Pruning Apple Trees in Alberta

How to Prune Apple Trees in Alberta

Prune your apple tree.

When to Prune: The best time to prune is when the tree is dormant. Dormant pruning removes some growing points to increase the root resources to the remaining buds. In Alberta, this is done during the in March or early April, prior to leaf-out in the spring. Our winters are too severe, and the snow may be too deep to prune in the fall or during late winter.

Understand and Protect Your Tree: At the end of each growing season, the top of the tree and the root system are in balance. To encourage proper dormancy, I would recommend that you only fertilize your tree in early spring, and reduce water to your tree by mid August, to encourage it to go dormant in a timely fashion. You do not want to encourage lush growth late in the season! “Water it in” after the leaves start to turn yellow after a killing frost late in the fall to protect the roots from dry soil and penetrating frost.

I do not recommend summer pruning! When you remove branches and leaves when they are actively growing, you cut out the accumulated energy that the tree has created over the growing season before fall. The tree will not have a chance to move that energy from the tops to the roots for winter; the net effect is a depletion of tree root reserves that is results in reduced vigour or lack of hardiness for the following season.

Goals of Pruning: There are normally two goals when pruning an apple tree: Training young trees to encourage a strong, solid framework to support early production and branches capable of supporting heavy crops in future years, or pruning mature apple trees to maintain shape and encourage apple production.

Young tree scaffold branches.

Young Apple Trees
The day apple trees are planted is the day to begin to train and prune them for future fruit production. Too often apple trees are planted and left untended for several years. This neglect results in poor growth, delayed and under-sized fruiting.

A new apple tree will usually be either a 1 m (3 -4 foot) whip (it has no branches), or a 1-2 M (6 foot ) tall young tree with several branches. This is assuming you have not purchased a dwarf variety.

If you have recently purchased, or own a young tree, and need to determine its shape as a mature tree, this is how to go about it!

Central Leader
Training to a central leader produces a tree that has a pyramid shape. If your newly planted tree is a whip (it has no branches and looks like a long stick) snip the tip at a height of about 90 cm (36 inches). This will stimulate branches to grow along the trunk, and the topmost bud will become the central leader.

For a new tree that already has side branches, cut off the tallest growing tip (on the leader). Cut off any branches along the trunk between the ground and 61 cm (24 inches) high. Cut back any remaining side branches to 5-10 cm (2 to 4 inches), leaving no more than 2 buds on each branch stub.

First Summer:
Make sure the top shoot becomes the leader. Pinch back all other shoots competing for the top spot at the top!

First Winter:
If there has been a lot of new growth, choose 3 to 5 branches for the first set of scaffold branches. These branches should spiral around the trunk with about 10 cm (4 inches) vertical distance between each branch.

Cut off the other side branches and any vertical branches that may compete with the leader. Prune back the main leader shoot, but keep it as the highest part of the tree to maintain your pyramid shape.

Second Summer:
Make sure that the top shoot is growing vertically, cut off any competing shoots.

Second Winter:
Select another set of scaffold branches 60 cm -90 cm (2 to 3 feet ) higher than the first set. If the tree didn’t grow enough the second year, do this the third winter.

Each year after this: Keep doing the above until you have 3 or 4 sets of scaffold branches. Then simply keep that shape by pruning out water-sprouts and any crossing, diseased, or unwanted branches. Try to keep the lower branches longer than the upper ones to maintain the shape.

Mature Apple Trees:
Prune mature apple trees to maintain shape and encourage fruit production. The only growth you ever want to prune or remove during the summer months, when the tree is actively growing, is a sucker, (shoots coming from the roots).

Here is a list of types of branches you always want to prune out when the tree is dormant in March or April:
 Stubs or broken branches
 Downward-growing branches
 Rubbing or criss-crossing branches
 Upward growing interior branches
 Competing leaders
 Narrow crotches
 Whorls

Pruning Mature Apple Trees
Full-size, mature trees usually already have their shape determined, so it really comes down to maintaining their shape and size. Hopefully, their scaffold branches were well chosen at the beginning of the process!

