Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Pruning season


My landscaping guy came yesterday and pruned the apple and plum trees.  There's no end of complicated advice on the art and science of pruning.  Just Google "Martha Stewart fruit tree prune" if you want to feel overwhelmed.

Tommy used a hedge cutter on a pole, and that would give Martha the vapors.  I watched a video of her supervising her personal gardener, who makes every single precise cut by hand in her huge apple orchard.

But when all is said and done, I think most people are too timid when it comes to pruning. I've butchered plenty of roses in my day, only to have them come back better than ever.


Tommy took a third off the top, which is about right.  That means fewer plums, but since we couldn't get the high ones anyway it doesn't really matter. The plum tree tends to bloom early, and if the pollinators aren't out and about yet, we have a poor crop. Fortunately, our neighbor across the street has an old plum tree.  Plum trees (like most other fruit trees) need partner varieties nearby to cross-pollinate and fruit. Yes, the birds and the bees.

I haven't left West Seattle in almost 2 weeks. I'm glad I haven't had to, but to be honest, the "Viadoom" morning traffic hasn't been as bad as predicted. I think many people decided to take vacation or whatever, and avoid the whole thing. Fewer people are commuting by car and more are taking the bus (good for them.)  Getting downtown on surface streets isn't too bad, but later in the day, it's a nightmare trying to get out to I-5 from here.

I didn't sleep well last night (windy) so decided to skip the early gym, have some avocado toast then clean out closets and drawers.  Another day close to home. Gosh, I am such a housewife these days.


 South entrance to the tunnel

Doesn't that look inviting?  They say work is progressing well on the tunnel, and there's a big opening celebration planned for February 2-3.

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