too muddy to weed lately

[songbird]

but i got out yesterday to do some trimming back of unwanted trees in the north hedge and also cut back the apple saplings again.

with the loppers i can take down a fairly decent sized limb (a few inches across) and not get into sawing/chopping. i'm thinking that this winter after the ground freezes i can get out back to remove some of the shrubs and small trees that are starting to take over. i need some kind of exercise to keep me moving this winter. the past few winters have been mild where we didn't have to shovel much snow and both of us like to do it so i hope some make work project like this will suit instead. since i can't get back there in the warmer months... hope my shoulder doesn't get worse. we'll see. yesterday's outing didn't seem to change it much. good sign.

snowed a little bit yesterday and today a squall has been coming across with a chance of a little rain/snow.

songbird

[Pavel314]

It's been fairly dry in the Baltimore area lately, although there's a 40% c hance of rain overnight tonight. There was a bit of snow out to the west of us the other day according to the weather radar maps, but none here. I do plan to get the snow blower gassed up and ready to go in the next few days; we only need it about every third year, but it's nice to have when needed. If we get a real snow dump, I'll use the back hoe to clear the drive.

Like you, I plan on doing a lot of pruning now that the trees have gone dor mant. The apple trees were infested with a scab-type disease this past seas on which led them to drop most of their leaves. I contacted the state ag pe ople who suggested heavy pruning to allow air circulation to promote drying , as well as certain sprays.

I also plan to try grafting again. I have a few white grape vines that don' t produce much, and when they do, the wine doesn't taste too good; I'll cut them back and try grafting some Concord and Fredonia twigs onto them.

January will be time to fell some trees for next year's firewood.

Paul

[songbird]

Pavel314 wrote: ...

our friends have offered us help this year if we ever need to be plowed out. it is very rare we need this because we both like shoveling so much. a few years ago both of us were sick at the same time so we did have someone plow us out one time, but we still had half of it shoveled by the time they got here.

this isn't pruning as much as tree and shrub removing as i don't like losing my full sun on the gardens and the ditches should be kept clear so the grasses are not killed off by shade.

good luck with the apple trees, what kind are they? from my experiment with apple seeds i've found out that i could grow a pretty nice living hedge in just a few years if i wanted to.

concord makes some ok wines, but they are much better for jams/jellies and fresh eating (i love 'em even if they can be sour). if your white vines don't produce much i'd not use their rootstock as it may be the issue. new vines are not that expensive...

songbird