Behind the Wheel
June 5th 2004
So this morning I decided to prune the crab apple tree some more. This is a bit of a work in progress, because the people who owned the house before us never ever ever pruned the tree. As a result, we ended up with a big overgrown bush of a tree, with crossed branches rubbing everywhere and suckers galore. A big mess.
Over the past two years, I have been steadily pruning the tree, bit by bit. I don’t want to do too much at once because I don’t want it to keel over in shock. So far, it was looking tree-like, but the top section was still an overwhelming tangle of branches.
I took out three major branches today, and have set the stage in the fall or the spring to remove one half of the tree. It pisses me off, because when the tree was first planted, they could have fixed 90% of the problems by one little step. The way it grew was a main trunk that is kind of nice, but one sucker was allowed to grow so the main trunk is actually a fork that starts pretty low down. The sucker has grown straight up and then branched out, so it rubs on every existing branch from the main trunk and everything is choked and horrible. The sucker trunk is about 4.5 inches in diameter as well, so the people obviously didn’t touch it at all. If they had cut that one sucker, the tree would be totally different. Arg.
At once point in the process, I stupidly decided to hold onto the branch I was cutting and ended up getting my hand stuck in a fork in the main trunk while the cut branch fell over and pinned me in place. Stupid stupid! But I managed to extricate myself without damaging me, the tree or the neighbour’s fence, which is a good thing. At once point I nearly fell off the ladder as well but I was holding on to a branch so I just hung there until I got my feet back under me. I was only about 4 ft off the ground so if I had fallen it wouldn’t have been so bad.
I had about 20 tent caterpillars all over my hat and shirt when I was done. Blah. I saw two nests but they are too high up so I couldn’t reach them. Overall, I think the tree looks much better, and I have eliminated most of the crossed branches which is great. All I need to do is get that other trunk out, and I think I will have something to work with!
I also went out driving with Chris today. I am going to take the test this summer to get my G2 license. I know, I know, I am 27 and I don’t have a license yet! I have never needed one, but I am sick of the bus and I think I am ready mentally to do it now. My driving instructor in high school gave me a phobia about driving and then I went off to university and didn’t have a car, so it hasn’t been an issue so far, but it is time.
I drove around town with Chris and it wasn’t so bad. I will take a little refresher course with an instructor, but I think I am ready to do this (finally).