Start with removing broken or diseased branches, rubbing or crossing limbs, weak stems, and any branches growing inward to the tree’s center. Also prune out any growing vertically or straight down, thin out enough new growth to allow light to filter into the canopy when the tree has leafed out so the fruit can ripen and color properly.

Shorten any branches that are too long to avoid leggy growth, shape tree evenly and remember apples flower and fruit on old wood, so head back new growth to direct energy back into the flowers and fruit.

Also, if in the past years too many apples have formed and crowded each other out, you can thin the spurs to only a few per branch. This will allow enough light and air to circulate around to avoid diseases and small, puny fruit.

Corrective Pruning for Neglected Apple Trees
You may have purchased a house where an apple tree was planted on the property several years ago. Often, the previous owners did not take the time to properly prune the tree. The tree has become bushy, diseased or weak and will produce very poor quality apples.

The general rule of thumb is not to remove more than 30% of the branches any given season, so this is at least a three – four year process! Excessive removal of branches will result in water-sprouts or suckers all over the tree. The main objective in pruning such a tree is to try to open up the interior to allow good light penetration to the leaves.

Fireblight on apple tree branch.

The first step is to inspect for dead or diseased branches. Check them carefully for signs of the disease Fireblight. Telltale dead branches will have dead tips with sunken lesions along the branches, or shrunken, scorched looking bark.

Make sure you have a bucket with some 10% bleach solution in water to dip your pruners into between cuts. You will spread the disease from branch to branch if you do not. Diseased branches must be cut back 45 cm (18 inches) from the dead wood. If the disease has entered the main trunk, you must remove and dispose of the entire tree, or it will act as a carrier for the entire neighbourhood. Sorry!

If this is not the case, then begin with corrective pruning! Remove all the upright, vigorous growing shoots at their base that are shading the interior. As with the young apple trees, it is necessary to select 3 to 5 lower scaffold branches with good crotch angles and spaced around the tree.

Limbs with poor angles, and excess scaffold limbs, should be removed at their collar (base where they attach to the main branch).

Pruning Dwarf Apple Trees

Dwarf Apple Tree

Dwarf apples are relatively easy to prune because of their small size. Most dwarf apple trees aren’t much taller than 2 M (6-8 feet). This means in most cases, you won’t need of a ladder, which makes the pruning job faster, easier and safer.

Prune dwarf varieties every year the same plan that you would use to prune a full-size tree.

Maintain its height by cutting back the central leader by 60 cm (2 feet), depending on the vigour of the tree, to a strong lateral branch.

Open up the canopy of your tree so that when it is leafed out sunlight and air can still easily penetrate its center. This helps prevent disease, reduces pests and encourages proper coloring of the fruit as it ripens.

Thin old-growth spurs that are growing too closely together. Apples will form on old-growth spurs–thinning them now helps prevent too much fruit from setting on later.

Remove and dispose of all cuttings, especially diseased branches.

In future years, you may have to repeat this to keep the tree the height you want.

Wormy Turnips and Coffee Grounds

Turnips and Coffee Grounds

Q: Lucy Lambert: I have heard that when a person plants turnip seeds with coffee grounds that this prevents a wormy turnip. Is this true? If not what could one use?

A: Bottom line? No – coffee grounds won’t cure a wormy turnip, but here’s what you need to know:

Cabbage maggots larvae attack turnips, rutabaga, cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, and radishes.  These maggots emerge from the soil in mid May (the same time that the Saskatoons flower) in the form of small, gray flies that lay white eggs at the base of stems and on the soil.

It takes less than a week for the eggs to hatch horrid little legless maggots that go straight back into the soil to gobble up the roots of their favourite veg.

Newly-planted seedlings quickly turn yellow and die, then they come back in a little more than a month as a fly to repeat the cycle for a second time!

Control Options

The best control is exclusion! You can protect the beds from the flies where seeds have been planted with cheesecloth, re-may fabric, or nylon sheeting. You need to leave it on from the time the saskatoons flower – from mid-May until the end of June to eliminate the 1st and 2nd life cycles.

