Arborist for a Day

There is something strangely therapeutic about pruning and trimming trees.  We have a big yard for those who have not been here and in our yard we have a number of mature trees.  The willow always sheds but I hate to admit that we have neglected to prune some of our large cedar trees since we moved in a year ago.  However, that changed today.

We have a overgrown cedar at the back corner of our property along the fence line.  It was a mess since there were dead branches running along the ground making it impossible to even get close enough to the fence to see if there were any problems.  Armed with gloves, loppers, and hand trimmer I set out for hours trimming all the dead stuff off and removing the low hanging branches. I forgot to take before pictures but take a look at what I cut out.

All that pile came from that tree.

Once I was able to clear out some of the inside, I know have a great place to plant shade loving plants.  I had some Lily of the Valley that a coworker gave me so despite the toxic qualities I planted them.  I'll had some monkey grass, hostas, and maybe some daffodils for next spring.

After I started this, Leah and I started to notice these strange, orange balls in one of our other cedar trees.  They looked really gross so Leah did some googling to see what it was and what we should do.  Sure enough it was a fungus called Cedar-apple rust which is not deadly to cedar trees but it does damage on any type of apple.  So I took down the ones I can reach and will keep an eye out for the ones that fall in hopes of avoiding an apple-calypse for our neighbors.

Lastly, I noticed poison-ivy runners climbing up one of the trees so I sprayed it with the some Roundup (I know that is bad stuff) and called it a day.  While the trimming may be done, the relaxation and sense of accomplishment will last the rest of the day.  Give pruning a try.

Sources:
http://plantclinic.cornell.edu/factsheets/cedar-applerust/cedar-applerust.htm

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