2014 update- My girdled apple tree is alive and well!!! Please read on- In the spring of 2012, I attempted to graft a Pear scion onto my apple tree using Winter Banana Apple as an inter stem. (All of he grafting i do is "Whip and Tongue" grafts wrapped in grafting tape. I then coat the wrapped union with grafting wax) The parent branch was a Winesap Apple branch with a grafted Winter Banana Apple scion from a few years before. (I actually have two of these paired branches.) I then attempted to graft two "Kieffer" Pear scions onto my two Winter Banana Apple inter stems. The "Kieffer" Pear scions started to grow, but died a few weeks later. This spring (2014) I attempted to graft this Apple / Pear union again using the same Winter Banana Apple inter stems. I had just enough branch on my Winter Banana branches to try this experiment one more time. This time around, I used "Sunrise Pear" scionwood. The grafting was a screaming success! (I had enough "Sunrise Pear" scionwood to graft two branches onto my apple tree, and two more onto an ornamental pear. All four pear grafts were a success!) I have no idea why this experiment failed in 2012 and was a success in 2014. I do not know if it had to do with the pear variety used, or if it had to do with environmental circumstances. I will re-post in 2015 with an update. There are a few different treads on this subject so I will be re-posting on those threats also. Below are pictures taken on 07/27/2014.

Rick, Just a clarification. Since the thread was 3 months old when you resurrected it, I had forgotten the context of my previous comments when I typed in a quick response last night. After some more thought, I remember the context of the discussion with Greenhousekendra three months ago. On another thread, she had asked about a spray program for her 72 trees. I mentioned it would take more than a cursory spray program to protect her apples in this climate. In contradistinction to that advice, you indicated she could raise apples with a low/no spray program, as you were doing. My original comment in this thread about your orchard being relatively new while trying low/no spray approach, was not so much to do with stink bugs, rather with pest pressure in general. You mention that you had a first real harvest in 2004, with another harvest in 2005. In 2006 and 2007, drought and freezing weather destroyed your harvest, with the next two years (2008 & 2009) successful. When I originally wrote the post on this thread, you'd only had two years of sequential back to back harvests, which is probably not enough time to allow pest pressures to build. As you get more harvests under your belt, I would be very interested in how your pest control program is working for you. What you're using, how often, and % marketable fruit? If it's successful, I see it as an opportunity to reduce the number of sprays I do. As far as the stink bugs, in contradistinction of your recommendation, I do not recommend legumes as a cover crop. The experience of the peach orchard near you, mirrors my own. I suspect the bean fields around his place are where his stink bugs originate. In my case, I have clover I can't get rid of. Below is a picture of a peach I took this morning. There are other things cause catfacing like this, but in my case, stink bug is probably the culprit. Here is a picture, taken earlier this year, of my son next to a peach tree. Notice the blooming clover on the ground.

That tree can be as low as a $300 removal. If there are no utility or phone lines, and is a small as it looks in the pic, a tree like that can be on the ground a dissected for loading in 20 minutes - loaded and done in an hour. The $300 value resides with the travel time and misc. Doubt it would be more than $500 unless you are far away. Looks pretty bleak - although the worst damage seems to be on the underside of the lean. It's worse if the tree is leaning away from the damage in may cases.

The dark aphids could be those that are parasitized, in which case the ladybugs won't be interested. Parasitized aphids are called 'aphid mummies', since the exoskeleton remains in place even though their insides have been devoured by the minute larva of a parasitoid wasp. They aren't the larvae of another type of insect, they are aphids....either black ones or mummies. Glad that the beetles stuck around to do some good! I'm not a fan of using horticultural oils on aphids in the growing season. Where are you located, anyway? You would kill the ladybug larvae and their eggs, as well. But I do know that oil applications in the dormant season can be very effective in smothering the overwintering eggs of those pesky aphids. Spraying the bare stems, branches, and trunk a couple of times over the dormant season can be hugely helpful in curtailing the population that you see in the spring.