tree crop and perennial vegetable enthusiast. co-owner of the Asheville Nuttery and the Nutty Buddies orchard group.
musician, forager, cook, beverage savant.
girdling trees keeps them from storing more energy in their roots, but it can still take a while for them to use up the energy they already have stored. i’m sure the time it takes varies by species somewhat. i girdled a big tulip poplar at my place and it took 4 years for it to die.
i see this in sunflower family stuff a fair amount - sunroots and yacon. it doesn’t seem heritable, from what i’ve seen. those shoots that have it seem to have a slight advantage to their neighbors in growth - could well be from having half again as many leaves?
christopher, when i go picking wild blueberries in the highlands near here, they range from low bush that doesn’t get above about 5” to actual blueberry trees that reach at least 15 feet. difficult to pick from, but inspirational!
i have comfrey among my blueberries. the blueberries are doing well and there’s no discernible difference between the ones that are quite close to comfrey and those that aren’t. my underlying soils are acidic, though, and closer to what blueberries want.
if i had (square?) bales, i’d flake off a two- or three-inch slice at a time and just use those nice dense pieces for mulch. as noted upthread, alfalfa is relatively high in nitrogen but it takes some time to break down, especially when left compacted, so it’s a pretty slow-release. i wouldn’t hesitate to put it fairly close to plants (but obviously not right against).
tree crop and perennial vegetable enthusiast. co-owner of the Asheville Nuttery and the Nutty Buddies orchard group.
