Saturday 9 March 2013

A Bit of Spring Pruning

I ventured into the garden again one afternoon last week, ostensibly to do a bit of pruning.  I don't know what made me think about doing it, maybe seeing the growth on the fruit trees through the patio door windows, but I got a sudden urge to prune them.  I always forget the best times so I googled the best time and it said autumn or late winter/early spring so off I went with my Felcos in hand.

Our current neighbours are moving out shortly, as the house which they were renting is being sold, so with this in mind I began on that particular side of the garden and made sure no branches were hanging over the fence.  I don't want to upset any new neighbours we might get.  I moved around the garden one tree at a time.  The last tree, a peach tree, was a bit tricky as the growth it has put on in the last year has been phenomenal and I had to get quite brutal as it is quite close to the house.

In between the pruning I decided to make some minor adjustments to the greenhouse I'd put up the other weekend, as I hadn't got it quite right according to the instructions, which finally came through.  It didn't take long to put it right though, no more than 10 minutes, so it is now as it should be.

In addition, I had a sort through the shed to get a few gardening bits out to aid the pruning.  I had to pull everything out as it was rammed full of things we'd stored in our basement before the building work, that I still can't face throwing out.  I did throw a couple of small things out and made use of a few others.  I moved a few things into the greenhouse or the house and then put everything else back in, giving careful consideration to whether we would need to use them in the near future, and any we did I put to the front where we could reach them easily.

It felt good to tackle the shed, even if I didn't get rid of anything.  I know exactly what is in there so it is not some huge onerous task awaiting me, if that makes sense.  It was all put in there in a bit of a rush so the builders could start work and I lost track.  It all seems to have weathered the winter okay though.

With the pruning done, I felt a real sense of satisfaction and can now start the rest of the garden clean up at some point when I get the time and inclination.  I also ended up with a bundle of pea sticks to use on the garden or allotment, which should come in handy.

2 comments:

  1. How lovely. I've managed a few hours in the garden this week too and am aching from it ! Have no idea when it comes to pruning but everything bounces back after I've been at it. It's a good feeling isn't it ?

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  2. Hi, Yes it feels great and they really benefit from it too. I'm a bit more confident these days, after doing an RHS certificate in horticulture, but to be honest I must admit I've forgotten a lot of it. I just tend to aim for the goblet shape in my fruit trees (except for cordon ones) with space and air circulating in the centre of the tree and no rubbing together of branches.

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