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Author Topic: Tip for fruit tree health from 'Farming Today'  (Read 1931 times)

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Tip for fruit tree health from 'Farming Today'
« on: March 22, 2019, 10:00:31 pm »
This morning, Farming Today was about trees.  It has apparently been found that using a mulch around fruit trees made of shredded willow branches improves the general health and disease resistance of your fruit trees.  Sounds simple and logical and for us, we have loads of willow so I shall give it a go  :tree: :tree: :tree:
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

sabrina

  • Joined Nov 2008
Re: Tip for fruit tree health from 'Farming Today'
« Reply #1 on: March 23, 2019, 02:26:20 pm »
Will try that too.

DavidandCollette

  • Joined Dec 2012
Re: Tip for fruit tree health from 'Farming Today'
« Reply #2 on: March 23, 2019, 08:31:59 pm »
Yep. Heard that during my cup of tea to start the day. Will be trying it too

macgro7

  • Joined Feb 2016
  • Leicester
Re: Tip for fruit tree health from 'Farming Today'
« Reply #3 on: March 23, 2019, 11:31:24 pm »
Willow is a fantastic plant! It kills bacteria.
If you have a tea spoon of young willow bark it works the same way a aspirin.

Be careful though not to put too big chinks of willow around your trees because they might start growing roots themselves!
Growing loads of fruits and vegetables! Raising dairy goats, chickens, ducks, rabbits on 1/2 acre in the middle of the city of Leicester, using permaculture methods.

Fleecewife

  • Joined May 2010
  • South Lanarkshire
    • ScotHebs
Re: Tip for fruit tree health from 'Farming Today'
« Reply #4 on: March 25, 2019, 12:04:43 pm »
A couple of problems. 
We don't have a shredder/chipper and the cheaper ones look very flimsy; any worthwhile-looking robust versions are in the region of >£500!  To hire one, you risk importing tree viruses such as Ash Dieback and Canker.  So not sure what to do there.
Then to reach the whole root system, the mulch would need to be applied right out to the drip-line.  This would make it difficult to keep the grass mown, and it would be sure to come through the mulch.
As with many such super tips, maybe it is more easily applied on a commercial scale, or for someone with only a couple of fruit trees?
"Let's not talk about what we can do, but do what we can"

There is NO planet B - what are YOU doing to save our home?

Do something today that your future self will thank you for - plant a tree

 Love your soil - it's the lifeblood of your land.

pgkevet

  • Joined Jul 2011
Re: Tip for fruit tree health from 'Farming Today'
« Reply #5 on: March 25, 2019, 07:09:03 pm »
Reality is that local hire would have local disease (if any) and if it's local your going to get it anyway unless resistant...
I have a £1.5K petrol chipper but even with that the thicker branches have to get shoved individually into the side slot and one has to be careful not to stall the thing with to much down the top hopper. With the benefit of hindsight I should have got a PTO jobbie at the start.

I did chip some 40 wheelbarrow-fulls this winter nontheless including a load of willow - just already been spread elsewhere....

 

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