Klondike Valley Nursery
  • Home
  • Order Plants
    • Placing an Order
    • Fruit
    • Conifers
  • Our Research
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Contact
    • Plant Enquiries
    • Volunteers & Interns

A-Grafting we will go...

4/2/2018

2 Comments

 
Ever wonder where all of our trees come from? We make a lot of them right here, and this year we are on the ball enough to be making them in our kitchen. Getting them done early means they have a longer season, as they will be healed up and ready to go as soon as we can get into the greenhouse.
Picture
The apple trees and dwarf conifers are our focus at the moment. Apples (above) are clonal - to get a Gala apple, you need to take a cutting from a Gala tree and graft it onto a rootstock. Rootstocks can also confer different characteristics onto the tree, like dwarfism. It's amazing how little tissue you need to get an entire tree - a single bud will do! We are hoping to host some grafting workshops here this summer, and also to be at the Fireweed Market in July.
Our ornamental conifers are the same - each named line is genetically unique and is cloned by grafted cuttings. This is from a new broom we found this winter. We made ten little trees that we will watch for the next five-ten years to see what it does. If it's lovely and consistent, we'll make more and give it a name! If you know of a special broom or tree you would like to try, let us know. Back to the breakfast - I mean grafting - table!
Picture
2 Comments

March 19th, 2018

3/19/2018

0 Comments

 
We were reminded recently that Whitehorse is a little ahead of us seasonwise, and realised we had better get on our communications even though we are still enjoying plenty of snow along with the glorious return of the sun. Big news here is that the new catalogue is available, and it's time to begin the transition to spring for all our hardy northern fruit trees.
Picture
To prevent early warming and consequent early bloom or flushing (putting out leaves), vent your shelters once the fear of -30*C is reasonably in the past. We begin by opening a little flap at the top; this also helps moisture escape. As long as the trees remain dormant they will be fine with our oscillating day/night temperatures. Watch for buds swelling - ideally your apple trees will 'wake up' at the same time as the background vegetation such as the aspens. Once that happens, it's time to watch the weather and protect those blooms from frost!

0 Comments

August 2 Demonstrations in Whitehorse

7/31/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
Picture
The Yukon Government's Agriculture Branch is hosting it's annual Demonstration Day and we will be there! Their research plots are located at the Gunnar Nilsson and Mickey Lammers Research Forest just south of the Takhini Hotsprings Rd, about 15 minutes north of Whitehorse. John will be carrying out tree repair, replacement and rejuvenation - a useful crash course for anyone who has inherited a fruit tree that needs some TLC.
I will be discussing shelters with an example of our design that is currently housing two apple trees at the site. The tour includes a BBQ with local food - we will be there from 10am till 1pm. Afterwards, the whole group will move to Poplar Flats Farm (Bernard and Amoree Briggs) to learn from his experience - if you go along, you will see another of our apple shelters!
0 Comments

The 'road' less traveled

6/25/2017

0 Comments

 
Picture
One of the idiosyncrasies of where we live and work is that there is no road access. We  move a lot of material by boat and sled, depending on the season. Normally, spring high water allows us use of a power boat for a few weeks, but this year the river has stayed low. We are in getting in shape with all of the paddling! This week we also moved some trees - 12,000 very small birch seedlings grown for Forestry - by helicopter. Thanks to Josh, Jonathan and Alex for helping us test out our landing site and proving that travel by air is indeed a viable option for delivering our trees.
Picture
Picture
0 Comments

Gold of a Different Sort

5/18/2017

4 Comments

 
Picture
The Victoria Day weekend marks a kick off of sorts in Dawson, with the annual Gold Show coinciding with the first Farmers' Market on Front Street. Guess where we will be! Our market tent will be easy to spot, with potted perennials proliferating on all sides. We're looking forward to seeing the other vendors and of course our customers, new and returning. You can expect to see dwarf conifers (for more selection and to order, see our conifer page), lilacs and other ornamentals, and as a special spring offering Martin Saskatoon plugs (very small plants) on sale by the dozen! We'll be there at 11am on Saturday, hope to see you at the market.
4 Comments

Spring Transition

4/20/2017

0 Comments

 
Almost all of our ‘outside’ apple trees (planted in the ground with no permanent shelter) get a winter wrap with a white tarp to keep out the worst of the winter cold. We expect a certain amount of tip die-back (winterkill) on even these protected trees in cold winters, but the tarp helps a good deal. Once the spring sun begins to warm things up during the day it is important to vent these tarp-tents by opening up the tops to moderate the temperature. Our more tender or long-season apples are housed in permanent coldframes and these get vented as well to prevent heat build-up in the spring. Sometimes they also get shade-cloths hung on the south and west sides. All of this is geared to prevent the trees from breaking bud too early and having tender tissues when temperatures are still falling below zero at night. When dormant, our apples can tolerate -40°C, but tender growth can only take a few degrees of frost and blooms can be damaged at -2°C. Once flower buds are the size of a pea ensure your tree doesn’t drop below freezing – if a cold night looms throw a sheet over the tree to keep it safe. Once fruit is set, a few degrees of frost is tolerable. Ensuring your tree is well-watered as spring comes on is also important to a healthy transition.

0 Comments

    Notes from the Nursery

    At Canada's most northerly nursery John and Kim grow and experiment with fruit trees and local material.

    Archives

    April 2018
    March 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017

    Categories

    All
    Apples
    Shelter
    Tree Care

    RSS Feed

(867) 334-4761
PO Box 641  Dawson City, Yukon  Y0B 1G0
© COPYRIGHT 2023. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Site designed and created by Kim Melton

  • Home
  • Order Plants
    • Placing an Order
    • Fruit
    • Conifers
  • Our Research
  • About Us
  • Resources
  • Contact
    • Plant Enquiries
    • Volunteers & Interns