Time to Prune

It is the last day of July and we have had an uncharacteristically dry, sunny week. I have actually had to water my potted plants, and may even give my garden beds some water if it doesn't rain soon.

I didn't have a thing to plant or sew in July, so I decided to focus on a much-neglected Winter garden task: pruining. We moved to this property just over a year ago, and the place had stood vacant for a year before that. I didn't prune anything that Winter, and then everything took off in Spring, and it was too late. In fact, most things looked overgrown by much more than a year. A couple of the roes reached to the roof. So I was determined to do a proper prune of everything this Winter. And if that was not possible, my priorities were roses and fruit trees. 

While this is not directly part of veggie gardening, it is somewhat related. There is already what I would like to think of as the start of a mini food forrest down the back of the section, with three fejioas and one glorious fig tree. I have long-term plans to add more. A good prune of this overgrown area is the first step to taking better care of these fruit trees and carving out space for new ones. My second goal is to open up space to let in more sunlight in the garden in general and for my veggie beds specifically. It's an ongoing issue with most urban/suburban sections: It's just not that big, and if you're not careful the trees and bushes can start to overshadow everything. 

Here we are at the end of July, and I haven't gotten to everything. I imagine I will keep picking away at it well into August. It is enjoyable work for a sunny Winter day; an excuse to get in some fresh air and physical exercise in the middle of Winter. Pruing requires problem solving and a dash of creativity. You are taking actions that may have a big impact on how your trees grow. You look at the growing nodes, try to imagine how the tree will respond to the cuts you make. On the other hand there is the immediate satisfaction of spending just thrity minutes on it and seeing the difference in opening up more space and light.

As we don't get properly cold Winter here, from the perspective of some plants, we get things starting to grow out of season flowers around now. My pruning efforts have me coming inside with impromptu bouquets such as this one of roses, rosehips, and jasmine: