Saturday, July 9, 2011
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Safe methods of spraying pesticides
Pesticides and chemicals are the only things that you can use in order to prevent your tree from pests during the summer time. Any chemical can be dangerous for your health and the thought that the spray on the tree would bring the fruits containing chemicals disturbs so many gardeners. There are many ways you can spray the tree effectively without infecting it with chemicals. Always make use of hand held pump or a hose-end sprayer for spraying purposes.
Using pump you will be unable to spray the pesticides very far but still you will be able to more accurately determine the mixing of the chemicals. Hand help pump is normally not very powerful thus the chemicals wouldn’t reach to the top of the tree.
You can use hose end sprayers to do that but using these sprayers you will remain unable to get the correct mix of chemicals because water pressure is not uniform and constant. For example, one day the water pressure might be lower, in which case your chemical content would be higher. The chemical stuff you buy for hose ended sprays are in very strong form so always make them much dilute and weak before spraying.
Educate yourself well before mixing the chemicals. Closely follow all the tips and requirements during the chemical mixing process. Remember the chemicals you are dealing with are not innocent so always proceed in the way that professionals recommend. Do make use of all the protective gears before starting the process.
Rubber gloves are your best friends while doing the mixing process. Portions of different chemicals should be used in exact amount as mentioned. Never ever rely on estimations in this case as it can kill your tree straightly. You should habitually start by putting in the proper amount of pesticide, and then top it off with all the water.
When you are spraying, make sure you spray uniformly over all the areas. Never spray in excess such that it starts dripping off the leaves. Use ladder while spraying in order to get to the places that are unreachable while standing on the ground. Don’t do mistake of spraying one part of the tree twice as it will create non uniformity and can prove dangerous.
If you are a well developed and large tree owner always make use of ladder to do spray. Never spray from outside to inside and keep your position under the tree proper so that you can effectively spray from inside towards outside. Once you are done with the outer canopy you can spray the rest of the tree. Once you are done cleaning, make sure to completely and carefully clean off every bit of tools you used, including your clothes. Don’t include the clothes you wore while spraying in the rest of your family’s laundry.
Make sure the spray never drips on the ground from the leaves or branches. If it falls on the ground, it can easily be absorbed by the roots of the tree and be transported to the actual fruits on the trees. If pesticides are only on the outside of the fruit it is not dangerous until you wash it properly before eating.
Get rid of small fruits
This is a fact that mostly the fruits you get from your tree are much smaller than those available at grocery store and this fact shocks so many new tree growers. Some common statements of grief you may hear from such disgruntled new gardeners are “What is wrong with my tree?!”, “My God! What have I done!?” Remember that small fruits are a natural occurrence. You can’t do anything if the nature has decided to give your tree smaller fruits but still it is possible to get larger fruits without adding any chemicals or any genetic altering. There are really some advanced techniques using which professionals get huge size fruits you normally see at grocery stores.
Veterans carry out “fruit thinning” in the early years of fruit trees. In fruit thinning the tree is kept with little amount of fruit so that it becomes able to provide much nutrients and cells to the left over fruits. If there are hundreds of fruits on tree, it will be unable to provide the good quantity of available materials to the fruits and thus they will become stunted. Pluck one third of the fruits extremely early and you will notice that remaining fruits will be great in size.
Spacing is one of the key factors that determine the success of fruits. If the fruits are between six to eight inches of each other, it means you are allowing them to remain undersized. You should try to separate fruits by this much distance in order to allow them getting maximum nutrients from the tree. Usually this is the initial mistake that a new tree grower makes. Having tons of fruit starting to grow is not always a fine thing!
Its not like gardener has full control over the size of fruits. Sometimes there are some natural conditions that inhibit the growth of fruits. Very low temperature during the cell division process of new fruits can cause them to remain too little in size. Similarly if the weather is cloudy during early days of your fruit, they will most probably remain small in size as in cloudy weather there are very little carbohydrates available to your tree.
You can not do any thing in front of nature and if all natural factors go against your tree the fruits will fall down before they are ripe. Some other factors that may inhibit the growth of fruit are lack of water, lack of nutrients or excessive pests. Always carry out fruit thinning at much higher level, if you notice that all the factors are going against you. Readers may not believe it but sometimes you can even pick three fourths of the fruits in order to allow full nutrition to the remaining one part of the fruit.
