[Sca-cooks] It's quiet in here

[Olwen the Odd]

> >Have you tried putting rubber snakes in the tree to scare off the birds?
> >I did that to my mum's fig tree and it worked pretty well.  You may need
>to
> >check the soil too.  Most centers will check it for free, around here at
> >least.  Could be it needs a little perking up.
>
>      Can't say I've tried rubber snakes (or AOL CDs  :-).  Lately I've
>been considering taking down everything but the old apple and the new (type
>unknown) cherry and starting over.  I could choose varieties myself.  But
>the new apple (also unknown) was girdled last year (I don't know if it was
>mice or deer), just as it was beginning to bear fruit, and I'm a bit leary
>of taking down poor but sort-of-bearing trees for young, healthy,
>eventually-bearing ones.  Especially since I have no idea what any of the
>varieties I have now are.  There's even a peach, but it has been gradually
>dying since I moved in.  The fruit tastes marvelous, if I'm lucky enough to
>get one (or enough of a few to cut the good bits from), but I have no idea
>what it is.
>
>Sandra Kisner
>sjk3 at cornell.edu

Sounds like you need to get that soil checked for pests too.  The trees can
be sprayed with a combination of water, dish soap, and olive oil and it will
cut back on the bugs without a pesticide.  You could also try getting some
sphagum moss and mix in a little tree specific food and wrap the girddled
area with that under burlap to see if that will help save it.
Olwen

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