That was a very interesting post Patrick. I agree and disagree with it to an extent. With serious loss of our natural forests and large old trees as well as the rainforests, we are in desperate need of the large trees. They are the only thing standing between us and global warming right now. Without them it doesn't matter what we do to save the earth, it will still be lost. However, on the other hand, with property lots getting smaller and smaller and houses being built larger and larger, there is no room for these wonderful large trees with or without a rose garden. Hence more and more understory trees are being planted instead of the large shade trees if there are any planted at all. In my area, if you want to sell a house, especially right now, a large shade tree will sell the house, with or without the rose garden. Now, down to the nitty/gritty. I love roses too. Of all the plants in my garden the rose takes presedence. However, I'm fortunate enough to own a somewhat large lot and can also have those large trees. I realize there are few who might be as fortunate. I have 11 large shade trees ranging from beech to oak to maple to ash to fossil and a couple of others. I have almost a dozen understory trees such as dogwood, Japanese maple, cherry. I also have Vitex but use that as a large shrub. I also have a Japanese varigated willow that I keep as a shrub. Yet, I still have much room for my roses and keep right now, about 200 roses with more coming each year. My thoughts are that before planting a tree (they shouldn't be bought in a whim, EVER)each person should evaulate where the tree will be, what performance you want from it, i.e. shade, protection from wind and elements, wildlife, screening, etc., where the morning, afternoon and evening sun hits and where your flower beds are. All my roses are in full sun from dawn to dusk. Roses such as Gruss an Aachen, most of my polys anyway, seem to prefer a little shade in the middle of the afternoon. At least my Gruss an Aachen especially, hasn't performed nearly as well since I put it in full sun. It's also a very hot sun, with no shade or cooling of any kind. Most of my large trees don't shade the roses at all but they do provide a cooling of the air as it passes through them. The trees not only make the air feel better to me, but my roses seem to perform better when they are closer to the trees. It has to do with subclimates, I'm sure. I know the large shade trees are a problem for a lot of people. Most properties don't support them anymore and that's quite the shame of it. A lot of planning needs to go into the garden before one can be planted. In my garden, the closet two shade trees are 50 feet apart, with most of them closer to 80 feet apart. The sun hits my house and rose gardens in a way that even mature trees will not stop the sun from coming in. But they will cool the air and take the beating sun away. They will also provide a spot for me to escape the sun and provide food and shelter for the wildlife and the outside utilities of the house. I have visited some rose gardens that didn't have trees, where the roses sat in the beating sun. I honestly didn't enjoy it as much since, being fair skinned, the sun did such a number on me and there was no escape from it that I finally didn't enjoy the rose gardens. I want my roses, but I want my trees too. I guess I want Utopia.

Now that it's getting colder, mice will look for anything they can eat, including tree roots and bark. I lost a 20 year old grape vine a few years ago when they ate all the roots off just at the soil level during a prolonged cold snap. Killed the grape vine just as if I had taken an axe to shear it off at its trunk base.

trees heal themselves.. they are pretty good at it ... ANYTHING you do is contray to mother nature ... please refrain ... other than figuring out what is causing the injury .. ken

Your neighbor has an apple tree. In theory, it should pollinate your apple except for your apple variety is the incompatible one. Your apple trees have so many water sprouts (vertical shoots). Horizontal branches produce more fruit spurs. Your tree is busy producing vegetative growth. I would trim off several of those vertical sprouts and bend others to at least 45-60 degrees angle. Do you have two pear trees of the same variety? If not, do they bloom at the same time? Before you move on to cherry and peach, read up on old gardenweb forum about cherry and peach issues. If you do not want to spray, cherry and peach may not be fruit trees for you. They typically require more care and has more problems with diseases and insects.