When will you finish sharpening your saw and pruner.

Anything to worry about up there with sudden oak death or whatever that is ppl coat oak wounds for and don't prune after xxx day of the year?

the state has a website ... about such.. but its a bit wishy washy if its actually in my area ...

but that is the point of timing this out to fall ..

where is tom.. hugging some trees?? ..lol

ken

Hi Ken,

Right from your Michigan State U:What is the best time for pruning oaks?

Dax

You'e good right now until next growing season. The best time for the tree's biology is late winter, but the difference between best and all other "ok" times is slight. Prune away. BTW, the concern is for oak wilt, not SOD. The oak wilt vector-you may have had one of these guys in your can of suds-is the picnic beetle, which loves yeasty, fungusy smells. So, if an oak has the wilt pathogen, and is pruned during the active part of the growing season, the beetle will "smell" the fungus and happily show up to spread it around. No, I don't mean the beetle is malevolent and wants to harm oaks. I mean, it will happily show up to consume some of the fungus goodies, and then may well fly to an uninfected tree, spreading the pathogen. You're good now.

I did indeed hug a great many trees over a 4-day stretch. Central Wisconsin-right around the Mount Morris area. Fan-phucking-tastic forest lands all around there, especially if you like oaks, pines, bigtooth aspen, et all. I sure do. Some big stuff too.

+oM

Wish you had photos of your trip, +oM.

Dax

So do I bud. I must be the world's worst photo guy. I don't mean technically inept, though I may be that too. I just don't have what it takes to stop and shoot pics. We had our granddaughters with us all weekend too......and nope, no photos. I suck!

If one was to try and visit the area I describe, look up Waushara County in WI. It's literally not an hour's drive from where we live, but another world in terms of forest type, etc. We're down in a broad valley here-I'm sure it hols its own charm-but that's higher ground out that way, and it shows in the forest cover types. Low areas were full of tamarack too-never a bad thing-and these were in full late-autumn glory.

+oM

Nice, +oM.

I've not taken a single fall color photo this year. I've been too busy collecting acorns and nuts and eating and planting them. I'd say it's 50/50 as of today what has been consumed and what has been planted. Soon.... I'll overpass the planting of pecan, however.

Dax