Saturday, 12 March 2011

Back to Grand Folly

Returning from Costa Rica to Vancouver was returning from summer to the dregs of winter, from lush foliage and flowers to still bare branches. It was, however, the right time to prune the old fruit trees. John came over with his ladder and tools and, ignoring the nasty weather, got on with the job.





The plum had quite a bit of dieback and several witches' brooms that needed to be removed. The result was a rather ungainly shape, but we hope it will recover and fill out over the next few years.





The pear was in better shape to begin with. With a haircut and some judicious thinning it looked much better.





 I'd prefer it to be more spreading but with laundry line on one side and fence on the other, there's really no room. The fence has to stay, and I am a great fan of sheets dried in the sun so I'm not about to remove the line.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I love when worlds collide because of plants..I saw your recent Master Garden talk.loved it!..and saw the(your??) drawing of the yard and said to myself..that's that old house across from the school (lived in the neighbourhood for 21 years)..anyways since i know you are still building your garden, here's my suggestion. It would go great with the colour of your house and it is 2 years running, best in show in our garden up the street.

Hypericum androsaemum 'Albury Purple'
betty

Christine said...

Thanks for the compliment...and also for the suggestion. I'll look for the Hypericum; it's a new variety to me.