Contact: Diane Relf, Extension Specialist, Environmental Horticulture

October 1996

December Tips
FRUITS AND NUTS

  • Fresh nuts of hickory, butternut, and black walnut germinate quite readily if planted outdoors approximately 1 inch deep. The alternating freezing and thawing splits their hard shells and allows the roots to emerge. A small, wire cage placed over the nut will mark planting spots and keep the squirrels from excavating the seeds.

  • Leave a bare circle, one foot wide, around fruit tree trunks when spreading mulch so the mice won't nest there. Also wrap the trunks to prevent rabbit damage.

  • Fruit trees can be pruned at any time during the winter provided the temperature is above 45F.

  • Mice chew off the bark of fruit trees at ground level or below and often completely girdle a tree causing it to die. To reduce this damage, keep mulch pulled away from the base of the tree and examine mulch frequently for the presence of mice.

  • The aim of tree wrapping is to keep the trunk from heating unevenly on bright, sunny, winter days. Bark tends to split as it cools rapidly after the winter sun has warmed the south and west sides. Use commercially available tree wraps or put up canvas or burlap screens to shade young fruit trees. Even a plank leaned up against the south side of the trunk will help. Painting trunks with white latex paint is a technique used in orchards to achieve the same purpose. Consider this practice if you have young, tender-barked trees like fruit trees.

    Monthly Tips have been prepared since 1986 by various staff of the Office of Consumer Horticulture including Ellen Bennett, Michelle Buckstrup, Susan Day, Susan DeBolt, Sharon Dendy, Kate Dobbs, Sheri Dorn, David Gravell, Virginia Nathan, Jenny Shuster, Ellen Silva, and Ruth Sorenson. Resource material for the development of this information includes the Virginia Master Gardener Handbook; Extension Publications and newsletters from VCE, numerous other states, and the USDA; and an extensive library of over 900 books, magazines, and journals. Project funded by The Virginia Gardener Newsletter subscription fees. Diane Relf, Project Director and Content Specialist.

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