Don’t plant cole crops in the same place. Completely clear out maggot infested crops and roots (rather than shredding and rototilling under the decimated plant remains).

Once cabbage maggot damage is noticed, it is too late to apply control procedures. Since the first generation of cabbage maggots is the most damaging, planting seeds or transplants after the peak of adult emergence (wait until June) and egg laying in the spring may provide the best control.

High Tech Approach:  Commercially, growers estimate peak emergence by accumulating degree-days after the ground has thawed (e.g., beginning April 1st). The daily formula to use is: (Max. temperature + min. ambient temperature/2) – 43 F. Peak emergence of the first three generations will occur when 300, 1475, and 2650 degree-days have accumulated, respectively. Plant afterwards.

Chemical Control

The available chemical options are preventative; no insecticides are labelled for use once an outbreak is underway.

Cultural Control

Adult cabbage maggot flies are probably attracted to rotting organic matter and freshly rototilled gardens. Avoid ploughing fresh animal manure, weeds, green manure, or other cover crops in spring. If there is a winter cover crop, plough it at least 3-4 weeks before planting.

Ploughing crops in fall is better than ploughing crops in spring because the cabbage maggot flies are more attracted to live, green organic matter incorporated into the soil.

If cole crops are directly seeded, use a drag chain behind the planter to eliminate any moisture differences in the soil between the seed row and the adjacent soil. Moisture from newly planted seed rows can attract cabbage maggots.

Biological Control

Naturally occurring soil-inhabiting fungi may attack and decrease cabbage maggot larval populations. Predaceous ground beetles also eat cabbage maggot eggs, larvae, and pupae. Parasitic wasps also help to reduce cabbage maggot population. At the present time, there are no commercially available biological control options

Coffee Grounds

Used coffee grounds are reported keep bugs at bay by acting as a repellent for snails and slugs (not cabbage maggots).

Used coffee grounds are high in acid, and a natural fertilizer for plants that like foods high in acid, such as evergreens, azaleas, rhododendrons, and blueberries. The grounds also provide nitrogen to your garden.

The worms love the coffee, too. They will eat the grounds and produce a nice, fertilized compost.

How Recycled Coffee Grounds Work in the Garden

In addition to obvious things like water and light, most plants need nitrogen to grow. The nitrogen’s job is to keep the green parts green.

The coffee grounds contain about 2% nitrogen, .03% phosphoric acid, and a bit of potash. The typical chemically created fertilizer you would find in the store would look something like 10-10-5, or 10% nitrogen, 10% phosphorus, and 5% potassium.

The grounds work like a slow-release fertilizer. Each time it rains, the nitrogen and acids leach out and fertilize your plants.

Recycling your coffee grounds is easy! Simply spread your coffee grounds around the base of your acid-loving plants.

You can leave the grounds on top, or you can mix them in to the top two or three inches of soil. You can also mix your grounds in with your compost, just keep the grounds to less than 25% of the mixture, or it will become too acidic.

Wormy Turnips

Fairy Rings in Edmonton Gardens

How To Get Rid of Fairy Rings in Edmonton Gardens:

Q: I have tried everything to get rid of fairy ring but unsuccessful…do you have any suggestions?

A: Hello Mark, Thank you for your question on getting rid of Fairy Rings in your Edmonton lawn. No matter how well you tend your lawn, the dirge of a home gardener is the appearance of a fairy ring.

