Apple pruning.

[Paul B]

but it doesnt kill frogs and poison many other things including people. The province I live in is sorta like the california of the USA, forward in most green thinking for our country. I think judicious use by trained pros is ok but the homeowner should not be able to buy the stuff, period. Just like a homeowner cant buy dangerous medication without a prescription.

Why should a house painter, a car mechanic or (no offense James ) an accountant be allowed to purchase, mix and apply Roundup (supposedly not so bad for LD50 etc but hey, who knows how many scientists Monsanto has under their wallets? ), Endosulfan, Captan, Benlate, Rotenone or some other VERY potent (notice I didnt say poisonous) chemical concentrate?

 

[sotc]

shoot, antibacterial soap is a pestacide

 

[Paul B]

the safer soap type stuff is exempted, as is moss killer, Bt compounds, copper spray and garden sulphur, not much else.

and FWIW, Lysol is a pesticide (bacteriacide), the bans cover 'cosmetic pesticides" as in those things that make your plants or their products (IE apples) look better.

 

[Cobleskill]

In this country there are more herbicides applied to home lawns, golf couses, athletic fields, etc. than the farmers use to grow millions of acres of food.

I can't stomach the smell of a "chem-lawn" myself. I sure wouldn't let a young child crawl around on it. Dandelions don't really offend me that much anyway.

 

[Al Smith]

Dandelions don't really offend me that much anyway.

Well they do make pretty good wine .

Some people eat the greens,not I though. Nasty isn't the word for them ,yuck .

 

[TC3]

Didn't mean to open up a can of worms with the spray post (pun intended!). Seems that tree folk are just as inclined toward buzz words as the general public? LOL
Dormant oil sprays are a must IMO, if you want a decent chance at staving off insects & disease. Hort oil & soap sprays can be effective, and of course IPM is paramount.
There are a variety of choices in organic sprays.
Timing is key.
Cultural control (picky clean-up of fallen leaves & removal of host plants, etc.) can go miles toward controlling fungi, and there are a bunch of little things to do & know in order to have success.
I just sorta feature people investing in proper pruning & then waiting at the window for the fruit to be ready, when in fact it's much more.
It's fun to help customers learn how to care for their trees, and I'm often very impressed by the amount of research and diligence people are willing to put into them.

P.S. Dandelion greens are very good for you !

 

[stehansen]

In this country there are more herbicides applied to home lawns, golf couses, athletic fields, etc. than the farmers use to grow millions of acres of food.

I can't stomach the smell of a "chem-lawn" myself. I sure wouldn't let a young child crawl around on it. Dandelions don't really offend me that much anyway.

I've heard of a similar statistic here. That water use and pesticide use for urban or agricultural was about the same per acre.
Here a farmer can't purchase any pesticides unless he has a use permit on file and he can't apply any pesticides himself unless he has obtained his private applicators license. You must have a county approved secured and labeled storage place, and if you have employees doing it you must provide them with all the PPE plus a place to shower and to launder their clothes so they don't have to take them home. If you are spraying some class 1 chemicals you must blood test every 6 months. The chemical that he's buying must be listed on the use permit or he must submit an additional permit.
At the beginning of the year when you get your permit and you have hopefully figured out what you are growing you get together with your PCA and list every chemical you would conceivably use on that crop, so you won't have to mess around with the addendums later in the year. The private applicators license consists of taking a test and having the county guy come out and check your storage site.

 

[stig]

I realize this thread is about pruning, but wanted to add a bit :
When a customer wants a tree pruned for fruit, I also let them know that it requires spraying on a regular schedule & vigilance to keep up with insects & diseases, particularly apple trees. Harvesting your own fruit seems like a great idea, but it can be a lot of work.
P.S. I am brutal with apple trees !

There is a simple way to get around that.
Just have enough trees

I have about 45 different fruit trees on my place. Apples, pears, plums and about 22 varieties of cherries.
I do prune them, but that is it. No fertilizer, no bug-spray.

When you just have the trees for fun, it doesn't matter if the bugs and birds spoil a little fruit. I still get enough for ourselves and just about everyone we know.

When the cherries are ripe, I call everyone on my "cherry list" and we have a LOT of visitors for about 3 weeks. Adults and kids both stuffing themselves with cherries, great fun.

And organic, too!

 

[Old Monkey]

That's cool.

 

[TC3]

Hmmm, maybe we'll vacation in Denmark this year with Stig ?!? LOL
Sounds like you've got it all worked out. Very cool.

 

[stig]

Hmmm, maybe we'll vacation in Denmark this year with Stig ?!? LOL
Sounds like you've got it all worked out. Very cool.

I'll put you on the "cherry list" and send you an e-mail when they are getting ripe!