If you have a full grown tree for many years you can do a lot of experiments with it just in a hope to get full size fruit. If your tree is extremely mature, it would not die or stop producing fruit whatever you may do to it. You can try as many thinning techniques as you can think of. You can take advices and tips on fruit thinning technique from your local gardening shop. Let them know your specific area and tree and I assure you that they will give you best tips. Never ever be too much happy with small fruits. Always try finding out the techniques using which you can increase the size.
Shade trees: A fun to experience
If you are planting trees for good shade in your garden, you will definitely like this article as it provides you lots of information on this subject. Every shade tree lover likes trees that grow very fast and provide plenty of shade. There are lots of options of shade trees for you too choose from. So you can make a great choice between so many options by just checking how much shade your garden exactly wants. You can also increase the rate of tree growth artificially.
There are two main classes of trees and they are short lived and long lived. Short lived trees are best if you need temporary shade for your garden but you should choose long lived tree if you want shade for many years.
Normally people do short lived trees only because they need speedy growth. The root system of such shade trees is immensely aggressive so always keep such tree away from any sensitive place like septic tanks or other deep rooted plants. Be sure to provide your tree lots of space so that roots grow extremely fast. Your tree will take off in growth if you allow much space otherwise the growth will be inhibited badly. Remember to plant your tree relative to the place where you exactly want the shade. Any wrong placement can destroy your plans. You should keep it to the western or southern sides for maximum shading.
If you want extra speedy growth, always prepare your soil well before planting it. The growth rate of your tree is directly proportional to the hugeness of the hole you dig for the root ball. Always work over that soil well which you have dig out from the soil Never replace it without working It over as much as you can as it allows the roots of tree to penetrate easily and with speed. Adding all the suitable fertilizers and nutrients to the soil before replacing it can also work wonder for your tree. Also try to use organic supplies such as mulch. Bark and any branches or twigs work well for this, and will support the quick growth.
The root ball of the tree is usually balled up in a burlap bag when you buy it. If you find a tree in a burlap bag, you should set it anywhere between fall and early spring. Some trees might also be grown in a container or simply with bare roots. You can plant such trees in any time of the year. Plant your tree in winter and early spring if it has just bare roots. If you purchase a tree that has been grown in a container, make sure that the roots are not tapered by the container. It can be dangerous as it usually cause roots to go in circles underground after planting. Never forget to add moisture to the tree after buying and before planting it.
The best way of planting a tree is to put it in the ground at suitable depth and to put the soil back without giving it extra compression. Always water the plant immediately after planting it. Many gardeners make this mistake but I always advice my readers to put mulch after first watering. There should be a layer of 2 to 3 inches of organic mulch at the base of your tree.
Some best Hardy trees you can buy
If you are an experienced tree grower and you are living in area where very little rain comes, you must be aware of the fact that the tree survival in such conditions totally depends on your ability to supply it good quantity of water. Many of us just look for the nicest available tree in the nursery and never think that how much its survival depends upon the proper watering system. If any of my reader is living in area that is parched of water, he or she should understand that planning before buying a tree really matters. Such gardeners always buy the trees that can survive on lower amount of water.
Always try to buy a tree that is originally of your area. If you belong to an area which is seriously parched of water, always remember that the tree you should adapt is the one that have been there all along. You can rely upon these trees because they are well used to the conditions and they know how to survive in such areas. A best way to figure such trees out is to arrange a tour of undeveloped areas of your city and note which trees are green. You can simply then find out their names and buy them from a good gardening nursery. They may not attract you a lot but they will be surely easy to manage in your drought hit area.
“Scotch pine” is one of the trees that can grow almost anywhere without much water. This tree has really fast growing rate of 20 or more inches per year and it is also very much drought resistant. Their maximum height is as much as 25 to 35 feet and they are really easy to get started. You can get this tree from nursery easily in areas with lower amounts of water. Some people don’t like this tree much because it turns to yellowish brown color during the colder months. Choice varies from person to person and that is why some people also love this tree because of this reason. In Scotch pine there are many varieties available that do not do this.
