Spraying, pruning aid apple trees

Q: My apple tree did very little in its first year. It is a scrawny six feet tall. How can I get it to flourish? — Joel, Eveleth, MN

A: You will need a spray program, good pruning and some fertilizer to start. Pruning requires a sense of purpose. Apple trees are best left open on the inside. This winter or fall you can start with cutting two feet off the top. You will need three main branches that will grow mostly laterally. In the third or fourth year as the tree gets taller you can have five main branches to become the scaffolding for the fruit bearing branches. Use a home orchard spray. It contains two insecticides and a fungicide. Follow directions on the label. You can also use a dormant oil spray or Neem when the leaves fall. Apply the oil again in the spring before the buds swell. Fertilize with 5-1010 now. Dig five holes with a crowbar that go down a foot in a circle at the leaf drop. Fill them with the fertilizer.

Q: I heard you recommend tape for stopping gypsy moths on your radio show. How far up the trunk should I put it? — Pat, North Stonington, Conn.

A: Tape placed a couple of feet from the ground with a good coat of vaseline will keep all the creepy crawlies from getting up into the leaves. It has been reported that the gypsies are coming. They are too large for most birds. Hopefully, cities and towns will help by spraying.

Q: How do I use aloe from my aloe vera plant? — Katie, Marquette, Mich.

A: Simply snap off a leaf and rub the leaf onto a cut or rash. Older and thicker leaves will have more jell in each leaf. Succulents store fluid inside their leaves and require less water except when they are in bloom. That is our number one buying question.

Q: Can I make cuttings from my wisteria and hydrangea? — Evelyn, Norwich, Conn.

A: Both are easy. Take eight inch terminal shoots. Leave two leaves at the top and strip the rest. Place the cuttings in a six inch deep box of coarse sand. Insert only the bottom two inches. Place the box in a location that is near the spigot and preferably in the shade. Cuttings should be two inches apart. They will root in about a month. They would be best transplanted in the early fall.

“How many daisies can you count on your lawn? When you can count twelve daisies, Spring has arrived.” — Eleanor Farjeon