Tweet
I have a couple of dozen plum, pluot and gage trees planted in an orchard with 125 apple trees. Several have upped and died this summer, just standing there covered in dead leaves. The apples are all fine, touch wood.
My Irish setters love digging up mouse/shrew/vole/mole nests, of which there are hundreds in the orchard. They often dig down right by the plum tree trunks so I chase the dogs away and refill the holes and mutter that 'if they've killed my tree I'll . . .'
Now I'm wondering about cause and effect - are plum tree roots especially delicious to mice? Is that what kills the trees? Is the dogs' love of delicious baby mice helping my trees rather than destroying them?
My Irish setters love digging up mouse/shrew/vole/mole nests, of which there are hundreds in the orchard. They often dig down right by the plum tree trunks so I chase the dogs away and refill the holes and mutter that 'if they've killed my tree I'll . . .'
Now I'm wondering about cause and effect - are plum tree roots especially delicious to mice? Is that what kills the trees? Is the dogs' love of delicious baby mice helping my trees rather than destroying them?
Comment