BRANCHING OUT

Sometimes you just have to suck it up and admit that your feeble efforts won't get you what you want. Time to hire a professional! So I called Advanced Tree Service for help in getting less shade in my new garden area. They said, "We can get you a lot less shade in 5 minutes!" They were only kidding and I wasn't about to cut down this tree which does shade the house in the late afternoon and is a focal point in the yard. But it did have some issues and probably had never been pruned.

So for $300 I could get a good pruning (they don't do pollarding anymore because it just encourages rampant new growth in the next years). So it was to be some thinning and taking out of those limbs that were hanging over the garden area. Here Kevin, the apprentice, is climbing up in the tree without using hooks. It's slippery! Using hooks on a maple is not good because the tree tends to "bleed" sap and draw insects.

The veteran Dave is watching from the ground, making sure Kevin does all his rigging correctly.

In the end, we have a much "skinnier" tree and my garden (you can see part of it on the right)will get so much more sunlight. According to the experts, even a few more minutes of sunlight can make a huge difference in the amount of veggies you get!