Fairy Rings in the Lawn

The telltale circle of mushrooms eventually leaves a ring of dead grass. There are plenty of old wives’ tale cures from boiling water, digging, watering, special tools…the list goes on and on. There is no simple solution that really works well. Fairy rings are caused by mushroom fungi; yet there are no fungicides that will control the mycelium, or underground growth of the fungus. Heavy fertilization and watering can help.
Control:
1. Dig it Out: I’ve used this method the most successfully. I call it part of Tam’s spa program. If you are highly energetic, considering exercise, and own a wheelbarrow, you may decide dig out the fairy ring. You must remove the fairy ring turf and soil for 18 inches on both the inside and outside of the ring. The soil should be removed to a depth of at least 2 inches (5 cm) below the zone of the white fungus mat that you’ll discover when you start digging. When removing the affected areas, try to prevent any of the turf or soil from spilling onto healthy areas. Fill the area with fresh top soil and then reseed or re-sod.
2. Drown it Out. The roots of the fairy ring (mycelium) actually repel water, which is what causes the grass to die out. To overcome the extreme drought conditions, use a root feeder or garden fork to punch holes in the fairy ring every 4-6 inches (10-15 cm) apart and 10 inches (25 cm) deep. Soak the holes every second day, if not every day, for at least a month, especially if the fairy ring had progressed to the dried grass stage. Add a teaspoon of liquid dish detergent in a gallon of water to act as a wetting agent to help the water soak into the infested soil. A complete soaking of the area, in addition to a fertilizer application can not only suppress but may even eradicate the fairy ring
3. Wait it Out: Fairy rings will tend to die out naturally when they encounter sidewalks, flower beds and other cultivated areas. Lots of folks extend their flower beds to include fairy ring areas.
4. Duke it Out: I found this one online: Another possible method of eradication is based on the fact that when 2 rings come into contact with each other, they will exhibit antagonistic behavior, which leads to the death of both rings. To take advantage of this natural control method, one may wish to remove the sod in heavily infested areas, cultivate the soil several times to mix the mycelium of one ring with another and then re-seed or re-sod. Really?

Whatever method of control is employed, good turf management practices should follow to ensure re-infestation does not occur. This includes a regular fertilization program in addition to irrigating to a depth of 6 inches (15 cm). Shallow watering should be avoided in all instances.
But there is good news on the horizon. There has never been a cure. Until now, that is. While researching the fungus that causes blackleg in canola, Prem Kharbanda, of the Alberta Research Council, accidentally came across bacteria in a soil sample from central Alberta that not only stopped black leg in its tracks, it also disabled fairy ring.

Prem is experimenting with the bacteria to determine the most effective way to administer it to the soil to kill fairy rings. It will take at least two or three years before the Alberta Research Council confirms their result, and after that, another couple of years before it can pass through the federal government registration protocols.

Dr. Prem Kharbanda is a Senior Scientist with the Alberta Research Council.

What to Plant Beneath Evergreens?

What to Plant Beneath Evergreen Trees?

Q: Lisa Johnson – What is the best grass to seed in shaded areas under fir trees?

A: Hi Lisa, I get asked all the time about what will grow under evergreens. Dry shade is the toughest place to grow in! My best bit of advice is that nothing will survive directly under the canopy. It’s just too dry! A better plan is to use a cedar or stone mulch directly beneath the boughs. However, if the area in question gets at least ½ a day of sun (6 hours) and gets wet when it rains, here are some alternatives:

Creeping Red Fescue Grass Thrives in Shade

Grass for Shady Areas:
To establish a lawn just beyond the ‘drip line’ in an area around the fir trees, seed the shade-tolerant grass-Creeping Red Fescue. Red fescue (Festuca rubra) is an Edmonton hardy grass ideal for use around trees as the grass has a very high tolerance for shade and thrives with low amounts of water, fertilizer and mowing. The grass has very fine leaves and a dark-green color and has a slow growth rate. Red fescue has low tolerance for heat except when planted in areas of shade. The grass establishes slowly and has a moderate level of resistance to wear.

Alternatively, you may consider growing perennials groundcover plants beneath evergreen trees. This will be a challenge, because spruce and pine have low overhanging branches can create an extremely shady and dry place to grow. Remember surviving is not thriving! Ideally, you would mulch directly below the branches, and plant the perennials beyond the drip line (past the edge of the tips of the branches).

Perennial Groundcover Alternatives to Grass for Dry Shade:

Shade loving Bishop's Cap Perennial Groundcover

Elephant Ears(Bergenia), Bugle Weed, Creeping Jenny, Gout Weed, Lily of the Valley, Bunchberry (Cornus canadensis), False Nettle(Lamiastrum), Lamium, Bishop’s Cap, Euphorbia, Perennial Geranium, Stonecrop, and Solomon’s Seal.

