Greg: 1. Dormant pruning has its place, such as removal of larger limbs, and any pruning is better than none, but I have improved the bloom and fruiting of my trees by pruning in late summer, usually August and into early September. Dormant pruning stimulates a flush of vegetative growth, while summer pruning favors the formation of fruiting wood and spurs. Improvement is not instant, but will become evident over a period of 2-3 years. Keep your trees open and uncrowded, and do not allow them to become too tall for you to deal with. 2. Most dormant oils have the same basic mode of operation; they are intended to break the cycles of overwintering insects by cutting off oxygen and smothering their eggs. All spray oils must be miscible, which means they can fully emulsify when mixed with water. Standard oil sprays come in various weights, but the type intended for dormant use is normally a standard weight oil such as "Bonide All Seasons spray oil". Oil sprays are effective in controlling or preventing insects such as scale, mites, and aphids, but they have no effect on growing season insects that actually attack the fruit. So, while your trees may be protected against some pests, you won't get any protection from insects on the fruit with oil sprays, whether applied in dormant season or the lighter "summer weight" oils that can be used during the growing season. I use standard Bonide spray oil in the dormant season, at a mixing rate of 4-5 ounces per gallon, somewhat stronger than the label recommendation, and my oil applications usually are made on a nice sunny day in mid-February or so, and again just before or at bud break. 3. We would all like to eliminate the use of chemical pesticides to raise our fruit, but wishing and doing are not the same. Without the aid of some effective chemicals, plum curculio, codling moth, and apple maggot will make a mess of most unsprayed apples, especially in eastern and midwestern locations, to the point that they are unusable. I find it necessary to apply 2-3 early sprays with imidan or permethrin (some, but not all others are effective, and "combination" sprays are useless), to protect little apples from plum curculio for the first two weeks before thinning. But the news is not all bad because.......... 4. At that point, I bag the single apple remaining in each cluster in a ziploc sandwich bag, which protects it against further damage from remaining PC, as well as codling moth and apple maggot for the balance of the season. No further sprays are normally required. Much has been written about bagging apples, and you can find a lot of it here with a search. Of course, to properly thin and bag apples, you must be able to reach all parts of the tree where there is fruit, and for semi-dwarf trees or larger, you will have to use a ladder. See para. 1, the pruning part, about that. I prefer to keep apple trees pruned to an open center with spreading branches, which makes it easier for me to reach all the fruit from my 3-point Stokes orchard ladder. If bagging apples does not interest you, spraying will be necessary on a week to 10-day schedule throughout the season (it wouldn't be oil spray), and you may still see some damage. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

well, I'm a bit warmer than you (zone 6) and I don't use dormant oil, but I do use burlap to protect my first year or slightly tender roses. I usually do this after Thanksgiving; some of the roses may have leaves, but not a lot of leaves. I have 2 techniques: 1. build a little cage out of stakes or chicken wire around the rose, then wrap this in burlap or 2. (my favorite): buy a bunch of those sturdy brown paper leaf bags. Cut out the bottom, so you have this sort of "tube". Put it over the rose and secure it to the ground with stakes. For an extra tender rose, I might add leaves or straw inside the bag, or even wrap the exterior with burlap. For tougher roses, the thick paper is enough protection against winds. I prefer this technique because its easier, and seems to work very well. Also, the bags are quite sturdy and I usually get a few years out of them. Hope this helps, and hope somebody else can give you advice about dormant oil!

"I looked up "heat punp" on Wikipedia and don't understand it. I mean, I understand the physics aspect of it but not how it works in your house." - A heat pump is simply a central air conditioning unit that has a reversing valve and produces heat in the winter and a/c in the summer. If you have existing ductwork for a central a/c system, you're good to go for a heat pump.

Here's the extent of my knowledge. It's not much but may get you started. Be sure to get a home inspection before you sign a contract! Summer/Winter Hook-Up Systems Summer/winter hook-up systems use a gas or oil fired boiler to heat hot water for radiator or baseboard heating. They also provide the hot water for your house and eliminate the need for a water heater tank. Since this type of system is in use year round, even when there is no need for heat, it is called a summer/winter hookup. The hot water supplied by the boiler for personal use is the same temperature as the water used to provide heat. Therefore, the output temperature of hot water at sinks, faucets, and bathtubs in the house can exceed 150 degrees. This is a very dangerous temperature that can result in instant scalding and burning of exposed skin. To prevent accidental scalds, a tempering or mixing valve should be attached to the main hot water supply line. The tempering valve mixes cooler water with the hot water from the boiler to reduce the temperature of personal use hot water to a safe level. Summer/winter hook-up systems also have a temperature & pressure relief valve. Its purpose is to discharge water from the boiler if the internal water temperature of the boiler exceeds 210 degrees F or 30 PSI. If water temperatures or pressures were allowed to exceed these points, the boiler could become damaged or worse, the boiler could explode. The TPR valve should have a directional pipe installed that points towards the floor and ends about six inches above the floor. This helps prevent anybody standing nearby from getting burned with scalding water if the TPR valve were to open. This exhaust pipe should never be capped or plugged shut. /tricia