Hi all
I thought I'd post an update and pass on what I have learned over the last 6 months or so.
I planted a total of 95 Apple & Pear Trees, the majority being Apple (some 80 trees). All full vigourous root stock. The majority of the trees where planted within 3 days of them coming out of the ground, just before Christmas 2012. Each tree was planted using an I cut. I used a 1 meter length of Tubex tree guard and supported this with a wooden stake.
Planting the 80 odd trees took around a day in total.
With the exception of two trees, all of them have budded, most have leaves, some have blossom. I have now changed the Tubex tree guarde for MDPE mesh, again supported by the wooden post. The trees them selves are not supported, so making sure they don't rub around anything sharp (so damaging the stems) is a concern, but so far no problems.
The MDPE mesh I used is 1.2m (4'6" foot or so) wide and comes in a 50m ( 75 foot or so) roll. Cutting it into 75cm lengths works out about right when rolled to form a tube. I stapled the mesh to the wooden posts with my staple gun. Use a staple every 15cm (6 inches). Quick and seems to work OK.
Of the two trees that are showing no signs of life, one suffered a Rabbit attack, the other is just dead.
I haven't cleared the ground around the trees, and there's grass growing. However, we have an old Ash tree which has to come down, and apart from most of the wood being used for the wood burner, the brash is going to be shredded into mulch, and I'll use that around the base of each of the trees. I tried a similar thing last year, as an experiment, by using shredded pallets. There's a firm who advertise on eBay, who sell 1 ton sacks of shredded pallets. I used what was left over from a poly tunnel path jobbie, around the base of an old Apple tree. It works ok-ish, and keeps most of the weeds & grass down. I think it will be OK for a few years, by which time the roots will have established themselves. (In the end we had around 4 Ton's of the stuff from the firm in Ellesmere Port. Makes graet path ways for the poly tunnel and such like).
The remaing trees (Apple, Pears and so on) all had those plastic spiral tree guards wrapped around them, as Rabbit protection. In main this has worked, but it became apparent that a careful check once a week is in order, as the weather can dislodge the guards, and those pesky rabbits are in like a shot. As part of my on going scheme, I've now replaced the spiral tree guards with the MDPE Mesh, and this seems to be working OK.
The trees with plastic spiral tree guards suffered significant Rabbit damage during the snow the other month. As the snow was so deep, un guarded parts of the trees where exposed, and Bugsy & his mates just trotted along and help themselves to the bark. I suppose they where hungry.
The spiral tree guards at 300mm (12 inches) just didn't give enough protection. Luckily the trees that did get attacked all seem to have survived, allbeit with bark damage. I've applied that paint / sealent to the damaged areas, and hopefully the trees will be OK. So far so good.
Clearly the rabbits took the opportunity of using the trees as a fast food take away, and as part of my defences, I put Hay & Rabbit food out as a distraction.Well, why not engage the enemy ? I'm not sure this did any good, but it sure made me feel as though I was doing something!
I have 6 or so spare trees, which I have planted in a holding or nursery patch. Spares, if you will.
All in all things are going OK. The next steps on the scheme involve fence improvements & hedge planting around around the Orchard. I was going to put the hedges in earlier this year, but what with the snow and all that never got around to it. I'll put the second fence in, and plant the hedge in the Autumn / Winter.
I'm investigating Bees, and am trying to contact someone locally who might like to put a Hive in the Orchard, so we'll see how that goes.
The trees I got from Bill & Chava at Welsh Mountain Cider, and I am very pleased. They are highly reccommended.
Cheers
A aka Scrumble the Goose