tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post2554593117267522964..comments2024-03-28T18:57:20.920+01:00Comments on Living the life in Saint-Aignan: Les pommiers et le guiKen Broadhursthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-61103419377133401792019-01-08T05:25:47.148+01:002019-01-08T05:25:47.148+01:00We had so much rain this year that my little apple...We had so much rain this year that my little apple tree, a dwarf probably planted in the late '60s or early '70s, just fell over from the terribly saturated ground.Thickethouse.wordpresshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17187303460677067276noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-73330777216027695552019-01-08T03:40:10.808+01:002019-01-08T03:40:10.808+01:00Not sure about the lifespan of French trees, but I...Not sure about the lifespan of French trees, but I've seen apple trees around cellar holes in rural Maine still bearing after being abandoned decades ago, and the trees were likely planted well before the end of the 19th century. The apples are smaller and far from perfect, but the edible parts still quite tasty.Emmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17365143273404503659noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-72259164989442821742019-01-07T19:49:22.219+01:002019-01-07T19:49:22.219+01:00According to the MétéoFrance (national weather ser...According to the MétéoFrance (national weather service here) web site, in the Saint-Aignan area we had 700 millimeters of rainfall in 2016, 700 in 2017, and 730 in 2018. 2015 was dry, with only 530 mm of rainfall. Funny how I don't remember that year being so dry.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-25910262036631716392019-01-07T17:19:10.758+01:002019-01-07T17:19:10.758+01:00Look at these photos from Aug. 31, 2018.<a href="https://ckenb.blogspot.com/2018/08/au-revoir-le-mois-daout.html" rel="nofollow">Look at these photos from Aug. 31, 2018</a>.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-5569028045927069632019-01-07T17:15:31.436+01:002019-01-07T17:15:31.436+01:00I imagine that the four apple trees in our yard we...I imagine that the four apple trees in our yard were planted when the house was built 50 or so years ago. It's interesting that the two apples trees in our yard that have no mistletoe in them, and seem resistant to it, are doing fine despite any drought episodes we've experienced or our wet, mild winters. And they've been productive. The had a lot of apples on them last year.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-34866893301336726262019-01-07T17:06:15.469+01:002019-01-07T17:06:15.469+01:00I'm not sure about the drought issues. We had ...I'm not sure about the drought issues. We had so much rain in 2016... I'd have to look back at the numbers for 2017... We had a dry summer in 2018, but not all that dry. And not all that hot.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-90918715667672834992019-01-07T17:04:44.039+01:002019-01-07T17:04:44.039+01:00I blame mild, wet winters more than hot, dry summe...I blame mild, wet winters more than hot, dry summers. Hot here is completely relative. The trees didn't die over the course of the summer but at the end of the winter. I think the mild winters encourage fungal invasion, and the damp goes hand in hand with that. I don't think the neighbor will be too worried about waiting for her trees to become productive again, since she spends very little time here. I think the sight of that completely dead tree — so dead that the mistletoe in it is also completely dead — moved her to try something to save her trees. Until we get back to cold, dry winters, if we ever do, I think a lot of trees will be giving up the ghost.Ken Broadhursthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04430899802705818716noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-54817225299618380982019-01-07T16:06:44.144+01:002019-01-07T16:06:44.144+01:00Your thought that certain varieties are more susce...Your thought that certain varieties are more susceptible sounds logical. Mushrooms around the base, as you say, are not a good indicator of the health of the tree. <br /><br />Susan's comment above about the impact of drought is interesting. I wonder what the lifespan of these fruit trees is, of course you have no way of knowing when they were planted.Diogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-983780596483090292019-01-07T15:15:26.674+01:002019-01-07T15:15:26.674+01:00You live in an area with so many fruit trees- thos...You live in an area with so many fruit trees- those kings must have liked their pies and jams. I hope your trees recover somehow, but then again I remember how many apples they produce- it's quite a chore picking them all up!Evelynhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17824964122794535252noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18071407.post-53642978964453696322019-01-07T13:19:56.102+01:002019-01-07T13:19:56.102+01:00I would have thought that the stresses on these tr...I would have thought that the stresses on these trees were a)drought; b)fungi and c)mistletoe, very much in that order. Mistletoe doesn't take enough nutrient to harm a host tree, but it does make the tree more wind resistant, resulting in wind rock, which will disrupt the tree's ability to thrive. Many trees in the area are showing signs of slow decline due to a series of drought episodes. It only takes a few days to cause lasting damage, and if it's repeated often enough the tree will eventually die. The tree will also kill itself by the way it reacts to fungal invasion, closing down its own vascular system to try to block off the spread of the fungi. My guess about your neighbours apples would be that just at the key moment for pollinisation the weather conditions weren't right. Several of the chateaux locally got virtually no apples last year. The drastic prune will probably work quite well, although she'll sacrifice a year while the trees regrow.Susanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06472449597146519943noreply@blogger.com