In article ,
Bill who putters wrote:

I've been honing my craft skills (cut & paste), but the above
attribution is an artifact of my MT-NewsWatcher, i.e. it's not my fault.
Sorry for any ruffled feathers.

Hows the sledding? It's hard for me to believe that you are actually
having worse weather than Mr. Underlog, out in the "fly over". Today
your high is higer, but your low is lower. How far are you from the
Atlantic? Is there no moderating effect from the ocean?

Here in Northern California we are in a pattern of sun, then rain, but I
think we are out of the cold weather that we were having. It has warmed
up some at night. The area where we live used to be a recreational area
with summer homes. Some of them were single wall. The older homes have a
hard time keeping up with freezing temperatures. I keep thinking that we
are the last to be burning wood, and then suddenly piles of wood pop up
in peoples drive ways. I've pretty much cleaned up any tree branches
that were lying around. Between a short harvest which has had me home
more during the day, and our run of cold (for here) nights, we are
almost down to "Presto" logs.

Potatoes came up on their own. I have some lettuce and peas in the
incubator but they are probably 3 weeks away from planting. Bought a
dozen lettuces from the nursery just to get thing going. Planting them
today.

The main beds are preped. I still need to prep the trellises
(amendments, newspaper, alfalfa), and pull some weeds in the shadier
beds.

Well, enough leaning on the fence, back to work. Lettuce to plant.
Kindling to cut, and dinner to make (sausages, boiled potatoes, and
sauerkraut tonight, it'll be easy ;O)
In article
,
Billy wrote:

In article ,
Bill who putters wrote:

I'll cut the trunks off at an angle, so that rain runs off, and coat
the cuts with this special sealer from the garden centre.

Bad idea.
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/art...-garden-expert
s-about-pruning-trees
Painting pruning wounds
Should I paint the pruning wounds on my trees?*
Do not apply a pruning paint or wound dressing to pruning wounds. The
application of a pruning paint or wound dressing does not prevent wood
decay and may actually interfere with the tree¹s natural wound
responses. Oak trees are an exception to the no paint recommendation. To
prevent the transmission of oak wilt, oak trees should not be pruned in
spring and summer. If an oak tree needs to be pruned during the growing
season, for example to correct storm damage, immediately (within 15
minutes) paint the pruning cuts with a latex house paint. Winter
(December, January and February) is the best time to prune oak trees in
Iowa. There is no need to paint the pruning wounds when oaks are pruned
in winter.*

--
cheapo

Didn't think of grafting but that is a good option. Here is some info
you may not have found as yet:

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/.../grafting.html

do watch cutting branches back properly to get a good wound seal. It
is more than just a quick cut and some wax.

Plum branches make wonderful forced flowers for a early taste of spring.

http://thurly.net/10u3

I posted only about what to do with the pruned branches. Forcing
them.
--
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/7/michael_moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw

Superfluous BS snipped:

*I posted only about what to do with the pruned *branches. *Forcing
them.


Chalk it up as collateral damage of a faux KF BWP, next will be a
lengthy subtrafuge of disjointed BS.

In article ,
"David Hare-Scott" wrote:

Billy wrote:
In article ,
Bill who putters wrote:

I'll cut the trunks off at an angle, so that rain runs off, and
coat the cuts with this special sealer from the garden centre.

Bad idea.
http://www.extension.iastate.edu/art...-garden-expert
s-about-pruning-trees
Painting pruning wounds
Should I paint the pruning wounds on my trees?
Do not apply a pruning paint or wound dressing to pruning wounds. The
application of a pruning paint or wound dressing does not prevent wood
decay and may actually interfere with the tree¹s natural wound
responses. Oak trees are an exception to the no paint recommendation.
To prevent the transmission of oak wilt, oak trees should not be
pruned in spring and summer. If an oak tree needs to be pruned during
the growing season, for example to correct storm damage, immediately
(within 15 minutes) paint the pruning cuts with a latex house paint.
Winter (December, January and February) is the best time to prune oak
trees in Iowa. There is no need to paint the pruning wounds when oaks
are pruned in winter.

--
cheapo


Is there a difference depending on what you paint with? There are
preparations around that are supposed to seal the wound, these are out of
fashion with horticulturists as they say such sealant just locks the fungi
and spores inside and ultimately don't do much good. But what about a
fungicide that doesn't seal, eg bordeaux mix? The aim there is to reduce
the chance of infection by reducing the count of spores etc. Does that sort
of treatment qualify as "painting'?

David
Didn't think of grafting but that is a good option. Here is some
info you may not have found as yet:

http://cals.arizona.edu/pubs/garden/.../grafting.html

do watch cutting branches back properly to get a good wound seal. It
is more than just a quick cut and some wax.

Plum branches make wonderful forced flowers for a early taste of
spring.

http://thurly.net/10u3

Don't know. I got slapped around once for suggesting it, and haven't
found any sites that recommend it.

==
--
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/7/michael_moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41959570
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw

In article ,
Bill who putters wrote:

Plum branches make wonderful forced flowers for a early taste of spring.

http://thurly.net/10u3

I posted only about what to do with the pruned branches. Forcing
them.

Rachel Maddow reminds me of the shrink on 2 & 1/2 Men.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41959570

You force them? I thought you were more of a pacifist.

=====
--
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2011/3/7/michael_moore
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyE5wjc4XOw
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41959570
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw

In article
,
Billy wrote:

In article ,
Bill who putters wrote:

Plum branches make wonderful forced flowers for a early taste of
spring.

http://thurly.net/10u3

I posted only about what to do with the pruned branches. Forcing
them.

Rachel Maddow reminds me of the shrink on 2 & 1/2 Men.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/#41959570

You force them? I thought you were more of a pacifist.

=====

Yea but I am gentle. Stick a few small branches in water in early
spring and you may fool them to bloom. Read that pussy willow twigs
soaked in water increases the chance that the twigs may form roots.
Sort of a cheap root tone.

Meanwhile I hope our March is 4 foot lighter with the ground water
starting to rise. Last years was wet in march and dry for the rest of
the summer.

Just had about 3 inches and another looks due tomorrow. High 46 F.
forecasted. Thinking about getting the seed sit up going.

--
Bill S. Jersey USA zone 5 shade garden

³Every conflict in the world today has its origin in the
imagination of British map drawers,² Author Unknown

Woah! Thanks a million for all your replies folks, whether on or off topic, all are faskinating and some useful.
Now I'm starting to think it's easier to install a new alternator in my car than shorten a few trees! Hahaha!
My main task in the garden is to constantly ignore it.