Jill McPartlin

So vegetables should be fine? I'll just plant trees elsewhere.

Thank you! One more question - at what point can I plant a tree in a hugel bed? Will the bed settling affect a young tree or should I wait a few years?

If this has been covered elsewhere I apologize. I'm hoping to create a hugel bed in my yard and am in need of your advice! I have some sick old apple trees I'd like to cut down and use to create a hugel bed. Is this a bad idea? Also a neighbor will be cutting down a huge tree that is dying from Dutch Elm disease. Is it a bad idea to ask for the wood? Thank you!

I'm going to try it in a small section.  I guess the radishes smell bad as they decompose but so long as the odor does waft all over the place I don't mind one stinky section. 

There are some videos on you tube by stephenhayesuk on pruning.  I found them really interesting. 

We moved into a house last year that has 5 apple trees and 3 peach trees.  They were bearing fruit last year but then my husband did what he thought was pruning, but actually hacked at them - so this year no fruit.  I'm hoping pruning more carefully will help them be healthier (they have some leaf disease, and bugs). 

Is topping taking off the top middle part?  I'll have to google it and find out.  From what I have learned apple trees like to have an open center.  My trees all have a large system of branches going up in the center.  They are old trees and are about 30-40 feet tall.  I have no idea about the variety. 

I am wondering how much I should prune them to open them up, especially the top, middle section?  Any advice would help me out a lot!   

Do you think pruning them will help them bear fruit again?  If you have more advice as to keeping them healthy I am all ears. 

The lawn.

Here are some pictures for those of you who have some input.  The hole was easy to dig, it took about 5-10 minutes.  The soil?, dirt? is relatively soft.  The grass isn't growing very deep roots though.  I think that is the main problem or the effect of the problem.  We haven't put anything on our lawn because I'm new to this and would hate to poison my children with some icky stuff. 

So, could the cover crop of radishes help?   Would it be better to dig holes and add compost as suggested in other topic areas? 

Oh and sorry for the typo above, lawn, not law.

"Maybe there are sneaky ways that involve less effort, like overseeding with oilseed radish in the fall?"  This came from the HELp! topic section...thoughts?

I love this idea!  I live in zone 4 in the Metro Detroit area of Michigan.  We moved here last fall and inherited a law that is pretty bad.  We have been mowing high but we need to do something this fall to help the soil.  I love the idea of planting radishes throughout the lawn.  I'm sure the neighbors will think we are crazy but - I can live with that.

So do I understand correctly that the radishes as an over crop will help aerate my soil, improve nutrients and kill weeds -thus helping my grass get off to a great start in the spring? 

Do any of you have a good source to identify "weeds?" 

Brenda - I am really enjoying seeing your pictures too!  Bunnies ate all my beans but my cucumbers, zucchini, and pumpkins are doing really well.  My tomatoes are flowering and a few have baby tomatoes.  I really can't wait to enjoy those!  I'm excited to add some berries for next year.  When is the best time to add them?  I was thinking of buying some of the sad looking ones and seeing if they survive.  What are your thoughts?  We are in Michigan too - east of Detroit.