to reduce certain insect and disease inoculum (it can help reduce disease inoculum, not by breaking up bac. colonies, but by burying last season's leaf litter which can harbor disease). Clover and alfalfa, while offering a benefit of adding N, have the disadvantage of harboring stink bugs. Around here this is a big problem, but in MT, with less rain, it may not be. You're on the right track trying to reduce grass/weed competition around your trees, just don't do it with plastic.

I second to Kevin's about orchids like sun. I just visited a friend of mine and noticed one of Sharry Baby I gave to him couple years ago was blooming . The bulb is huuuge and plumped , much larger than mine. I don't have a lot of issue growing orchids, or have orchids bloom, just following what it needs mostly of time. But I have never grown orchids that good comparing to my friend. He said he put the orchids outside in the summer under his large Bradford pear tree. The orchids got morning sun and later afternoon sum directly but got filtered sun in most of day time. He said his other orchids collection seems grow better this way too . I kept my orchids on the dry side and don't water my orchids very often. But I do spray /mist my orchids, the potting medium, and outside of the pot( clay) twice a day with water. And spray/mist the leaves especially the back side of the leaves with low strength fertilizer every day. This works well for me so far. I have all my orchids bloomed as they are supposed to be, and have my orchids grow new braches as they are supposed to be... But I will move my orchids outside this summer to see if I can make them grow bigger and better.

Hey there, Aggierose. I haven't used all the different types of liners available. I have had to research and ask questions just as you are doing. While I respect Gary's opinion and recommendations, I would hesitate to use the fiberglass tarps myself because of all the critters that seem to use my pond. The raccoons and the muskrat would have torn up the tarp very quickly. You might have tree roots and rocks that could eventually cause problems. I went with the 45mil EPDM made by Firestone 11 years ago and have been quite happy with it for my 1000 gallon pond. It seem to be the most popular and cost effective way to go but others have different opinions based on their experiences. On my first liner pond I got a 45mil EPDM liner on sale at a pet store at the end of the season for half price. Since then I have used roofing rubber (45mil Firestone EPDM) from Menards. Just about any home improvement store that sells roofing material sells the same thing. It is frequently on sale at a reasonable price. If there is a lot of construction near you, you might be able to get a bargain price for a left over piece. There has been some discussion as to toxicity from the roofing material on this forum but I have not come across any post that claims it was harmful in any way. I have seen references to roofing material that was treated for resistance to moss and molds but I haven't actually seen any EPDM that included that for sale. There have been numerous threads on this topic on this forum so you might want to do a search. As for the underlayment, it depends on the soil composition. I have almost pure clay with no rocks and the tree roots grow around the pond rather than at it. Since the drainage is really bad, the materials I tried out rotted very quickly and I wound up using none at all. The smell was awful.