Chopping Some Wood Major League Fig and Cherry Pruning

Besides the dozen or so olive trees on the property, there are two fruit trees we want to save, one fig and a double-trunk cherry. All of the trees need pruning, but the fig and cherry need it badly.

Pippo, who acted as the agent for the previous property owners, is also a landscaper. Kevin said he’d be the guy to do some tree pruning.

We’d asked to get it done in December, while the trees are dormant. The bad weather postponed the work until last week.

I was expecting some serious pruning, but what we got was really serious pruning. The fig, which had been about 15-20 feet tall, was cut back to about 6 feet, leaving just the trunk and the start of a few large branches. Likewise, the cherry was cut back to just its core.

Here are some before and after pictures.

Overgrown fig tree
Fig Before Trimming
Click image to enlarge
Pruned fig tree
Fig After Trimming
Click image to enlarge
Overgrown cherry tree
Cherry Before Trimming
Click image to enlarge
Pruned cherry tree
Cherry After Trimming
(in foreground)
Click image to enlarge

We’re expecting that the pruning will help the trees start producing fruit again.

Regarding the olives, Pippo has moved the ones that were in the way of the construction. Later in the spring, he’ll prune all the olives as well. I hope they won’t need to be cut back as much, so we may see a few olives this year, as long as the olive fly, which decimated last year’s crop, stays away.

Here’s an album of the tree pruning pictures.

Source:
All images: Copyright © Our Big Italian Adventure

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