Pruning a 20-year Old Hardy Chicago Fig Tree. 11 Apr 24.

Two years ago I radically pruned this Hardy Chicago fig tree, taking it from, maybe, fifteen or twenty feet tall  to about six feet tall.  Previous pruning had given it good scaffold branches, which were low and well spaced.

With such a radical pruning, it didn't bear the first year after that pruning, but bore heavily the second year.  I should have pruned it after the first year of growth, to create more, lower, branching, but was not able to until now.

I pruned again today.  Most of the 2-year newer growth branches were six to ten feet long, up to 1.5 inches in diameter.

Here it is after pruning.

Here it was before pruning.  I had pruned a few branches on the right, before it occurred to me to photo-document my progress.

I left most of the one to two year old growth, about a foot long.  But I didn't think too much about it.  I also removed a couple of large scaffolding branches that were in the center.  I want a low-branched, bowl-shaped tree to let in sunlight and make harvesting and later pruning easier.

This might have been too radical to have a crop this year.  Trees can fool me, so we will see.

Hardy Chicago is one of my best and most productive fig varieties.  They are truly delicious figs.  While it makes the buds for brebas, they usually fall off.  Then it sets an early crop of main-crop figs, entirely on new growth.  So nothing is lost, pruning in the spring.  The other side of that coin, however, is that a radical spring pruning might result in over-vigorous vegetative growth that might not make fruiting buds.

Container Tulips Blooming. 11 Apr 24.

 These are the tulips that I planted in containers last fall.  I've moved them from the fenced vegetable garden to the deck.

When they finish blooming, I'll move them back to the vegetable garden.

These pots are big enough to require a dolly for moving them around.  

So far, deer have not come up onto the deck to eat them.  It might help to have a vigilant dog just inside the windows, barking at them.

In my garden, there are also half-barrel size containers with tulips.  They are too heavy to move.  I'm experimenting with small crops to over-plant the tulips, so the space and containers are well used during the summer.  the first attempt is strawberries.

This container had scallions, which are gone now.  The tulips are bulbs that I discovered while rearranging other areas of the garden, and replanted into this container last year.

Repotting Schlumbergera. 11 Apr 24.

 These were the two smallest / newest Schlumbergeras.  One has a sort of fuchsia tone that I haven't seen much in modern ones.  The color was more common in the past.

These ceramic pots are quite heavy.  They won't have any problems tipping over as they grow.  Also, they look nice.  I did not prune these.  They didn't need it.  Also, if my pruning of some of the others was too severe, these will be the blooming ones, next winter.

Here are the roots.  Nice, and I did not disturb them. 

These cacti should be set fir a few years now, with just routine care.

Later.  

I decided to add this photo, rather than a new blog post.  This cactus had a couple of buds.  One opened.

I finally labeled them with the flower color.

Why I drill Holes In Pots That Have Holes. 9 Apr 24.

This pot has been sitting there with several inches of water, for several weeks.  The holes are too small to let it drain and too close to the snap-on saucer.  With soil, it would just be soggy.

It will have a bunch of new, larger holes before I put it to work.

Pruning Schlumbergera. 9 Apr 24.

 I've usually been reluctant to prune the Schlumbergeras.  As a result they tend to sprawl and become top heavy.   I wanted to prune them just after blooming, but some are still blooming.  I started with these two.  I left still- blooming stems in place. I pruned the others back by 1 or 2 or 3 nodes - basically the past 2 or 3 years' growth.

After the flowers finish, I'll prune those stems back the same way, so they are all even.