We have recently moved house and have a beautiful apple tree in our garden that is absolutely covered in mistletoe!
I've read that mistletoe is a parasite but is it draining the nutrients from the tree or just using it as a host to attach to?
How do I go about pruning/removing some of it as at the moment I can hardly see the apple tree for mistletoe? (and it might bring in some extra money at christmas!!)

Thanks in advance.

"missymaisymoo" wrote in message
...

We have recently moved house and have a beautiful apple tree in our
garden that is absolutely covered in mistletoe!
I've read that mistletoe is a parasite but is it draining the nutrients
from the tree or just using it as a host to attach to?
How do I go about pruning/removing some of it as at the moment I can
hardly see the apple tree for mistletoe? (and it might bring in some
extra money at christmas!!)

Thanks in advance.
__________________-
Mistletoe is only a partial parasite and only penetrates the xylem
for water and minerals~~ of which there is seldom a shortage. It has green
leaves and is thus able to photosynthesise for itself.
I really envy having such a tree. The mistletoe will certainly be of
value and a great talking point. It will do no harm and will not diminish
the apple crop~~ though the tree must be quite ancient anyway.
Best Wishes Brian.

Mistletoe is only a partial parasite and only penetrates the xylem
for water and minerals~~ of which there is seldom a shortage. It has green
leaves and is thus able to photosynthesise for itself.
I really envy having such a tree. The mistletoe will certainly be of
value and a great talking point. It will do no harm and will not diminish
the apple crop~~ though the tree must be quite ancient anyway.
Best Wishes Brian.[color=blue][i]


Thank you Brian for your advice. I'm glad it's not robbing the tree of its nutrients. I've never seen mistletoe growing before and I must say, it looks fantastic! It is a very old tree, the house is nearly 200 yrs old and tree has been there a long time by the look of the bark. Apples are nearly ready for picking so will be able to make yummy pies : )

On Sat, 20 Aug 2005 18:46:25 +0100, "Brian" ---
'flayb' to respond wrote:
"missymaisymoo" wrote in message
...
We have recently moved house and have a beautiful apple tree in our
garden that is absolutely covered in mistletoe!
I've read that mistletoe is a parasite but is it draining the nutrients
from the tree or just using it as a host to attach to?
How do I go about pruning/removing some of it as at the moment I can
hardly see the apple tree for mistletoe? (and it might bring in some
extra money at christmas!!)

Thanks in advance.
__________________-
Mistletoe is only a partial parasite and only penetrates the xylem
for water and minerals~~ of which there is seldom a shortage. It has green
leaves and is thus able to photosynthesise for itself.
I really envy having such a tree. The mistletoe will certainly be of
value and a great talking point. It will do no harm and will not diminish
the apple crop~~ though the tree must be quite ancient anyway.
Best Wishes Brian.

Interesting, thank you Brian.
I also have an old apple (Bramley) with a fair crop of mistletoe on
it.
I was thinking of removing most of it just in case it was damaging the
tree, however, now you have got me thinking ,,,
How would one go about selling this 'valuable' crop !
I dont think I have enought to interest Tesco though !!

There is another tree on our patch that has a lot of it high up (way
out of reach even with a long ladder), I think I was once told it was
some sort of poplar ? Not the sort of poplar that I knew in my youth,
not the tall thin (Lombardy ?), a much more um open rounded fluttery
leaved thing, a 'tree' like tree ! (That sounds stoopid dont it !)
with a habbit of dropping the odd 2ft dia. stem onto the unwary from
time to time.
What trees are commonly adopted by mistletoe ?

In article , WaltA please@don
tbesilly.somewhere.com writes

I also have an old apple (Bramley) with a fair crop of mistletoe on
it.
I was thinking of removing most of it just in case it was damaging the
tree, however, now you have got me thinking ,,,
How would one go about selling this 'valuable' crop !

Through independent greengrocers at the relevant time - they'd probably
do it on a 'sale or return' basis.

There is a mistletoe auction each year at Tenbury Wells.


There is another tree on our patch that has a lot of it high up (way
out of reach even with a long ladder), I think I was once told it was
some sort of poplar ? Not the sort of poplar that I knew in my youth,
not the tall thin (Lombardy ?), a much more um open rounded fluttery
leaved thing, a 'tree' like tree !

