The man with the trencher called and said "I don't have any jobs lined-up for opening weekend of Deer Season. Do you still want me to come out and cut the roots of the walnut trees? I can do it Saturday or Sunday."
I was pierced by the horns of dilemma. I consulted with Mrs ERJ. We decided that we could attend different Masses on Sunday and I could support-and-direct the man with the trencher by attending an earliest Mass on Sunday.
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| The man operating the trencher. Note that he is wearing high visibility clothing. Good call during firearms deer season. The massive tree on the right is a Black Walnut. The multi-stem tree to its left is an American Basswood. The tree sprouting out of Mr Trencher's head is another Black Walnut. |
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| Looking down, into the trench. Cut walnut roots are the strings that seem to span the 6" wide trench. |
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| Some of the debris spit out by the trenching tool. |
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| Looking up the length of the trench. The shifting between black-and-white photos and "color" is due to the clouds/sun which changed by-the-minute due to the high winds. |
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| More debris. |
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| Foreground-left is the pile of dirt beside the trench. Background-dark is where I was back-filling using a shove. |
He cut 430 feet of trench in 3-1/2 hours.
Nearly all of the Black Walnut roots came from the east. The leg he cut on the south side of the Hill Orchard only had walnut roots for the most eastern, 30 feet. Then he hit clay and mulberry roots. Then sandy-loam and pine roots.
Given the number of walnut trees surrounding the property, I could see this as a once every 10-years maintenance task.
Is this just standard maintenance ERJ, or is this for an upcoming project?
ReplyDeleteThis is primarily an exercise in diagnosing why 1/4 of the combined Upper and Hill Orchards relentlessly kills nearly every tree that is planted on it.
DeleteThe combined orchards are approximately 45,000 square feet in area. The Upper Orchard cheerfully grows anything I plant. The bottom half of the Hill Orchard is a killing ground.
Inexpensive fruit trees are about $20 a piece. Between mowing, fencing, wrapping, and early care a nearly equal amount is spent. At 115 trees-to-the-acre and replanting dead trees every three years, that is burning up $300 a year. And I don't know why.
"Why not just abandon the bottom of the Hill Orchard?"
Some of it is pride. Some of it is the need to maintain the surface to prevent rodent damage to the trees next to it so I might as well have it be productive. Some of it is due to my perception that the tainted ground is encroaching on ground were trees used to grow and be productive. Where does it stop?
Ah, makes sense. I will be interested to see the results.
DeleteAnd yes, $300 a year will make a dent.
A modern version of the medieval moat ERJ?
ReplyDeleteI wish we could grow walnut trees here. ---ken
ReplyDeleteInteresting approach. I too am curious if it will work.
ReplyDelete"prevent rodent damage to the trees"...Don't know if you mean squirrels eating the nuts. A friend bought a Greyhound pup that wasn't good enough for the racetrack. That dog killed every squirrel and chipmunk in the neighborhood....TeX
ReplyDeleteBlack walnuts--phah! Around my house they rank right up there with sweet gums as weeds masquerading as trees. I will grant that the wood can make some beautiful furniture.
ReplyDelete