Pruning Update

The weather is getting warmer and the days are getting longer, the flower buds are starting to break and the available window for pruning is closing. The sap is starting to rise in the trees and we can see this when we cut the branches (some cuts have actually had sap visibly bubbling out of them).

This poses a dilemma. With no rain to speak of in sight, pruning the trees will be useful; cutting branches off means that the roots below have less tree above to provide for. The trees growth and the little moisture available will be focused on fewer buds resulting in less but bigger, better apples.

However, if the sap is rising we will lose moisture through each cut we make;  of course, because of the dry weather there is nothing to replace that lost moisture, so the buds surrounding the cut will dry out, rendering our efforts pointless. This has led to drastic measures and we have to decided to make as few cuts as possible (by making a few big cuts rather than lots of small ones) and then actually paint over each one to seal up the cut and stop moisture escaping.