Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: AlaninCarlisle on May 21, 2013, 16:32
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I have a couple of apple trees that are over 30 years old and seem to have reached the end of their lives in that there is a lot of dead wood and very few new shoots appearing. Certainly they have stopped any major fruiting about five years ago despite extensive pruning.
Sorry, I inadvertently posted before I'd finished typing
My question is that is it sensible to dig these out, enrich the soil and plant afresh, or are they like roses and poison the soil for similar species for years to come?
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Not aware of anything like a virus or similar that would prevent replanting.
The one thing that could cause a problem is simply getting the old roots out, they are going to be pretty extensive and not easy to dig out.
In effect you may have to cut them down and see what can be dug up but will I suspect have to plant any new trees what is in effect between the old ones. Then simply allow the remains of the old trees to rot away naturally.
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Yes roots will be a problem. The gate into this particular part is too narrow for even the mini-est of minidiggers to get through. I think that if I just plant one between where both the dying trees are then cut them off close to the ground I'll be OK. I could hasten the rotting process of the stumps by drilling into them and pouring a proprietary stump-killer* into the holes
*A neighbour swears by the-now-banned-by-the-EU wood-preserver (of which I still have a couple of gallons) for this purpose
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I'd just drill them without the stump killer to be honest - the last apple I took down ( about three years ago ) was totally unnoticable from the surface within 6 months. obv roots and the like cam up every now and then but already heavily degraded.
Have a good one.
Dave