More tree trimming

Last January, we hired some professional arborists to see if they could salvage some old (about 75 years) and shaggy apple trees we have on our property. We knew this would be a multi-year project.

These stately trees were wildly overgrown. As a result, they produced scads of little bitty apples. The arborists promised to bring them back into production. In the span of one day, the team did what they could, which was quite dramatic.

The result last summer was larger apples, though still too much fruit on the tree to produce anything bigger. The head arborist warned us the trees would "sucker like crazy" the following summer, and he was right.

The team came back yesterday and did some follow-up work. Their goal was to trim suckers off the two trees they worked on the most last year, as well as to tackle some of the other smaller trees and see what they could do to bring them back to health.

They got right to work.

Soon we could see lopped-off branches as they pruned and shaped and cut away deadwood.

Definitely a job that requires a head for heights.

But while it was easiest to photograph them as they worked in the trees closest to the driveway, in fact most of their efforts were concentrated on the one tree they didn't have a chance to do last year. This poor tree was so overgrown and laden with deadwood that the arborists weren't certain they could pull it back from the brink. By the time they were done, the poor little tree was just a stump of its former self.

By the end, we had another huge pile of branches.

We asked the head arborist when we should have them out again for follow-up work. He suggested about 18 months from now, during high summer, so they could trim away unproductive suckers and gauge how the trees are doing in full production mode.

One thing is certain: We're grateful for the chance to pull these mature heritage trees back into beautiful production.

New life for old trees

When we first moved to our new (to us) home in late 2020, we were delighted to discover the property came with fruit trees, notably apples. Some of the trees were young, but we have four mature trees, evidently the remnants of an old orchard. You can see two of them below.

These stately trees were wildly overgrown. As a result, they produced scads of little bitty apples, most of which were way too high for us to reach. The wildlife like them, though.

Then last year, our older neighbor hired some arborists to work on her (young and healthy) fruit trees, something she does on a regular basis (which is no doubt why they're so healthy). Before the arborists left for the day, Don asked them to come look over our overgrown apples and give us an estimate as to what it would cost to bring them back into shape.

After viewing the neglected trees, they said it would be a multi-year project (no surprise), and quoted us a reasonable price for the amount of work involved.

Last week they came out and got to work. This is what they started with: a chaos of overgrown, tangled branches.

This is the upper tree. You can see why it only produced itty bitty apples.

The middle tree is to the left, and the lower tree is to the right. Kinda hard to distinguish everything with winter's leafless landscape, but these are the three main trees the arborists hoped to tackle.

They got right to work setting up ladders and donning safety equipment. You can gauge the size of the trees with the arborists standing below them.

Much of their efforts were directed at pruning away deadwood and exposing the strongest branches. They warned us the trees would "sucker like crazy" in the spring. Next year's treatment would involve removing "three out of four" of the new suckers, selecting which ones would bear the best fruit.

The arborists focused on the two upper trees first. A pile of branches started accumulating.

Soon a shape emerged from beneath all the shagginess. It was starting to look like a tree again, rather than an overgrown bush.

While the head arborist focused his attention on the first tree, the other two worked on hacking back the second tree.

This is definitely a line of work requiring a good head for heights.

Though the day was freezing cold, they were soon shedding coats.

Look at the size of these trees dwarfing the two people in their branches!

At one point, we asked the head arborist, in his professional estimation, how old the trees might be. Based on location and rainfall, he guesstimated around 75 years.

Three-quarters of a century. We were glad to be able to start bringing these beautiful mature trees back into productivity.

By the end of the day, two of the trees were as "done" as they could be for the first go-round, and the arborists got a start on the third tree as well (it was getting dark or they'd have done more). Look at this pile of branches they removed!

They had brought a chipper with them, but (a) it would have been impossible to get it down the steep slope where the trees were located; and (b) we preferred they focus on doing as much work as possible on the trees themselves rather than spend time chipping the branches. Don and I will burn the branches later on.

The two upper apples looked like new trees by the time the day was done.

This is the upper tree, before and after (different angles).

This is the middle tree, before (on the left) and after:

Now I can't wait until summer to see how these trees look in all their renewed glory!

Garden update

Despite the cool wet start to summer, the garden has actually done very well this year. Here's a walk-through.

Grapes. They're not ripe yet, of course, but show a lot of promise. There's just nothing prettier than grape vines.

Herbs. I grow parsley, thyme, sage, oregano, basil, rosemary, spearmint, and horseradish. Here's the parsley, starting to go to seed. I'll save some of the seeds for our next homestead, but in the meantime it will seed its own bed for next year's crop.

Oregano.

Spearmint. This is my garden candy. I actually don't care for mint tea in any form, but I simply adore the smell. This lush bed started from one small plant I impulsively bought a few years ago at a local hardware store, and it spread to fill an enormous tire with perfume. (One of the advantages to gardening in tires it it's easy to contain things that like to spread, like mint.)

Rosemary and basil.

Raspberries. The fruit season is past, but I have a freezer full of berries.

Blueberries. It's blueberry season, so I'm picking about every other day.

Peas. Their season is also done, of course, and all the peas are in the freezer awaiting cooler weather so I can can them up. These vines are about ready to pull out.

One of the strawberry beds.

Onions. Goodness I love onions.

Carrots.

Garlic. It's definitely ready to harvest.

Tomatoes. Lots of green fruit, and a few ripe ones.

I planted lots of dry beans this year -- Navy and pinto.

The orchard is doing very well.

Plums.

Apples

Peaches.

(No hazelnuts yet. They take a few years to mature.)

Okay, I guess I'm done with excuses, I really need to go harvest the garlic.

[Bonus feature: Here's an article on the therapeutic power of gardening.]