Leaf igloo?

[ZomVee]

I'm thinking about making a cylinder outta wire mesh, cover it with weed fabric, pop it over my I258 and then use all the leaves that fall as insolation. Sorta like a leaf igloo.

Bad idea?


Click for original

 

[Kid Fig]

Is this for composting reasons or protection vs freezing temps?

 

[Figology]

I'm thinking about making a cylinder outta wire mesh, cover it with weed fabric, pop it over my I258 and then use all the leaves that fall as insolation. Sorta like a leaf igloo.

Bad idea?


Click for original

Do you plan on covering with a tarp or leaving open to air?

 

[ZomVee]

Is this for composting reasons or protection vs freezing temps?

Protecc plant from cold.

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I'm thinking about making a cylinder outta wire mesh, cover it with weed fabric, pop it over my I258 and then use all the leaves that fall as insolation. Sorta like a leaf igloo.

Bad idea?


Click for original

Do you plan on covering with a tarp or leaving open to air?

Tarp sounds like a good idea. I have a popup greenhouse, I was thinking about using that, filled with leaves/compost/biochar as the buffer.

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I should have said the part about the greenhouse in the original post...hahaha

 

[Tinyfish]

I've never used leaves but I heard dried oak leaves work well.

 

[ktrain]

I have heard mixed reviews on filling up with leaves.
I think here where it is very humid wet winters it's not a good idea.
But..if you have relatively dry winter I think it could work well to insulate.

 

[bushdoctor82]

I protect some of my trees in a similar way, but use straw instead of leaves and house wrap instead of tarp. As long as you keep the insulating material dry, it should work.

Best to cover as late as possible in fall/winter to give voles/mice time to find another winter home if they’re a problem on your property.

 

[Figgerlickinggood]

I protect some of my trees in a similar way, but use straw instead of leaves and house wrap instead of tarp. As long as you keep the insulating material dry, it should work.

Best to cover as late as possible in fall/winter to give voles/mice time to find another winter home if they’re a problem on your property.

what if the straw was sprayed with a herbicide,  would that harm the tree?

 

[bushdoctor82]

I protect some of my trees in a similar way, but use straw instead of leaves and house wrap instead of tarp. As long as you keep the insulating material dry, it should work.

Best to cover as late as possible in fall/winter to give voles/mice time to find another winter home if they’re a problem on your property.

what if the straw was sprayed with a herbicide,  would that harm the tree?

Can’t give a definitive answer, but the straw I used last winter as insulation was tainted with an herbicide and the trees produced well this season - well besides AJH, but I believe that was more an RKN situation. 

I stored the straw in large garbage bags over the summer and will use again this winter - always trying to penny pinch.

 

[GoodFriendMike]

If you did a roll of wire mesh then leaves then another roll of mesh. That may work. Then you can take the tarp off on warmer days so the tree can breathe. The popup greenhouse's I find only work if they are heated by something. Or you have a lot of organic matter in your mix that will decompose and create heat. Without that. It will get just as cold as outside at night. But they do hold in a lot of heat in the day. Just remember there will be a lot of humidity built up it there. So you will need to open it quite often to air it out. Also the rodents love the extra warmth and will start tearing off small branches to make a nest.

 

[ZomVee]

If you did a roll of wire mesh then leaves then another roll of mesh. That may work. Then you can take the tarp off on warmer days so the tree can breathe. The popup greenhouse's I find only work if they are heated by something. Or you have a lot of organic matter in your mix that will decompose and create heat. Without that. It will get just as cold as outside at night. But they do hold in a lot of heat in the day. Just remember there will be a lot of humidity built up it there. So you will need to open it quite often to air it out. Also the rodents love the extra warmth and will start tearing off small branches to make a nest.

Okay, good to know!

I was planning on doing some composting for warmth, but I like your two stage mesh system better.

 

[JMF75]

Lou Monti has a good video on protecting trees for the winter. I use large thick blankets and tarps with a bucket on top to stop water from getting in. Good luck Tom

 

[DrDraconian]

Tom, if you do use leaves, don't use the fallen fig leaves.  These will be contaminated with rust spores, and leaving them around your tree will cause the new leaves that emerge in the spring to be instantly infected by rust. Always remove the fallen fig leaves from around your trees. This practice has greatly reduced my rust problem, pushing back the defoliation of my trees due to rust by a month or more (at least in San Diego, where I was impacted by night time fogs living near the coast. Haven't had as much of a problem here in VA with rust on the one tree I currently have in-ground, even though there is much more moisture).

I do like the double mesh idea. If I find I need protection here in Richmond, I might go that route, but I think I would use wood chips instead of leaves, I think they would be much better insulation, even if a bit heavier.  Plus, they could just be spread around the tree as a mulch in the spring.  Here in Richmond I have been able to use ChipDrop as a free source of wood chips. Just be prepare for a large amount of chips to show up randomly at your home one day

 

[ZomVee]

Tom, if you do use leaves, don't use the fallen fig leaves.  These will be contaminated with rust spores, and leaving them around your tree will cause the new leaves that emerge in the spring to be instantly infected by rust. Always remove the fallen fig leaves from around your trees. This practice has greatly reduced my rust problem, pushing back the defoliation of my trees due to rust by a month or more (at least in San Diego, where I was impacted by night time fogs living near the coast. Haven't had as much of a problem here in VA with rust on the one tree I currently have in-ground, even though there is much more moisture).

I do like the double mesh idea. If I find I need protection here in Richmond, I might go that route, but I think I would use wood chips instead of leaves, I think they would be much better insulation, even if a bit heavier.  Plus, they could just be spread around the tree as a mulch in the spring.  Here in Richmond I have been able to use ChipDrop as a free source of wood chips. Just be prepare for a large amount of chips to show up randomly at your home one day

Hey Richard!

Good to see you.

Yeah, I ditch rusted leaves. I'm actually gonna defoliate this tree and do a JMS. The phone line across the road was getting messed with by the trees. So these guys started cutting down limbs, I asked for the chips, but that crew hasn't shown up yet.