Yes, there are several species of poplar, - the Lombardy is the tall
thin one. It's branches grow upwards rather than out in normal tree
fashion.

(That sounds stoopid dont it !)
with a habbit of dropping the odd 2ft dia. stem onto the unwary from
time to time.
What trees are commonly adopted by mistletoe ?

Typically old apple trees, one reason for its prevalence in
Worcestershire and Herefordshire. According to Mabey 'British Flora'
most of the supermarket stuff is now imported from apple and poplar in N
France. There are a number of other hosts.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 09:54:01 +0100, Kay wrote:
How would one go about selling this 'valuable' crop !

Through independent greengrocers at the relevant time

What a good thought, and we still have rwo of those not far away
despite 4 supermarkets !
I wonder if I should try selling them bay leaves as well !

There is a mistletoe auction each year at Tenbury Wells.

Oh yes, just googled it, how interesting.

What trees are commonly adopted by mistletoe ?

Sorry, my bad,,
I meant what other trees (other than apple)
more googling needed ,,



Typically old apple trees, one reason for its prevalence in
Worcestershire and Herefordshire. According to Mabey 'British Flora'
most of the supermarket stuff is now imported from apple and poplar in N
France. There are a number of other hosts.

In article , WaltA please@dont
besilly.somewhere.com writes
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 09:54:01 +0100, Kay wrote:
How would one go about selling this 'valuable' crop !

Through independent greengrocers at the relevant time

What a good thought, and we still have rwo of those not far away
despite 4 supermarkets !
I wonder if I should try selling them bay leaves as well !

There is a mistletoe auction each year at Tenbury Wells.

Oh yes, just googled it, how interesting.

What trees are commonly adopted by mistletoe ?

Sorry, my bad,,
I meant what other trees (other than apple)

Well, poplar as I said below and as you already know. Other main ones
are lime, hawthorn, field maple, elm, sycamore and ash.

But it's been found occasionally on lots of other things - false acacia,
horse chestnut, turkey oak, japonica, walnut, cotoneaster, laburnum,
almond, cypress. All this from Mabey.


Typically old apple trees, one reason for its prevalence in
Worcestershire and Herefordshire. According to Mabey 'British Flora'
most of the supermarket stuff is now imported from apple and poplar in N
France. There are a number of other hosts.

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In article ,
WaltA wrote:

What trees are commonly adopted by mistletoe ?

Sorry, my bad,,
I meant what other trees (other than apple)

There are various races of mistletoe that tend to stick to groups
of species. The most common one in the UK prefers apple but, as
Kay said, the poplar one is common in France. It is possible that
these are the same race, and that climatic conditions make the
difference. Anyway, it will grow on most deciduous trees, but
is very pernicketty when getting established.

There are two races on the continent that are specific to conifers,
but it almost never seen on conifers here and rarely on evergreens.
And there is a southern European species that grows on oak, but
ours prefers other trees.

However, all of the above is still poorly understood :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 11:40:41 +0100, Kay wrote:
Other main ones
are lime, hawthorn, field maple, elm, sycamore and ash.

But it's been found occasionally on lots of other things - false acacia,
horse chestnut, turkey oak, japonica, walnut, cotoneaster, laburnum,
almond, cypress. All this from Mabey.

I've made a note of the Mabey ref., for next time I'm at the library,
(is this the "Food for Free" Richard Mabey ?)

Gosh, thanks Kay & Nick, I did not realise that it could be found on
so many.
We have lots of field maple (grow like weeds !) and hawthorn as well
so a tour of inspection seems indicated.
I've taken down several false acacia but no mistletoe on them, perhaps
not old enough, although one was about 50ft high,
More googling needed on how fast does false acacia grow !

The message
from (WaltA) contains these words:

There is another tree on our patch that has a lot of it high up (way
out of reach even with a long ladder), I think I was once told it was
some sort of poplar ? Not the sort of poplar that I knew in my youth,
not the tall thin (Lombardy ?), a much more um open rounded fluttery
leaved thing, a 'tree' like tree ! (That sounds stoopid dont it !)
with a habbit of dropping the odd 2ft dia. stem onto the unwary from
time to time.

