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Gardening tips for Duluth's Northern climate, hosted by Master Gardener Tom Kasper.

Tips for Hardy Gardeners: Defending Apple Trees

Green apples hanging from a branch
Robynlou Kavanagh [via Flickr]

If you have an apple tree, chances are you are not the only one intent on enjoying the fruit.

Apple maggots are small flies that land on the apple and lay their larva. That larva will then burrow into the apple and eat until it is an adult and flies away. The tunnels created cause apples to be mushy, and not much good for eating.

To defend yourself and your apple tree from these maggots, Tom Kasper advises buying a fake red apple and smearing it with tanglefoot. Hanging this environmentally-friendly device from your tree will lure in the maggots, thus keeping them away from the young fruit.

Tanglefoot and fake apples provide an organic approach to ensure healthy, home-grown, maggot-free apples perfect for eating... and not just for apple sauce.

You can hear Tips for Hardy Gardeners every other Tuesday at 8:20am on Northland Morning.

Luke Moravec is the host for Northland Morning on The North 103.3. He’s also a local actor, musician and writer. He loves puzzles, riddles and fun mysteries.
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