This week I began the process of pruning the berries. I was hoping to start a little over a week ago but the weather refused to cooperate. The recent weeks have been brutally cold and then suddenly this week it seems as though spring has arrived. Pruning is always a long arduous task. Because I have so many plants it usually takes me at least a couple of weeks. I'm not complaining though. The bounty of berries that are produced are definitely worth the labor of love.
Not only is it time to prune berries, it's time to prune fruit trees. As many of you know I have several fruit trees.... about 25 or so. Unfortunately, one of my pear trees has a condition called "Fire Blight." The good news is that it continues to produce healthy pears. The bad news is that it's not healthy for tree. Over time if not treated the tree will die . For the past few years I have diligently pruned and removed the diseased limbs and treated it with an organic spray to try and eradicate the disease. So far I haven't been successful at eradicating the Fire Blight, but I have managed to confine the disease to the one tree. Fire Blight is very contagious and has the ability to spread to other trees. That would be a disaster!!
It's important to remember that Fire Blight is HIGHLY contagious. When pruning a diseased tree, the limbs must be thrown in the trash and removed from the property. You would never want to place them in a pile with other cuttings to be burned or recycled because the disease can be spread into decomposing wood chips or it can also spread through burning ash or soot in the air. I'll keep you posted on how the infected tree does this year as well as the berries. Until then, happy growing!
P.S. One more crucial step required when pruning trees, always clean your shears with alcohol before moving to the next tree. If you're pruning a tree with disease, clean the shears with alcohol after every cut.
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