A crocus...
Time to attempt to regain control of the orchard. This supposedly dwarf apple tree has been giving me fits for a couple of years. Last year, I gave it a severe pruning to completely reshape and resize it. It retaliated by producing only two apples. This year, I gave it a renewal pruning to get it ready for fruit production. I'm hoping for a few more apples this year. lol!
I also pruned the two peaches and did a little work on the apricot tree. I usually do the heavy pruning on it after I harvest the apricots. If we manage to dodge a late last frost, we may have enough apricots to make jam for the entire neighborhood on that tree.
One of my favorite spring projects every year is pruning the grape vines. I feel a bit like Michelangelo as I remove all the parts of the vine that don't look like a productive plant.
The vine on the left is a Niagara white juice grape. It is easily the most obedient and easy to care for grape vine that I have experience with. The finished pruning job always looks just like the pictures in my pruning textbook. It produces by the book, too. Most years, it produces quarts and quarts of the yummiest grape juice.
The vine on the right is a Canadice pink table grape. While it produces a very yummy seedless pink grape, the vines are just crazy. Most years, all the growth will be on one side of the plant. Pruning is difficult because the whole vine is lopsided. It's the grandkids favorite grape, though, so I coax it into shape and usually it will cooperate by providing enough grapes to give each child a bellyache from eating too many at least once per summer. lol.
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