As you may have heard, I hit the dirt (literally) a few weeks ago. Truth be told, I was showing off. Showing off when you are in a hurry is NEVER a bright idea!
The impact of the shoulder and earth from only about 4’ or so caused my right shoulder to do what our newly appointed vice president coined a “sudden, rapid, and unplanned disassembly…”
I’m on the mend now, and yesterday was able to spend 8 hours rigging and wrecking a Siberian elm that imploded from our last snowmageddon, but starting a big saw still hurts like hell.
If I haven’t got to your trees yet, there is hope. I apologize for the delay(s) but I will get to your trees, one way or the other. Imagine the dread of an oncoming sneeze while your back is spasming like electric exposure to a lightning bolt, yep, it hurts like hell! I have a newfound respect for mass x velocity + sudden stop due to stupidity…
Enough about my adventure and back to tree talk.
We are having a wet cold start to our spring which, while normal, sucks when you are trying to play catchup, and is especially hard on fruit and other types of trees when they are in flower. Special consideration should be taken if pruning is on the menu. Delicate buds and flowers are easily damaged by rough handling right now, so care should be taken while pruning, especially when removing the pruned portions of the tree from the canopy.
We will be approaching the end of the pruning of conifers soon, as the beetles will be on the march in April (pun intended)!
It seems to be an average or better water year, but never forget that drought stress is cumulative, and your drought stressed trees are not out of the woods yet (another intended pun)…
If you have lost any trees to snow damage and have plans for replacement, NOW is the time to hustle over to Plant Oregon and choose your replacement trees. They will be up to their ass in alligators soon with spring about to “sproing” and there may be some difficulty trying to do what this article prompts you to do each month. Enjoy the coming of spring and as always,
plant high and often!
