On Monday morning I was expecting my general helper and intern #2 at 7AM. I was up at 4AM to get my post up and clean the kitchen up. I went out at 6AM to get the yard cleaned up so I could mow. I had hoses still out and the oak tree has dropped dozens of branches. So I got the branches picked up, hoses put away, and even raked in front of the woodsheds so I could mow there.
I was just getting the equipment over to the Little Trees when my intern #2 arrived. My general helper was right behind her.
Our most important job was to get the fruit off the branches of the Contender peach tree so the branches could lift off the ground. The above is before we started.
It took us nearly 45 minutes to thin the fruit and slowly the branches lifted up off the ground. We thinned the 1” – 1½” diameter fruits to 4” – 6” apart, selecting the best ones to leave in place when possible.
This was heartbreaking, to remove half of the crop from this one tree. And even with all this off, the branches are still low. I expect I may have to do it again when the fruit gets larger. But the tree is only 4 years old and doesn’t have big branches really.
Once the peach was done, we started at this end and worked our way down, weeding and removing winter kill.
There were 2 cherry trees that had a few cherries earlier, but none now. The end tree above is the 2nd cherry and it had mummified cherries on it. Neither cherry has done very well compared to the peach or elderberries.
Once this row was in good shape for the summer, we moved over to the Little Trees II.
The peach in this row is a Reliance peach. I’d discovered back in early May that it had Peach Leaf Curl fungus but it could not be treated for it until November. But one thing that could be done was remove the affected fruit, leaves and branches.
So we got the cage off and got that done, then put the cage back. The tree is very stressed and has a lot of pest pressure. But it is trying to grow new leaves so maybe it will do ok, if I can get it treated in November.
One plum had a small amount of winter kill that we removed, otherwise none of them needed any work. So once they were weeded we moved over to the trees by the Big garden.
The first tree my intern #2 and I tackled was the magnolia. On the left you can see the stump. I’d hit my head on that branch one time too many when mowing, so my intern sawed it off. Then I pruned it up so it doesn’t hit me in the head anywhere.
While we were giving trees haircuts, my general helper was up on the 8’ ladder deadheading all the East lilacs. This rarely gets done in a timely fashion, so maybe next year we will have lots of flowers.
The next one was the MacIntosh. It had a huge branch out over the Big garden, so she cut it off. You can see some of the apples on the tree near the bottom.
My intern #2 had to leave at 10AM, so once we’d cut everything, she carted it all out over the bank.
The spirea had not had any attention last year and gotten far too big. So I proceeded to give it a major haircut.
I filled 3 sleds with the prunings.
I also gave the lilacs a pruning so they don’t scrape cars or hit me when I am mowing.
All the trees are ready for the summer now and up high enough to not hit my head.
Climbing rose flowers
My general helper had to go at 11AM and I got to sit down and rest for an hour and have some lunch. Then I went out to mow. It had been a lovely cool day with lots of wind and that had dried the grass well. I’d not mowed in 10 days and the grass was much too high and lush from all the rain.
I had to do the yard and up at the barn and finished at 3:15PM. I got a shower and rested for an hour or so then went out to make supper.
I had picked what was left of the elderflowers before we started on the Little Trees. I got them onto a tray and in the dehydrator while I waited for my supper to cook.
On Tuesday I don’t have anyone here and it’s to be a decent day again. I’m hoping to get outside at 6AM and do those 2 gardens by the front steps. I have my first PT appointment in the afternoon, for the sciatica. It’s taken so long to get in, the sciatica has resolved on the right side. The left side still bothers me at night. So I hope the PT will help.