Joe Pelonio
02-19-2007, 12:13 PM
I'm back from the weekend at my Mom's in Port Angeles, WA. It's about 3 hours by car and ferry, always an enjoyable trip in decent weather.
Besides pruning the 30 or so fruit trees, some grafting, and repairing snow damage to several small trees, I was able to go to a 3 hour seminar on the dormant care of apple trees by the Washington State University Extension Program.
If you are looking for trees, you should look into programs by such universities, local county and state agriculture departments, and even logging operations. I discovered that several times a year they give away bundles of 25 native trees, first come first serve free, douglas fir, NW red cedar, hemlock mosly. They are usually 2' tall, bought for planting in areas that have been logged, but they intentionally buy excess to give away to promote homeowners planting native. Also found out I can buy semi-dwarf apple rootstock for grafting at .80 each in quantities over 100. Too bad I have no room for an orchard.
Below is the view from the highway (101) up toward Blue Mountain, one of the Olympic range. Their place is a few miles up the hill. The WSU guy that did the seminar is doing a study on micro climates, and is interested in doing some experimentation at their property, as it's the hottest summer location in the county. I'm not sure I understand the concept of "degree hours" but their little valley is about 2,000/year and the rest of the county is about 1,300. Anyone seen this formula before?
http://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/weather/aboutgdh.shtml
Besides pruning the 30 or so fruit trees, some grafting, and repairing snow damage to several small trees, I was able to go to a 3 hour seminar on the dormant care of apple trees by the Washington State University Extension Program.
If you are looking for trees, you should look into programs by such universities, local county and state agriculture departments, and even logging operations. I discovered that several times a year they give away bundles of 25 native trees, first come first serve free, douglas fir, NW red cedar, hemlock mosly. They are usually 2' tall, bought for planting in areas that have been logged, but they intentionally buy excess to give away to promote homeowners planting native. Also found out I can buy semi-dwarf apple rootstock for grafting at .80 each in quantities over 100. Too bad I have no room for an orchard.
Below is the view from the highway (101) up toward Blue Mountain, one of the Olympic range. Their place is a few miles up the hill. The WSU guy that did the seminar is doing a study on micro climates, and is interested in doing some experimentation at their property, as it's the hottest summer location in the county. I'm not sure I understand the concept of "degree hours" but their little valley is about 2,000/year and the rest of the county is about 1,300. Anyone seen this formula before?
http://fruitsandnuts.ucdavis.edu/weather/aboutgdh.shtml