Another extra hardy and easy to manage tree is The Rocky Mountain Juniper. Just like the former one the bark of this tree turns to brown color in low temperatures and revives in late spring. They are sometimes used as windbreaks only because they are extra ordinary tough. These trees attract birds a lot and if you love birds in your garden you should go for it. Because of their hardiness birds love making nest in them. The only bad thing is that this tree grows at little slower rate as compared to other hardy plants. The rate is less than 10 inches per year.
Russian Olive is another drought resistant tree that you can do if you are living in water parched area. This is a beautiful tree and it will surely impress many once it is fully grown. It has maximum height of 25 feet but it beats the other hardy varieties because of its beauty. They produce awesome looking berries and that is why they attract too many birds.
So don’t worry if your water is limited because you have many options. Its not like these are the only drought resistant varieties, you can find many other depending on your area. Simply specifying your area in Google search and trying finding out the hardy trees can bring out a huge list. If this does not help you, you can simply visit your whole city to find out the currently flourishing trees. You will get a cleat idea what you should buy.
5 different Apple tree varieties
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very delicious, stiff and crispy apple variety.
tes extra-ordinary when they are fresh
· Gala apple: It was introduced in
· Brae Burn apples: This apple variety looks beautiful because of its varying colors. They come in gold with red streaks to almost completely red. They were first introduced in late 1940’s and are popular since then. They found their origin in
· Red Delicious apple: The most tall and red colored apple variety. They are very crisp, sweet and juicy from inside. They make a great salad and are popular world wide. The most distinctive thing about this apple is its heart shape. Their ripe time is mid to late September and like most apple varieties they are best when fresh. They were first introduced in 1874 in
· Golden delicious apple: They are very juicy apple variety and have great taste. The best thing about this apple is that they keep their taste and shape even after being cooked. From outside they are thin and soft but inner is firm, white and crisp. They range in size from medium to large and they are shaped much like the red delicious apple. They are enjoyed by many worldwide despite of the fact that they bruise very easily. Their ripe time is late September and if you want them to last long time, they should be handled with care.
Repelling birds from your garden
Growing a cherry tree is an ultimate fun and I don’t need to tell it to any one who has a cherry tree in his garden. Only the delicious cherry fruit from your tree can make you so much satisfied and happy. Not only this, the view of beautiful and magnificent cherry tree from your back window can make your life extra ordinary beautiful. Cherry tree is the most inspiring and exotic tree for any one who looks at it. So you are lucky if you have a successful experience in growing a cherry plant.
Its not like cherry tree offers you only endless joys; it can bring lot of annoyances as well. They attract different kinds of unwanted creatures that you may have never thought of. Pests love the cherry tree a lot and every day you will see a new pest in search of cherry fruit. I am unable to find reason why they try to eat cherries from our tree and why they don’t grow their own?
Birds love cherry tree a lot and a cherry grower knows that different birds constantly keep sitting on this tree just for fruit. No matter how hard you try, they keep on sitting. Some of them come quickly and fly away with bunch of cherries while the more naughty ones keep hiding in branches all day long and taste every cherry they can approach easily. Repelling them or catching them is a difficult task but still there are some ways you can do it.
You can place a plastic owl within the vicinity of house and this is proved to be a great birds deterring technique. Instead of owl you may use any plastic bird which eats birds and it will do the trick. Birds always try to avoid such birds which can be dangerous for them so they will not try to come on your cherry tree too often. Some creatures don’t eat birds but still they scare them because of some unknown reasons and you can use their plastic versions. These can include snakes, owls’ hawks, or scarecrows. You can purchase these easily from any local gardening store. You can get many better plastic versions of such creatures online. So, do a good research and you will come up with a more lifelike thing.
I hope this trick work for you all but remember in most cases birds get really brave and keep on eating fruit. Any reflective surface or noisy object can also work wonder in this case. I myself like to use reflective tape planned for scaring birds. You can buy this at any gardening store. I use the combination of reflective and noisy thing and it always works wonder for me. You can use large assortment of wind chimes along with any reflective surface for maximum scaring. If you use plastic animals along with this reflective and noisy items combination, you will be very much free from the tension of birds.
If you are too kind you can leave one tree exclusively for pests and birds. There is no doubt in this that birds enhance the beauty of your garden a lot. If you enjoy birds in your garden then don’t try to repel them all at once as it will make you feel something seriously missing in your gardening life.