Monday 8 April 2013

Apple tree trimming

We have two apple trees, one of them makes big sour apples and when it does make them it makes quite a lot of them. The other apple tree makes tiny sweet apples and only a very few yearly. The other apple tree has never been cut I think and I heard that cutting it radically might make it produce lot more apples.


So I thought I'd give it a shot. I also did cut some branches off from the sour one but from the sweet one I reduced more or less half of the branches. According to my mom apple trees should be cut when "snow is bad", which it is definitely now, I might have been even a bit late with the cutting.


I did not have any power tools to cut the branches and some of the branches were quite big so the sawing was hard work. Also the cutting angle was sometimes very difficult and had to take short breaks while standing in the tree. My arm felt really powerless when I was finished. But I got the trees trimmed.


Also what was annoying was that because the snow was bad I sometimes sunk half a meter into the snow. Also my A-ladder was not very stable on top of the snow. I chopped the branches into smaller pieces and collected them to the terrace.


Our row house has a spring cleaning session each year around early May and to that they order a rubbish skip where everyone can dump their big gardening waste. I will take these branches to that skip, but that is one month away and for now I will have a hare feeding station on the terrace. One dude has already found it's way to the feeding station. Here it is cought red-handed.

4 comments:

  1. Keeping my fingers crossed that you'll get lots more apples this year! I never know when I am supposed to cut our trees and bushes, I really need to look it up and do it when it is appropriate...

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    1. I have used a rule of thumb that all bushes and trees can be cut on spring or on fall when they are leafless, except those that create lots of sap (like maple), those can be only cut on fall.
      Spring in general is better since fungi deceases love the wetness of the fall, but at least in Finland most bushes are under snow on spring and therefore really difficult to cut.

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  2. When I realized that you were cutting apple trees I was going to comment on how much rabbits love apple tree branches, but you seem to already know that. XD

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    Replies
    1. The hare found the apple tree branches from the terrace in few hours, or even sooner, I did not check all the time. We also do have rabbits in our area and do hope those do not feed there. Rabbits are not part of the Finnish nature, but have spread here, so I would not like to feed those. But I guess I cannot choose who eats there...

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