Base of trees on orchard

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Frenchie
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2022 10:53 am

Base of trees on orchard

Post by Frenchie »

What are people using to keep grass down around trees?
I avoid herbicides and have tried mulch from chippers which is gone in a season. We mow but would like to find a safe method/chemical that will help.
silverhow
Posts: 2
Joined: Mon Sep 14, 2020 6:29 pm

Re: Base of trees on orchard

Post by silverhow »

I have about 28 trees - mainly different varieties of apple - and I manage my orchard organically and don't use chemicals of any sort. I maintain a grass-free circular area (about 4 feet diameter) round each tree. Every spring (about now) I remove loose material from the previous year and refill the recess with fresh well rotted garden compost - which I make in abundance. This is the only fertiliser the trees have ever had - and, normally they crop very well. (Last year I lost 90% of the crop to late frost - but that's a different story.) In theory, I keep the recesses round the trees weeded (easy because the compost is fairly loose and the compost acts as a mulch). In practice, I forget, and they do get a bit weedy at times. The rest of the grass is mown occasionally - but I make sure it's long at harvest time so that windfalls don't get bruised.
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