The Tree Experiment, Part 2

 Well, it's been a rough couple of months, environment-wise; here in Michigan, we were in a drought* for most of the Spring season and into early Summer. My yard was mostly spared, with the exception of a small patch along the driveway; the flowers and saplings survived the heat and dry with a little help from my rain-barrels. One of the nice things about the drought (Lord forgive me) was the distinct lack of mosquitoes; typically my backyard is a no-go area from May to August. Part of me was hoping the sporadic rain, which seemed adequate to keep my plants from shriveling up, would continue to thwart the tiny bloodsuckers...

Then the deluge came.

I've described it to family members as "apocalyptic" - these mosquitoes came out en masse, and they don't go for the legs, they go for the eyes. I think it was about the time I breathed in a mosquito that I admitted defeat and ran inside, where the errant Culex pipiens is a regular occurrence. I'm combatting them with a combination of lawn-mowing, brush-whacking, and marigolds (I found the last poor 'golds on the Meijer outside rack and re-planted them; with a little TLC they'll revive and even produce viable seeds. Why buy a raft every year when you can harvest the seeds and re-plant them?) My plan is to turn the backyard into a cool, mosquito-free oasis through the use of anti-bug plants like catnip, lemongrass, and bee-balm in profusion...who cares if they take over, so long as they create a skeet-free barrier.

I even tried spraying apple cider vinegar ("Try this one weird trick to repel mosquitoes...") It seemed to work for about a day...I'm really reluctant to spray poison, as I want to preserve the insect culture (especially bees). I've read that spraying is only nominally effective, as new mosquito populations will move in as soon as an older one is killed, and mostly you're just sterilizing the local microfauna - you know, the ones that can't get away. And of course pollinators bear the brunt of any poisoning. So I'm going to try my best to use natural repellents as much as I can.

But enough of that! Let's get to the weird tree stuff I've been doing...

Project 1: Remote Boxelder Parasol

Not a whole lot to report; it's grown about 6" to 1' since May (apologies as always for the atrocious image quality). It seems to grow about a meter each year. I measured out the distance I want the sucker to travel, and I'm estimating about 10 years of horizontal growth before going vertical. I'm wondering if a little fertilizer wouldn't be remiss, and hopefully continued aggressive pruning will force the growth through the tip of the sucker. Part of the problem is the boxelder's propensity to grow its stems in spring, then focus on bushy leaf-growth. 

So the experiment's on track! Just a very slow track.

Project 2: Mulberry Hedge

And on 06/21

The two suckers on 06/10...

This one seems to be going much more quickly, exceeding even my optimistic expectations! The sucker growth seems to be accelerating rather than slowing down, which may be due to the rain but I'm starting to think is a feature of mulberries (They really don't stop growing until the first frost, and then their fully-green, fully-healthy leaves drop off in a gigantic clump). Obviously the mosquitoes have also kept me from checking on them, so that's also a factor. Out of the two suckers I allowed to grow, one snapped off, yet grew shoots out of its healthy stem (suckers on suckers!!) while the other now towers about 5' off the 2' stump. Meanwhile the stump had shot out several more suckers since June, each one over 1'. I snapped off all the extra shoots and pruned my two "main" suckers (always have a backup); I then used a bamboo cane to start the next phase of the experiment.

Using a bamboo cane to train!
Nonviolently, of course...

I used a bamboo cane to tie the longest sucker horizontally, using very soft rope so as not to constrict or damage the stem. This sucker has already developed woody bark along its bottom third, so it is strong enough to bear the bending without snapping off from the stump (this attachment point is the weakest part - my fear is that a strong wind will cause the cane to rip the sucker off the stump. Thankfully this is a relatively protected area of the yard, so hopefully this won't be an issue). Once the sucker gets long enough, I will post another stake of the same height about 3' away, with the purpose of forming an "arch" I can mow under.

Once the branch (I suppose I can stop calling it a sucker!) reaches my border garden, I'll stake the tip so it points toward the ground...and then things will get interesting. The issue is that the growing tip will keep attempting to turn skyward; I'll literally have to pin down each new bud as it grows to ensure there aren't any kinks. Any time you have a sharp turn in a young branch, there's a potential weak point. I'll just have to keep a sharp eye on it and have a lot of string on hand.

Here's looking forward to the challenge! Stay tuned...

*A Michigan "drought"...apologies to the farmers and growers affected, but that's like Baby's First Drought. I'm currently watching the sky, where the sun is blurred not by high-level clouds, but by a vast pall of smoke drifting in from California and Oregon. I wish I could gather up all these rainclouds and storms and herd them out West...