Aspen, probably.

Lombardy poplars are not a true variety of poplar, but are cultivated by
rooting cuttings from a branch of, IIRC, the black poplar, and the
cutting doesn't know it's not a branch any longer, and continues growing
straight up.

What trees are commonly adopted by mistletoe ?

The british variety will grow on quite a few, but mainly on fruit trees
- especially apple and apricot, but often can be found on poplar, ash,
sometimes on oak, and related species of all those mentioned. (Probably
a lot more...)

--
Rusty
Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/

In article ,
WaltA wrote:

I've made a note of the Mabey ref., for next time I'm at the library,
(is this the "Food for Free" Richard Mabey ?)

Yes.

We have lots of field maple (grow like weeds !) and hawthorn as well
so a tour of inspection seems indicated.
I've taken down several false acacia but no mistletoe on them, perhaps
not old enough, although one was about 50ft high,

As I said, it is a very pernicketty plant, and nobody is really sure
why it grows any why it doesn't. There is some serious research on
it going on, but it doesn't attract a lot of commercial funding.

More googling needed on how fast does false acacia grow !

Don't google too long, or it will have grown out of sight by the
time you get back to it :-)

The thing that restrains it in the UK is the cold and dark, but
even here (in the south) it is pretty vigorous.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

In article , WaltA please@dont
besilly.somewhere.com writes
On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 11:40:41 +0100, Kay wrote:
Other main ones
are lime, hawthorn, field maple, elm, sycamore and ash.

But it's been found occasionally on lots of other things - false acacia,
horse chestnut, turkey oak, japonica, walnut, cotoneaster, laburnum,
almond, cypress. All this from Mabey.

I've made a note of the Mabey ref., for next time I'm at the library,
(is this the "Food for Free" Richard Mabey ?)

I believe it's the same one.

Gosh, thanks Kay & Nick, I did not realise that it could be found on
so many.
We have lots of field maple (grow like weeds !) and hawthorn as well
so a tour of inspection seems indicated.

It seems you are at a considerable advantage if you live in
Herefordshire or Worcestershire ;-)

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

In message , WaltA
writes

There is another tree on our patch that has a lot of it high up (way
out of reach even with a long ladder), I think I was once told it was
some sort of poplar ? Not the sort of poplar that I knew in my youth,
not the tall thin (Lombardy ?), a much more um open rounded fluttery
leaved thing, a 'tree' like tree ! (That sounds stoopid dont it !) with
a habbit of dropping the odd 2ft dia. stem onto the unwary from time to
time. What trees are commonly adopted by mistletoe ?

There's several types of poplar, but "fluttery leaved" sounds like an
aspen (Populus tremula). This has rounded, shallowly toothed leaves.
Most other poplars have leaves which are broadest towards the base.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 13:36:33 +0100, Jaques d'Alltrades wrote:
Lombardy poplars are not a true variety of poplar, but are cultivated by
rooting cuttings from a branch of, IIRC, the black poplar, and the
cutting doesn't know it's not a branch any longer, and continues growing
straight up.

Oh! I never knew that, most interesting.
You mean to say that it isn't only us gardeners that get confused and
don't know what we are supposed to be doing :-)
That sounds my kind of tree ! I must have one !!

Sounds as though it might be labour intensive, I wonder how much they
cost,
,,,goes to search of suppliers

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005 16:46:37 +0100, Stewart Robert Hinsley wrote:

There's several types of poplar, but "fluttery leaved" sounds like an
aspen (Populus tremula). This has rounded, shallowly toothed leaves.
Most other poplars have leaves which are broadest towards the base.

Could be aspen then , thanks Rusty and Stewart

Little bit of a breeze and it makes a noise, one side of the leaf
darker than tother.
I can't get a leaf off it (too high up) till they start to fall later.
Took some pics (with elchepo webcam) of its bark. Dont know if this is
enough to be diagnostic ? Not good pics, very dark in there so webcam
was on its limit and having trouble with contrast.. Three pics,one
about 25K and two at 55k here
http://www.freewebs.com/waltsretreat/Tree/index.html