YES! It is that time of year again!
Time to prune, dormant spray, and plan for additions that go in once the spring has warmed enough to support root growth.
Today was VERY cold in the morning. Around eleven, when I went out for the second time to the local school there were only two slick places left on the main road… But now the sun is out (with a few clouds beginning to gather) things are warming up. Almost 12 degrees now, centigrade (that’s about 53 F for us in the United States) — in the sun. Still in the low 40s in the shade. The ice on the rain barrel is more than a half inch thick!
So my task today was to identify the areas that need pruning before I spray. If I had a sprayer I could spray today — no wind and no rain… but as it is, I have to wait anyway. So it looks like I can leave the chestnuts and quince alone this year, and the peach and nectarine need only a little work if any.
However, the medlar needs some modification so it grows parallel to the house and not into the house or the driveway. The viburnum (snowball bush) is out of control.
The apples are pretty good, will prune for airflow and remove water suckers later this week. I am also considering removing the lowest branches on the tall apple tree so it doesn’t interfere with the plum (which grows more horizontally than I expected) — or with walking!
I am not sure what to do about the pear tree… It is grafted and I didn’t get the branches spread when it was young. I have two options I can see, both will mean the loss of future fruit, but would ensure some fruit at some point (so far we had blossoms, but it has never set fruit in 7 years). I can remove the grafts that are too vertical and spread what else remains that is able to be bent. OR I can prune for airflow and remove water sprouts, knowing that eventually the tree will weaken sooner than if an experienced orchardist had taken charge. I am tending toward the latter… It is nice and tall, and has good shape so it would be a pretty, if less productive, corner. For comparison, the second pic is the cherry tree (about the same age) with a couple lower branches that I will take off this year — it is still mostly a whip!
The plum tree is in trouble. Water sprouts have shot up from the dead leader we removed in the autumn, and it needs some serious shape control this year. I can wait a couple more weeks on this, the flowerbuds are starting to form, and if I wait then I can bring the branches indoors and force some pretty blooms. I know that it has a bark beetle of some kind in it, so I need to really work at it this year, or we will lose the tree entirely.
Finally, the lovely magnolia my mother bought for my birthday last year is all but dead. I reached out to look at the buds on one older branch and it came off in my hand, then another, and another. Then I grabbed the leader and pulled. It snapped off, just above a strange lesion in the bark. However, there are some healthy branches coming up from above the graft that may take over. I will take a wait and see approach with this one.
Other things I saw on my walk around the yard were a few daffodils starting to push up, irises that I had forgotten showing green (hoping the freeze didn’t damage them), and the gorgeous rose hips on two of the shrubs. One has orange hips (the flowers are a pale pink), the other red (bright pink flowers… year-round apparently, as you can see in the photo). The rosemary grows bigger and happier every year. I know I need to plant a couple more (or start some from the branches) because they do have a limited life, but I just love it’s healthy green-and-silver foliage!
Now that I am inside, I see the birds are eating the seed I put out. Nuthatches and a bluejay so far, but I am sure there are chickadees not far behind!
I leave you with a picture of the moon, hovering over the tall firs across the street…
