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#1
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Mistletoe
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. |
#2
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"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. |
#3
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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 : ) |
#4
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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 ? |
#5
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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" |
#6
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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. |
#7
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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" |
#8
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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. |
#10
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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 |
#11
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The message
from (WaltA) contains these words: 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 How many cuttings would you like? BTW, we felled two of them in Neasden some years ago - they were very old pollards and rotting at the base, and the householder's insurance company declined his business until they were removed. They were well over 200 ft in height, and when we came to take the bottom part of the trunks down, we only just managed it going in from two sides with a 36" arm on the power saw. They tend to get overenthusiastic when set loose. -- Rusty Emus to: horrid dot squeak snailything zetnet point co full-stop uk http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/hi-fi/ |
#12
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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 |
#13
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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 |
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