Trouble In (Summer) Paradise

You may or may not remember when I warned about suckers coming off below the graft area on fruit trees. But: I said to watch for them and don’t let them get out of hand…
These are peach suckers, from the graft zone and they are clearly out of hand! I cut them as close to the source of each sucker as I could. Problem solved.

Second issue is gummosis. The other cherry had it last year. My solution is to slice this away from the trunk and use a natural solvent like Sol-u-mel from melaleuca. I actually don’t know of another product like this, but it gets lipstick and magic markers out of carpet, caked on burned stuff out of pans, and: I use it in my garden to get gummosis off of the tree completely. This also disinfects the area that is weeping sap. Straight Sol-u-mel, on a folded paper towel will remove gummosis pretty effectively. It has not done any damage to my trees after using this (for this purpose) for several years. Pretty cool product. I’m usually not impressed by this type of company.

Get it here: https://amzn.to/4maPHHs

So number two issue was slightly more intensive than the first, but my last issue I’m not going to photograph. It makes me feel like a failure. The problem is the weeds, that have grown up and out of control. And the boxwood and nandina that are completely taking over.

Last year it was just the gravel play yard, and grass. This year the entire fenced area for my raised beds is nothing but grass and weeds and I have a twelve year old pear tree that died that needs to be removed.

My husband can’t take care of the lawn anymore and he dragged out buying a weed eater (that I could handle) for two years, until last week.

I sooo love the absence of help, and the addition of actual yard chores, that I absolutely hate. Because my husband has let it go this long: I’m just going to hire someone to whack stuff back to where it needs to be. I call uncle with this amount of mess. I will do a lot, but not everything.

So, I will leave you with my bananas. Will they fruit this year? Who knows. But I’m hopeful. They are enormous!

The sun through the neighbors crepe myrtle and my healthy naners.
They are as tall as the second story at this point.

A little sun burn, but I expect fruit from this one.

See you out in the garden for some zen time and to watch someone (other than me) clean up the weeds!

Crazy Green Thumbs


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6 thoughts on “Trouble In (Summer) Paradise

    1. Thank you! South Texas is not an ideal spot because we don’t get a lot of rain and we have months over 100 degrees. But mine are in hugelkulter beds and they get watered frequently. Thank you for coming by and commenting! I appreciate the visit.

  1. Gummosis is no problem if the infected stems can be pruned out completely. Of course, that is not practical if gummosis appears on a main trunk. For suckers, I prefer to peel them off if possible. It sounds awful, but it leaves slightly less callus growth to regenerate more suckers.

    1. I think the tree croaked. I relied on my kids and husband to water while I was gone. There were a few things that struggled or almost died. I’m not sure what I’m going to do if it died. I need two for pollination but they are situated where the sun burns them. I may try and dig out the other one and move it. If it dies, then I was just not destined to grow cherries!

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