A month from now......

11 years ago

........I'm going to be worried if this winter weather hasn't started to turn around. 6000+ seedlings to plant, a tractor lined up, a pull-behind tree planter lined up, some buddies to help with the project lined up, and right now, the entire site is buried in snow.

I don't want to see a repeat of that freakish warmup like we were having at this time last year. That was bad news. But I sure wouldn't mind if a dose of springtime got here pretty soon!

+oM

Comments (7)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
11 years ago
hi +om

doing nothing in a small way.. eh??? ...

can your refresh my memory on oak pruning in MI ..... if you dont mind .... here ... or email me thru my members page.... can i do it early.. whats the general cutoff date.. and when can i resume in fall ... THX....

the length and depth of this winter.. is bummin' me out also.. but in reality.. its what it is supposed to be.. rather than the death and destruction of last years bizarre early heat wave ... every day i have to tell myself... we are working on late march.. and april is spring ...

one thing good.. the moisture should be in the ground after this winter .... two weeks ago.. we had about 3 inches of rain on top of frozen soil [well it seemed such.. my rain gauge is still in the garage for winter] .... and i presume.. in my sand.. that will mean moisture at depth ... which i havent seen in a few years ...

the worst of it all.. is that it seems.. in the last 10 days.. we havent had a sunny day ..... and that really doesnt help SAD ... i need some sunshine to burn some hope into my retinas ... i am so sick and tired of having light bulbs burning all day long to get the darkness out of this cave i call a house ...

ken
bengz6westmd
11 years ago
A bit of "thundersnow" here the other day.

10-day model shows mostly cold weather thru the rest of March in north-central & eastern US.

Coldest March since I've been here (9 yrs). Some warmth is around in the Gulf coast & southwest, waiting, just not getting here. Central subarctic Canada is as cold now as mid-Jan.
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wisconsitom
Original Author
11 years ago
Much agreement-I'd rather have the worries as outlined above than to be looking at the utterly unseasonal warmth of last year. I actually love snow, rain, and the whole bit. It's just that I've got this project coming up, but I suspect we'll get through it just fine.

Ken, right now would be an excellent time to do oak tree pruning. Basically, you want to stay away from the active growing season, as much due to the presence during that time of the "picnic beetle", that little black beetle which you may have found floating in your beer on a warm summer evening, which is a main vector for the oak wilt fungus, as for the higher overall disease pressure of the warmer months. But right now is perfecto.

Yeah Beng, I'm looking at a lot of long-range forecasting lately. Nothing looks like any real warmup for a while yet.

+oM
whaas_5a
11 years ago
This March is terrible temp wise. Based on the 10 day forecast we'd be running 10 degrees below normal. Quite substantial given an entire month. Long term forecast in Feb was actaully right stating we'd be colder than normal. Good news was that it said we'd be warmer than normal in April and May. Trend would have to break pretty quick for that to come true. PNW was tagged as being much colder than normal in April and May.

At this rate the soil actually won't thaw until early to mid April at the earliest. All I want is that damn soil to thaw so it can start to drain.
maple_grove_gw
11 years ago
Looking forward to spring here also.

From the gardener's perspective, the winter we've had has been something close to ideal: warm early in the winter to promote root growth, and then cold late in winter to prevent early flowering/bud break and minimize damage from late frosts. Now, if we'd just gotten less precipitation (mainly freezing rain and slush here), it would have been perfect.

+oM, good luck on your planting bonanza. Sounds like it'll be a lot of fun...if all goes as planned. Pinus resinosa and Picea abies, if I remember correctly...did you ever find the larch you were after?

Alex
bengz6westmd
11 years ago
maple grove, yeah, there's always two sides to an issue. Moles tear thru my lawn, but increase the soil aeration...

Endless cold/clouds/winds beat down my psych, tho.
wisconsitom
Original Author
11 years ago
Yes Maple Grove, the vendor with the larch had someone cancel an order so I was able to get 1500. Those are in addition to 1500 each of Pinus resinosa, Pinus strobus, and Picea abies. Plus a few other odds and ends thrown in for good measure.

+oM

PS.....if anyone knows of a good source for Larix marschlinsii seed, I believe I could direct you to a buyer. Evidently, that is going to be a limiting factor going forward. I should be set as far as my spot goes.