Articles

If you want to extend the life of your tree and encourage it to grow better fruit, you have to prune it. Pruning fruit trees is the thing to do, because that allows sunlight to reach all areas of the tree. Armed with my best sewing scissors and a ladder, I marched right outside swearing I would not call someone to do it for me. Thirty minutes and a pinched thumb later, I managed to get the ladder set up. I felt like Jack on the beanstalk when I climbed up that thing.

When I reached the first limb, I realized I knew nothing about pruning fruit trees but I figured it couldn't be that hard. I attempted to cut a smaller limb from my tree, and realized that the scissors wouldn't do the job. So I got my husband's chain saw.

I figured it had to be better than those scissors. I didn't realize how loud it would sound and it startled me. I tossed it on the ground. Lucky for me the grass is soft, because I topped off the ladder afterwards. I swore at the stupid chain saw, then we back up the ladder with it. I was prepared this time; I started again.

Once again, I tried cutting that smaller limb. Did you know that chain saws are very sharp? I accidentally took out six limbs and went halfway through another one. Oh man, this really ticked me off. My precious tree! 1/4th of it was on the ground. But I wasn't about to give up, not even after one of the ravaged limbs struck my forehead and left a big scratch.

How hard can pruning fruit trees possibly be? Getting the hedge shears, I climbed up in the tree this time. I accidentally kicked the ladder over on the way up.

I was absolutely fuming as I waited until my husband found me in that bleeping fruit tree. I was bleeding from the head and had dirt all over my butt. As my husband was laughing and I was walking back to the house, I gave that tree a look that would wither it and muttered, "Until Next Year!"