The garden of a lazy we occasionally.

[Ahmed]

In this future orchard, it is important to suppress herbaceous competition *, mainly that of grasses, vis-à-vis young plants, so spreading BRF (+ leaves, possibly) around the tree will suffice to suffocate weeds, without having to weed beforehand, with a good thickness (> 10 cm). If the grass is tall, which would be a bit surprising at this time, it is enough to mow it or, even simpler, to lay it down.

* Grasses compete strongly for water and mineral nutrients, mainly when trees need them most.

[olivier75]

Lolounette, Didier,

It seems to me that Sicetaitsimple has little or no access to real brf.
A contribution of carbon and lignin by the real or false brf see crushing of Decheterie (according to what it can obtain) below, and hay above and around to balance and limit the competition with the grass.
Also knowing that he planted plenty.
??

Olivier

[Did67]

On young trees, that's for sure.

Then, normally, this is distributed in different "layers" ... Of course, if we only think of optimizing the production of trees, competition has a negative effect. If we think of "overall biomass production", the distribution, each in its own floor, optimizes ... [I say that, although I do not have an upper floor either in my vegetable garden; my orchard is, on the other hand, a pre-orchard; the grass remains under the half-stem trees (just high enough to pass the mower, lying face down ...).

[paysan.bio]

I can tell you that phenoculture works even better on trees than on vegetables.

provided you put a thick layer.
20cm min.
when it is necessary to water, it is directly to the hose without anything at the end.
one season is enough to see the results.

I coupled the phenoculture with the size in summer recommended by workers' fraternities.
the results have been spectacular.

[Did67]

Lolounette, Didier,

It seems to me that Sicetaitsimple has little or no access to real brf.
A contribution of carbon and lignin by the real or false brf see crushing of Decheterie (according to what it can obtain) below, and hay above and around to balance and limit the competition with the grass.
Also knowing that he planted plenty.
??

Olivier

I am not an orchard specialist at all. Mine has nothing exemplary. What I "think" are just thoughts in the air ...

What I think I understood from "living systems" is in fact that ligneous trees (trees) are specialists in "low nitrogen" functioning, by accumulation of very poor hydrocarbon materials (therefore essentially a lot of CO² at the origin, a tiny bit of minerals).

So "theoretically", since I think aloud without having any concrete experience, the hay, rich in nitrogen, has hardly any room. The "real" BRF is not necessary. A blanket of shredded wood, sawdust, shavings, would do the trick.

To qualify: this is true for a forest; undoubtedly to "mix" a little with fruit trees, from which more "sugars" and less "lignin" are required. And this gets even worse due to the use of specific rootstocks, which undoubtedly have interesting "cultural" characteristics, but have probably lost some of the natural aptitudes of the tree in the forest ...

We will find the eternal debate between "solutions of conventional chemical agriculture" (fertilize, treat), with a so-called "intensive" production, and a production based on natural mechanisms - and there, we must not go wrong. : phenoculture for short-cycle vegetables, with an important "bacterial" system / nitrification, etc. but reconstitution of a poorer system, based on fungi, more acidic soil, no room for bacteria ... (and where hay has no place). This is my "theoretical reading scheme" of living things. As said, to qualify. But my strawberries, my raspberries still seem of this opinion!

[Lolounette]

to complete this, I again insist on the importance of especially not adding too much nitrogen to young trees, whatever its form (mulch rich in N, application of rapid assimilation fertilizer, etc.) ...
Their youth makes their growth explosive already at the base, pushing them again in this direction with nitrogen can only weaken them and delay their connection to the mycorrhizal network.

Certainly they will grow less quickly than if we had fertilized more ... but they will be stronger, more resistant to stress and a priori that should accelerate the setting of fruits.

Or it is necessary, like the bonsaika, to perfectly master the art of the balancing of the growth by the size in green which is then practiced several times a year. it is extremely restrictive in addition to the perfect mastery of reading the tree that it requires ... but very possible! For fruit trees, it can surely also be done as Paysan.bio says, but what a job when we have a lot of trees, I'm already struggling with my few bonsai in an orchard: it's not for me I think!

most of all, in my opinion, you have to be patient if you want to stay lazy!
I also have the project to establish some fruit trees on my land, we will see if the theory meets the practice.


The choice of the rootstock is to be considered ... in addition to the rest it also has an impact on the mycorrhization that I had not considered!

[paysan.bio]

we have made several hectares this season.
it's pretty easy to do.
round bales were cut with the Bosch crocodile saw.
the pieces were stacked on a trailer and placed at the foot of the trees, straight up to the foliage.
it makes a kind of patchwork blanket.

that's a lot of hay but we didn't have to do any other operations (weeding, manuring ...)
suddenly we find that we have been winners compared to other techniques that we know.

something that does not deceive:
neighbors who didn't give a damn about us came to ask how to cut the hay like that ....
I think that next year we will see a lot of patchwork in the Drome des Collines.

[Did67]

Experience speaks!

If I understand correctly, you are talking about trees already installed, that you have "phenocultured" short of life ???

It is therefore likely that the understanding is a little different: the trees are installed, their roots explore all spaces, they are mycorrhizal ...

The hay will then intervene in a more traditional way: reduce evaporations, thus ensuring a better water supply; avoid competition by "weeds"; hay is not "toxic" for fungi, which we can also see colonize the drier (or "less humid") layers ... It is probable that the fertilization provided, no doubt assimilated via the mycorrhizae, benefits the tree, without reaching the "overdose".

It makes me think that for comparison maybe I should keep a patch of strawberries under hay. To see more clearly. Two out of three years I used "real BRF". And last year, I supplemented the "crushed" of dead wood (heartwood) with slurry granules ... So indeed, I also "fertilized" more than what is the case in the natural forest. This is the price to pay for superior returns. But I think there is a limit, from which the system "switches" into a bacterial, nitric system, which does not fit so well.

[paysan.bio]

Experience speaks!

If I understand correctly, you are talking about trees already installed, that you have "phenocultured" short of life ???

It is therefore likely that the understanding is a little different: the trees are installed, their roots explore all spaces, they are mycorrhizal ...

The hay will then intervene in a more traditional way: reduce evaporations, thus ensuring a better water supply; avoid competition by "weeds"; hay is not "toxic" for fungi, which we can also see colonize the drier (or "less humid") layers ... It is probable that the fertilization provided, no doubt assimilated via the mycorrhizae, benefits the tree, without reaching the "overdose".

It makes me think that for comparison maybe I should keep a patch of strawberries under hay. To see more clearly. Two out of three years I used "real BRF". And last year, I supplemented the "crushed" of dead wood (heartwood) with slurry granules ... So indeed, I also "fertilized" more than what is the case in the natural forest. This is the price to pay for superior returns. But I think there is a limit, from which the system "switches" into a bacterial, nitric system, which does not fit so well.

there were also walnut trees which were planted in March.
there are also peach and apricot trees planted in Saint Catherine
and apple trees, pear trees planted in May (time of the cultivation of a straw house that I have finished.)
for them, the nurseryman returned at the end of September to train them, he did not return.

[Lolounette]

Why? they had had explosive growth?

you practice pruning in green on several hectares of fruit trees ??
and do you still have time to sleep?