Orchard

Orchard
noun
An area of land devoted to the cultivation of fruit or nut trees. 

Saturday, UK

Joy has an orchard that needs pruning, and I am an experienced pruner (I pruned at the instruction of my mother as a youth). So I went out with her and Ieva this morning to show those fruit trees who's boss.

It reminded me of my first trip to Dzukija in 1996 when I climbed a fruit tree and my aunt called me a monkey. This time Ieva remarked, Joy, looks like we've got a monkey in the house. Trees are more stable than ladders. If there is a comfortable spot to put your foot down, you should always stand in the tree when sawing off limbs.

Pruning in England is very different in England. In both Lithuania and the US, you prune in fall or spring. Here you prune in winter and summer. I have always been taught not to cut too much off: after the first few years, once a tree is established, you are only regulating growth by pruning, not reshaping the tree. Well, not here. At the behest of my host, I lopped off half an apple tree.

I used a fancy Japanese saw that only saws in one direction--you saw on the pull but not on the push. Boy does that thing do a good job; for a branch the thickness of your thumb you need only one pull to saw right through the whole thing.

Homework
Do you have an interesting garden experience you can talk about?