Winter Chores

The Frau checked the diary and we are about four weeks behind previous schedules for a major winter chore.  Namely corrective pruning of the oak trees.

We're behind - not because we're lazy - but because we lost a couple of weekends traveling to Europe and the weather had been so brutally cold.

So we're making up some lost ground.

You've probably heard the old adage about "as the twig is bent".  So it is with oak trees.  Tree farmers like to produce straight trunks without a large number of knots.  So oak trees are planted alongside pine trees so that the bushier pines "train" the oaks to grow straight and tall and the tree farmer prunes any defects or horizontal limbs as the tree grows.  Winter is the ideal time to do this as the chance of spreading disease like oak wilt is nil.  There are no bugs around that might be attracted to a fresh cut on the tree.

Here's a before and after.

click on images to enlarge

This white oak (Quercusbicolor) is already displaying some nice girth and in a few more years any further pruning will have to be completed with a pole saw.

Off To Work

It's pruning season.

There's an old saying about when you should prune a tree - Prune when the knife is sharp. 

The ideal time to prune oaks is winter.  Even though there is no evidence of oak wilt on the peninsula why take any chances. 

Oak wilt is caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum. Symptoms vary by tree species but generally consist of leaf discoloration, wilt, defoliation, and death. The fungus is spread from diseased to healthy trees by connections between tree roots.  But it always starts when insects carrying the fungal spores are attracted to wounds on the tree.

The best way of preventing infection is by avoiding tree wounds when insects are active.

The girls always tag-along...

click on images to enlarge