North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

["Christopher Mauchline" <mauch1@aol.com>]

I went to a applicators update meeting at an orchard two summers ago, 
and the experts from Penn State had the orchard owner describe his 
method of placing rock finings around the base of his trees.  They 
seemed to think it was a good idea. (He basically put a 5 gal bucket 
full of finings piled up at the base of each tree at planting time).

Note:  The orchardist had started this years before and at first used 
large gravel -- this was a disaster as it gave a home for the voles.

Chris Mauchline
SE PA, zone 6

--- In nafex@egroups.com, edforest55@h... wrote:
> I have mounded gravel about the trunks of my apple trees thinking 
> that it would keep the soil warmer in the summer and help growth a 
> little but after I read that they will 'suck' the heat out of the 
> ground in the fall and early winter possible making he roots colder 
> that they would normally be, I decided to take it away. This I read 
> somewhere, don't recall, but it strongly advised not to put gravel 
up 
> against the trunk or around the trunk. 
> Kevin


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