There was a brief interlude of dryness and sun the other day, so I undertook a project I've been meaning to try for some time.
This little tree has been producing more and more sweet little apples (literally) each year, despite its rough start in life. Last summer its very long branches were almost touching the ground under the weight of all that goodness. I started to worry that it would split its trunk. Anyway, high time for pruning. So I got out the gardening book I've been using since Cindy gave it to me in Vancouver about twenty years ago (!) to look again at those little diagrams with the "cut here" lines drawn on them.
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| "That Barbara Damrosch is really something, isn't she?" |
Oz was out helping me because the sun was over the yard-arm. That meant dinner could conceivably be forthcoming at any moment, and it wouldn't do to let me get out of sight.
First I needed to clear out the dead phlox (left) and peony (right) under the baby so I could see its arms clearly.
Baby dephloxed:
Baby depeonyed:
The thick-looking branch toward the bottom is actually a piece of another tree that Mum tucked in there to help prop up the baby. I'd like to adjust it more and make the baby even more upright, but I am hesitant to mess with the bits of the trunk now anchored in the ground. ? But I snipped away at some branches anyway, to help clean up the centre of the tree and also bring its weight back a little closer to its trunk. My colleague Frank says the branches should be thinned sufficiently that birds can fly between them all. I didn't quite achieve that, since doing so would not leave much baby behind! I am counting on this being an ongoing process from year to year, so I can balance healthy growth with healthy stature. Not a bad model for effecting change in life in general, come to think of it!
Finished product:
As you follow the progression, you can see that the sun was steadily disappearing. At this point, I could feel those little gusts of cooler air that run in front of the rain clouds. Sure enough, about an hour after this there was a huge downpour. We were already inside and cosy, though, because Ozzie had insisted.
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| "I think we're done here, don't you? |
2 comments:
From Mum:
great to see the pics and the pruning looks good. the 'before pic' branches do look way too long and tenuous. And your comment about shaping gently over several years (actually it should be continuous every year of its bearing life) is bang on - not shocking it by waiting and doing major reno but smaller adjustments every year. We'll look at the trunk when I'm there and assess its condition.
Good to know that Oz is making sure you do everything (except maybe his dinner) in moderation.
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