Unfortunately, rabbits, not being the best readers, misinterpreted the memo and thought slender spindle rather than oblique palmette training. You'd think 6 foot in-row spacing would have tipped them off. They left the trees alone all year until now, guess there was something else they liked better. I count my blessings since early in the new planting all shoots were tender.
Some of the scaffolds that were slow growers and still tender were chewed off above the tree protector. I guess I missed the other memo about protecting the tree higher than those 18 inch box tree protectors. I'm re-reading the Penn State Low trellis PDF (I have it on my hard drive, but not having luck locating the link for your reference). In the troubleshooting section under "Absence of branches in the lower part of the tree" (which is how some trees will end up due to the rabbits) says that in the second year bend the leader to 30 degrees (assuming from horizontal) to encourage low shoots near the arch and resume training with those. Questions: 1) Am I not to expect new lower shoots to develop on their own, is that a typical behavior that low shoots won't naturally grow after the 1st year? 2) Will the leader really be soft enough to bend next year? The same section of the PDF also mentions a second technique: Heading the tree at 10 inches. One or more vigorous shoots are expected to develop above the union. Select the dominant one and remove the others and handle the tree like it was just planted. 3) on initial planting the heading cut is at 18 inches. Why is this troubleshooting cut 8 inches lower? (The apparent solution would seem to be to head at 18 inches and start over with a new 3 pronged "crow's foot") Thanks for your consideration, Rye Hefley Future Farmers Marketer So. Cal.
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