Growing Tips for Dry Shade:
Plants beneath the branches must compete with shallow and wide spreading tree roots for water and nutrients. Contrary to popular belief, tree roots generally don’t penetrate great soil depths, but are found within the top 30 cm (6”) of the soil.

For anything to survive dry shade, you have to water and fertilize. Water deeply and frequently and use foliar fertilizer like 20-20-20 at a rate of 1 tbsp/ 4L instead of soil applied fertilizer to ensure that the understory plants receive the nutrients.

Falling evergreen needles will slowly increase the acidity of the soil to levels that many plants cannot tolerate. In some cases, a tree may shed so many needles that the lawn or plants below simply become smothered. Don’t fight nature – go with the flow! Needles are an excellent mulch.

Cotoneaster Hedging in Alberta

Cotoneaster Hedging in Alberta:

Cotoneaster hedge trimmed.

Q: My name is Terry Bedel and here I am at the Contoneaster hedge that separates my front yard from that of my neighbor. 2 years ago I noticed rust coloured spots and dying areas.  He cut it right back to the ground but never treated what was left. You can see it has sprouted again and there are a lot more rust spots on the old growth.  Will the hedge survive?  What can be done for it now?  I look forward to your help, Tam!

A:  Hello Terry, Thank you for your question on rejuvenating an old Cotoneaster hedge.  Yes, it will survive!  Here’s what can be done for it now:

Cotoneaster is the hardiest (zone 2) and best hedge for Alberta gardens. It grows quickly, and matures at 2 M, so does not get too tall, has lovely glossy green leaves and great red fall color.  Older mature hedges occasionally need to be rejuvenated, which can mean a severe cutting back. This has already been accomplished in this case. (How severely you cut it back really depends on you–and what you can withstand from a lack-of-privacy point-of-view.) The more you cut it back, the more vigorous it will become.

Growing Tips:

• Cut it Back: The rule of thumb for rejuvenation is to cut the hedge back in height at least by one-half—or if you feel like getting drastic, you could cut back to 30 to 45 cm (12-18”) from the ground.  This would remove most of the old wood and problematic dead stems.
• Water it: As the hedge is mature, it will have a large root system, which will serve it well.  You usually will not need to water it, except during extended periods of drought. Please consider using a soaker hose for several hours every couple of weeks.
• Feed it:  Spring is the best time to fertilize hedges in Alberta.  A healthy, vigorous hedge is less likely to succumb to diseases.  Use a well balanced granular (18-18-18) on the soil under it and coming out at least 45 cm from the centre line. It may be difficult to accomplish that on your neighbor’s side, but it really does need to be done there as well.  Excess nitrogen stimulates new growth, which is highly susceptible to fire blight, so do not use a high nitrogen lawn fertilizer.
• Trim it: – Formative pruning: Do not prune hedge plants so as to form a wall straight-up-and-down. Rather, prune hedges so that the base is wider than the top.  It should be 30 cm (12”) across at the top and 1 M (39”). This will allow sufficient sunlight to reach the growth at the bottom, keeping it healthy.
• When to Trim- Winter or fall: Formative pruning – just after planting, and for the first two years after planting, or after a severe cut back for rejuvenation. Shearing (maintenance pruning): as needed 2 or 3 times through the summer.

Here’s what these orange spots on the cotoneaster are about, and what to do about them:

Cotoneaster Troubleshooting

Coral Spot (orange spots on dead wood), cotoneaster

Nectria canker (coral spot) – Nectria canker (Coral Spot) is a fungal infection which causes orange dots on dead wood (nectria – necrosis – death). It is often seen on wood killed by cytospora canker, and makes it easy to identify dead wood which should be removed. It is often mis-diagnosed as fire-blight – as the spots are fiery red.  It is a secondary infection, and will not have any impact on the new growth.

