North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Mauch1@aol.com]

>I get all my wood chips from the town yard.  Every time a >tree limb falls
>they come and put it through the chipper.  When the truck is >full they
>dump it in the town yard, and it is FREE.  Just have to pick >it up with a
>truck.  You can get older chips by digging in, or get fresh >chips from the
>top.
Sounds great.  I'm not aware of anything like that in my area.

>I have white clover in my backyard (lawn) and it is hardy and >aggressive.
>I put it there for heavy traffic and taking abuse, while >returning
>nitrogen to the soil.  I would put it in my front yard but I >am sure my
>neighbors would not think much of it.
Well I used to have white clover in my lawn, and I agree 
(although ground ivy is *much* more agressive).  The 
vineyard I spoke about was hard fescue, which seems to 
have some ability to choke out weeds.  The hard fescue was
nice in that it took much less mowing.  It didn't seem all
that drought tolerant.

> Do you mow your orchard at all or is it natural?
My current orchard is planted in an area that has been mowed 
for years, but it was never planted with a grass seed. It gets
mowed when the rest of the lawn gets mowed via garden 
tractor.  Trimming (via a push mower) may be skipped 
occasionally.

Chris Mauchline
SE PA, zone 6
Where the drought goes on & on & on...