WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Abundant and consistent rainfall has been wreacking havoc with apple trees. Leaf fungi spores “run wild” and spread prolifically under moist conditions. Frog-eye leaf-spot (Botryosphaeria obtusa) has been seen on several members’ apple trees already leading to early leaf-drop. This fungus was confirmed byContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? The Apple Tree Grafting season is fast approaching its end. We might get an extra 2 weeks into May with the extended winter back in April. Had the chance to prune one apple tree earlier this winter & then return to it last week &Continue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? The Apple Tree Pruning season is over for us at CFA, but don’t forget about next year. There were a few trees this year that we saw quite a bit of uprooting or branch-failure due to heavy snow and wet conditions. Underneath all thatContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Somewhere hidden inside that overgrown tree is a decent apple tree. Been pruning a lot of these overgrown & neglected apple trees lately. I guess after years of free-loading apples from the side of the road, it’s time to give back a little bit. Continue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Before the frost set in & the apple tree’s leaves turned black & fell off, I got a chance to inspect 1 apple tree graft experiment after 2 years of growth. So far so good. We’ll see how it goes next year & whetherContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Last month spent a lot of time grafting apple trees. Hopefully, this month we’ll get to see some green growth from all this fruit tree match-making. One of our trees grafted 3 years ago looks like it might bear fruit; we’ll see. Let’s prayContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Been in the woods liberating some apple trees that were being overgrown by musclewood trees. One musclewood (a.k.a. ironwood, blue beech) actually “swallowed up” one of the apple tree’s limbs. May the forest be with you, Ryan Trapani Executive Director Catskill Forest AssociationContinue Reading
WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST? Still grafting apple trees for CFA members. Today, I had the chance to monkey around on an extremely wide stretching apple tree. Its limbs spread so wide you could walk down it like on a cat-walk. It’s amazing how far apple trees will stretch to getContinue Reading