• Cultural control – pruning out diseased wood is all that is necessary. If old, dead wood inside a hedge is removed and outside, healthy branches allowed to grow, it will rejuvenate it, but not prevent a recurrence as the inside wood again becomes an appropriate place for it to grow, and the fungus is in the sap.
• Chemical control – none

Cytospora Canker

Cytospora canker – Cytospora canker is often mis-diagnosed as fireblight, but the differences are quite obvious. It is a fungal infection which causes longitudinal cracks on branches, with the bark curled back, which often ooze sap in the spring. Because it invades the tissue, it prevents moisture from reaching beyond it, so young leaves develop, then wither and die during hot weather, whereas fireblight moves from the blossom end down the branch. Cytospora canker affects older branches of fruit-bearing trees and spruce, and also cotoneaster hedges. It multiplies in damp, dark places with poor air circulation – the inside of a hedge or spruce tree!

• Cultural control – pruning out diseased wood is all that is necessary. If old, dead wood inside a hedge is removed and outside, healthy branches allowed to grow, it will rejuvenate it but not prevent a recurrence as the inside wood again becomes an appropriate place for it to grow, and the fungus is in the sap.
• Chemical control – none

Fire Blight on Cotoneaster

Fireblight – Fire-blight is a bacterial infection of trees of the Rose family, mostly apples, crabapples, pear, and mountain ash. It is also seen frequently on Cotoneaster hedges. Blossoms appear water-soaked and turn brown. As it spreads to leaves, branch tips curl over like a shepherd’s crook and leaves turn brown, hang on the tree and don’t fall off. The leaves at the ends of the branches are so dark that they appear black, hence ‘scorched by fire’. Cankers are formed which are sunken and cracked, and exude bacterial ooze which contains the bacteria. Fruit rots and bacteria is attractive to insects, which can spread the infection. It can also be spread by birds, rain and tools.

• Cultural control – remove all infected wood well back to healthy wood, clean tools with a 10% bleach solution between cuts!
• Chemical control – copper spray can prevent infection from spreading in a tree or protect another tree if it is in the area, but only lasts 72 hours, so must be repeated often. If infection is caught early and infected branch pruned out, it may do well. If the bacteria infects other branches and is moving in the sap, the tree may not be able to be saved.

Strawberry Rhubarb Fool Recipe

Strawberry Rhubarb Fool

A “fool” is a great and traditional way of showcasing in season fruit. You can try and be fancy (I’ve tried many different recipes before) but I’ve yet to find anything which beats the simplicity of stewed fruit folded into whipped cream. Confusingly, rhubarb is actually a vegetable, but that doesn’t stop it being right at the top of my list of seasonal foods, and my favorite for deserts such as this. 

Give it a go with Strawberries or Raspberries too – it works just as well.

Rhubarb Fool Recipe – Ingredients

4 Large Sticks of Rhubarb

1/2 cup (120 ml) strawberry puree (Use fresh Kent Strawberries)

¼ cup (50g) Light Brown Sugar

200ml Whipping Cream

Couple of drop of Vanilla

Rhubarb Fool Recipe – How to Do it:

1.Chop up the rhubarb into 1” pieces and place in a saucepan with 1tbsp water and the sugar.

2.Turn on the heat and stir around a bit; it’ll start out quite dry (keep stirring it for now to prevent the sugar catching on the pan) but will moisten up as the juice is released from the rhubarb.

3.Boil until the rhubarb is soft.  This will take 10 minutes or so.

4.Whip the cream with the vanilla until it forms soft peaks.  When this stage is reached pour in the rhubarb and strawberry puree and fold in until loosely combined.  Don’t worry about getting it fully mixed in, it looks much better when it’s not.

5.Empty into wine glasses and allow to chill for an hour or so before serving.

Dripping Sap Diseases

Q: I am having trouble with our willow tree. I found at least 4 of these dripping holes or knots.  What should I do?  Here is a photo.   Jim

Expert Reply:

Slime Flux on Elm and Willow

I have researched diseases of Laurel Leaf Willow.  In the photos you provided,  it seems that an injury to the bark, or the removal of a branch is related.  Both injuries seem to be almost healed, but could still provide the opportunity for sap to ooze out.  

