There really are some spindly little willow shoots in that mess, which I guess is not bad for just one season.
It was such a strange year. Right after I planted these in the early Spring, it got very dry. Then, as soon as summer approached, it got really wet and stayed that way until late July. I lost about a third of the willows in that early dry spell and the rest all seemed very stunted. However, the survivors seem to be doing alright now and grew quite a lot once they got started. They are a long way from being a windbreak yet, but they are capable of putting on a lot of growth in a short amount of time so I am still hopeful for their future.
I am supposed to prune them back to the ground so that they will come back thicker next year - that is on the to-do list. I sure hope they do better than this damn stuff...
I am not terribly impressed with the so-called heavy-duty snow fence. It is better than that awful orange tissue paper they call snow fence these days, but not by much. I guess I should have shelled out the extra $400 to buy wooden fence since I spent all afternoon wrestling with this flimsy, squishy crap. I came away feeling rather discouraged and convinced that this plastic mess is the physical embodiment of all the things wrong with our country. It's a lot like our healthcare system - all propaganda, no substance and impossible to keep straight.
Hmmm, will be interested to see what the hedge does next year. Thanks for that update!
ReplyDeleteThere's a field down the road from us that gets that same snow fence stuff every year. Typically, one morning around this time of year I'll leave for work and the field will be bare, when I come home in the afternoon there will be 1000 ft of t-posts and snow fence. I think it must take a whole crew of guys with machines to install it that fast. It disappears the same way in the spring. But honestly, I've never been able to figure out exactly what effect it has on the snow. Doesn't look like it does much at all to my uneducated eye.
Stretching fence takes a lot of physical strength. I was just wondering if the Amish Contractor that worked on your house could come and fix this problem for you? Might be too late for that approach this year. But if this fence is not satisfactory, maybe next year?
ReplyDeleteThat looks like a two person job at least. I know we considered putting trees up in our one field. Personally I would still do it and not sure what would be the best.
ReplyDeleteDo you ever feed willow to the donkeys? I grow it also and have read that feeding it "in small amounts" is okay. Yesterday I was gathering some for a class I am teaching and gave the donkeys a bit - they loved it! For some reason I have been reluctant to offer it to them before now.
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