Well, I say winter. Technically. It has been a very mild winter. In fact, as you can see above and below, we have buds and blooms coming out. It’s early February.
That being said, I figured if I didn’t get busy pruning trees, I would miss my chance this year. I can’t afford to miss my chance. You see, the problem is, I have been doing this all wrong. For years. I am not sure why I never questioned how I did it. Someone once told me just to take some height off each year. Yeah… I am sure you can see the problem here.
I did some research and watch some folks that know what they are doing. Folks such as MIGardener (great guy to learn all things gardening), Blake Kirby (This guy is living the life I am working toward, check him out) , Utah State University Extension(very well made videos), and tons more.
I learned very quickly just how wrong I was doing things. That’s the point in life, right? To learn how to do things better. Well, I think I did. Turns out that taking the height off was not quite the right advice… at least not entirely. I went to work today, my plum, peach, pear, and nectarines look like upside down umbrellas. I cut out all the inward facing branches. Got rid of a fair bit of tree. In reality, I feel I should have cut more from some, but I didn’t want to kill it. I figured I can’t undo 10 years in 10 minutes. I can take a year or two to correct my misdoings.
If you have not done your winter pruning, you might want to get on it. I have a feeling spring may come early… at least for us here in the south. The bees are already rolling and flying daily. Feeding has begun to ensure they don’t starve until the nectar flow starts. I, for one, am ready for spring.
