{"id":3258,"date":"2015-01-23T10:46:14","date_gmt":"2015-01-23T18:46:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogadmin.plantlust.com\/blog\/?p=3258"},"modified":"2023-11-20T20:06:00","modified_gmt":"2023-11-21T04:06:00","slug":"saga-of-the-apple-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/plantlust.com\/blog\/gardens\/saga-of-the-apple-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"saga of the apple tree"},"content":{"rendered":"

Funny how once a\u00a0decision has been made, it becomes so obvious. I’ve been struggling with the what-to-do-with-the-apple-tree question since we moved to Flamingo Park nine months ago.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"DSCN3076\"<\/a>
it’s dark under the tree, and it casts long shadow.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wouldn’t have chosen this tree or sited\u00a0it center view from the picture window, but the trunk is magnificent. I don\u2019t know the variety\u2014though one outfit thought Gravenstein. It was never a question of the tree itself so much, as it relationship to the rest of the garden.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"view<\/a>
view from the dining room<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I can’t tell you how many times I went back and forth: Should I keep it, which means\u00a0committing to constant\u00a0work around–or should I take it out. Yes. No. Yes, wait a minute, no. I asked all my gardening pals, who were kind and patient–but wonder if they were thinking, decide already.<\/em><\/p>\n

I made so many bargains along the way. I’ll trim the water sprouts and then if I still don’t like it, it\u2019ll come out. Time passed, and I had a decent stretch of gardening season, but\u00a0still no certainty. It was always the trunk that stopped me. Then, I came with the brilliant idea, if the apples are good, that’ll be the sign we should keep it.<\/p>\n

I’d been told it wouldn’t produce many apples because the pruning hadn’t been maintained. Since I loved the trunk, I thought, well, I could live with it, especially if it didn’t over produce and encourage yellow jackets. Hah. That tree shed\u00a0wormy apples by the bushel for weeks. I dutifully gathered and recycled daily, and didn’t get stung–which is a good thing. The previous\u00a0two years I had been\u00a0stung by the aggressive, no good terrible bad bugs, and my reaction was\u00a0dramatic.<\/p>\n

To recap, the apples were terrible, and there were tons of them, and the tree dominated the garden view.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"apple<\/a>
apple tree dominates view from dining area–trust me<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

About a week ago, for the umpteenth time, I decided to start with\u00a0the orchard pruning, and only\u00a0resort to removal if I really\u00a0<\/em>didn’t like it. I was certain that I didn’t want another season of the shadow cast on my “hot garden.” I argued back and forth for pruning versus removal a zillion times–always with the good-natured man’s agreement. Whatever I wanted to do was fine.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"the<\/a>
the hot garden, not looking so hot now.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

We got\u00a0a couple bids right after we moved in. The first was around $1200 to remove the tree. The second was for $850. But I wasn’t sure. So I waited–and solicited more opinions from my gardening pals; and checked into donating the wood to woodcarvers if we did take it out; and signed up with a group affiliated with Oregon Food Bank to pick and distribute\u00a0the apples.<\/p>\n

In June, we had a few\u00a0diseased trees and pom-pom pruned Rhodies removed. At the time, I got a third bid for the apple tree. I’m all but certain the Tree Dude said $450 to take it out–which seemed like a decent deal–or $200 for the pruning. He said get back to him in the winter when it would be best to do the job.<\/p>\n

Well, I put in several calls and texts before I finally heard back. So the Tree Dude came over, said he remembered our apple tree, but that I had the bid backward. It was $450 for the pruning and $200 for removal. I reluctantly\u00a0agreed to $400 for pruning, feeling a little bamboozled, and crew\u00a0was set\u00a0to come that afternoon. Then Tree Dude\u00a0called a bit later and said he’d already given\u00a0the crew the day off, and so we relayed plans for the following Tuesday.<\/p>\n

About this time, it was beginning to feel a little like that joke about the guy waiting for a rooftop rescue–who rejects the\u00a0car, the boat, and the helicopter. He drowns and gets to heaven, asking God why he didn’t save him. God says, what are you talking about: I sent you three opportunities. Or maybe it’s more like the Fox, the Chicken, and the Grain joke. At any rate, it’s been a challenge to my thinking process.<\/p>\n

So once the\u00a0the job was delayed, I had time to think about it. I didn\u2019t want to spend $400, especially if I\u2019d have to turn around and pay for removal. So I groused about it to the men–there were so\u00a0many red flags–and up to the tree\u00a0they stepped. Those guys are so good.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"the<\/a>
the men step up to the tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"men<\/a>
men in apple tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"tree<\/a>
tree trimming teamwork<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"apple<\/a>
apple wood anyone?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

And now, I LOVE MY TREE<\/em>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"pruned<\/a>
pruned apple tree<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

It looks fantastic. You can clearly make out the gorgeous trunk now that the thick water sprout are gone. The birdies are in heaven. \u00a0There’s so much more light. I can see the sky above it from inside the house.<\/p>\n

A shoutout to Ms. Jane the Mulchmaid<\/a>, who had it\u00a0right from the beginning.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"gorgeous<\/a>
gorgeous apple tree trunk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

I’ve taken a ton of pictures this week, and been surprised by the challenge of capturing it’s glory. The above picture gives a good idea. Too bad about the birdseed bucket and barbecue\u00a0in background.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"squirrel-proof<\/a>
squirrel-proof suet feeder?<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

The birds are loving the thicket of branches, so I’ll have to think about that.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"apple<\/a>
apple tree improved<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

And the kitties think it’s pretty swell, too.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"kitties<\/a>
kitties watching birdies<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Funny how once a\u00a0decision has been made, it becomes so obvious. I’ve been struggling with the what-to-do-with-the-apple-tree question since we moved to Flamingo Park nine months ago.     I wouldn’t have chosen this tree or sited\u00a0it center view from the picture window, but the trunk is magnificent. I don\u2019t know the variety\u2014though one outfit […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":3260,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,47,81],"tags":[97],"yoast_head":"\nsaga of the apple tree - Plant Lust<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Funny how once a\u00a0decision has been made, it becomes so obvious. 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