There is a disease called Slime Flux that affects trees.  Does the wet area have an unpleasant odor?  Or does it just smell like sap? If there is no odor, is it just sap leaking from the old wounds.  

If it has an odor, it could be Slime Flux; here is some information about this disease.

Bacterial Wetwood (Slime Flux):

Bacterial wetwood, also called slime flux, is a major bole rot of trunk and branches of trees. Slime flux has been attributed to bacterial infection in the inner sapwood and outer heartwood area of the tree. The bacterial infection is normally associated with wounding or environmental stress. The bacteria, Enterobactor cloacae, is determined to cause wetwood in elm, but numerous other bacteria have been associated with this condition in other trees such as cottonwood, willow, ash, maple, birch, hickory, beech, oak, sycamore, cherry and yellow-poplar.

Symptoms of Slime Flux:

A tree with slime flux is water-soaked and “weeps” from visible wounds and even from healthy looking bark. The “weeping” may be a good thing as it is having a slow, natural draining effect on a bacterium that needs a dark, damp environment. A tree with this bole rot is trying its best to compartmentalize the damage. This bacteria alters wood cell walls, causing moisture content of the wood to increase. One interesting thing is that the weeping liquid is fermented sap which is smelly, alcohol based and toxic to new wood.

Control:

Several sources say not to bore holes to drain the rotting wood as it will further spread the bacterium. There is some debate about this practice. Actually, nothing can stop further rot except the tree’s ability to isolate the spot by growing good wood around the diseased portion. Using an insecticide will not help prevent the rot going on inside. You do see secondary insects feeding on sap and the rotting remains but they do not affect the disease process. It is not thought they spread the infection. Don’t waste your money spraying for insects.
Larger, reasonably healthy trees seem to outgrow the problem. A weaker tree may have  flux for a year or two; the problem may seem to go away for a year or two; and then the problem reappears. Improving the health and vigor of the tree helps reduce the chances of the problem becoming severe.

There is not anything that can be sprayed on the trunk to stop this oozing. If you are careful and do not cut around the entire trunk you may want to try  cutting out the infected bark tissue with a diamond shape to allow the sap to drain.

First mix up a bucket of 10% bleach water (one part bleach in nine parts water). Use a strong, sharp knife to cut out the infected bark. Dip the knife blade in the bleach water to disinfect it after every cut to prevent spreading the disease. Cut the bark down to hard wood. Be sure to cut out any discolored bark. Once you’ve got it down to the wood and all cleaned out, soak the open wound with the bleach water. At this point, leave the wound alone. Don’t paint, cover or wrap it. Leave it open and exposed to the air.  This may work for the wound at the base of the trunk.

Dryness is your friend here. Keep an eye on the wound. If you get some foaming ooze at the edge of the wound, just repeat the process.

You never want to remove more than one third of the circumference of the bark on a stem when you’re cutting out the bark. Cutting off more than that will do more harm than good (girdling). If the infection requires you to cut off more than half, you’re better off to remove the branch completely, or just leave the tree alone to fend for itself.

The disease never really goes away, it just fades in and out of the picture. The important thing is to keep your tree as healthy and happy as you know how to make it. Water the tree deeply, but don’t keep it wet all the time. We tend to think that Willows need lots and lots of water, but they withstand drought much better than we give them credit for. Let the soil dry slightly several inches down, and then soak it deeply again. Fertilizer in April is okay, just don’t overdo it, and don’t fertilize after May. Too much fertilizer, or too late in the season,  can result in lank, weak, disease-prone growth.

Strawberries are Blooming Now

Our Alberta strawberries are in full bloom now, which means that U-Pick season is just 2 weeks away.  Our favorite is Kent!  We are hoping for rain so the berries size up before they start to turn red.

If you would like to recieve our e-newsletter with strawberry picking info and more about our farm please click here.

Here is a great recipe for Strawberry Shortcake.

Read on..

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