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Post by sd51555 on Mar 12, 2017 16:15:09 GMT -6
My biggest frustration with tubes is keeping them flush to the ground after they get swaying with a season's wind. I'm also getting tired of needing to pull apart dozens and dozens of tubes every year to clean them out. I started kicking around ideas to try to lessen the post-plant maintenance, and came up with an idea I'd like to try this year.
I'm considering going back to 5' cages instead of tubes. Current idea is to cut a length of about ten feet to give me a around a 3.5' diameter cage. As far as bar protection goes, I'd like to use 1/4" wire mesh to make a 6" cylinder 2-3' high. The new spin, is to wrap the outside of that cylinder with window screen to keep the trees from growing through the mesh. Then I'd use U-shaped stakes to hold the wire mesh to the ground.
Any feedback?
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Post by Sandbur on Mar 12, 2017 16:24:02 GMT -6
I have done that and it works if the snow does not get over 3 foot deep so mice can enter the top of the 1/4 inch mesh cage.
I have left the 10 foot cage on for years and will get you a picture. I did not prune the lower parts fo the tree, but left deer do the pruning outside of the cage. I ended up with enough growth over the 3-5 foot height of the tree to protect it from rubbing and to protect it from sunscauld.
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 12, 2017 18:27:32 GMT -6
The aluminum window screen up to 36" is the way to go for me. I also would do the white latex paint up to 4'. This will prevent sunscald but hopefully will also help prevent borers. I had two nice 5 year old trees hit last year. I think they'll survive but, I won't know until June for sure. I checked my nephews trees today that I'd planted and painted last year. They looked great. I ran out of screen and bark wraps on two of them but, they were painted and mice/voles left them alone. They'll be screen this year.
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Post by Freeborn on Mar 12, 2017 19:07:46 GMT -6
How does this stop the growth and the need to clean out the tubes?
I use mating on my trees and I do get strands of tall grass but little else. Other than a cosmetic look the trees fair well and soon outgrow the grass. Killing the 6' square area stops most of the competition and the trees to well if you have rain.
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Post by sd51555 on Mar 12, 2017 20:48:35 GMT -6
How does this stop the growth and the need to clean out the tubes? I'm talking about just stopping the tree from trying to push new branches through the 1/4 mesh. I've had that happen to me before. By wrapping that wire mesh in screen, I hope that it'll prevent it from pushing a branch through it. As far as cleaning out, I don't care about the grass, with tubes, it's getting plugged with branches and dead leaves that require it to be pulled off each year and pruned and cleared. Even that work isn't too much of a pain, it's dealing with ever more brittle wire ties, tree tubes, and pea rock pushing in on the base. Seems like the more I pull them apart to keep cleaning and pruning they keep falling apart. Even this trip home I was trimming or completely ripping off tubes from many years ago where they were grown shut, broken, and just plain causing more trouble for the tree than they were providing. |
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Post by nhmountains on Mar 12, 2017 22:08:02 GMT -6
SD,
How old are the trees? If they're getting plenty of sun they should be producing a lot of top growth above 3' and very little growth down low. The only thing I can think of is the tube may be causing the additional growth. Any photos? I'd concentrate on having no branches below 3' even if that means pruning them a couple times a year.
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Post by sd51555 on Mar 12, 2017 22:22:54 GMT -6
They're all different ages from 2 years to some over 7.
I've been pruning 2-3 years now. It's made a huge improvement in performance. I envision after the 3rd pruning, many of these trees will be up and out on there own and doing well if I don't destroy the tube. Some are more problematic than others. The apples and plums are profuse branchers. Cherries are slow. Cranberry and American Mountainash seem to only need one snip and they fly up. Bur Oaks just need the leaves cleaned out.
Lost all my pics in the QHMG fire. If I go up this weekend, I'll prune and take some pics of before and after.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 13, 2017 11:27:53 GMT -6
Why do both hardware cloth and window screen on the bases?
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Post by sd51555 on Mar 13, 2017 21:43:09 GMT -6
So the trees can't push branches through the wire mesh. Had it happen on some old apples.
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Post by smsmith on Mar 14, 2017 6:17:08 GMT -6
So don't use the wire mesh, just use the aluminum window screen
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Post by sd51555 on Mar 14, 2017 6:31:15 GMT -6
Will that work with little 12" seedlings?
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Post by smsmith on Mar 14, 2017 6:33:35 GMT -6
Will that work with little 12" seedlings? If use a stake of some kind and staple the screen around it, yes |
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