this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025
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Nature and Gardening
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Cherries, apples, plums in the northern edge of the temperate zone. Recently added buckthorn and blackcurrant although they are not really trees.
I bought an old property with ca 35 year old apple trees and 15 year old cherry / plum all of which had been left abandoned for about a decade. Their size is a problem. The apple trees are very tall and making contact with the building. I have a 7m long saw for trimming them amd I tend to take off one big branch per year and lots of small ones. Really big ones get the chainsaw, which is used to process the branches into firewood.
The cherries produce a lot of small bushlings. I manage them with a clearing saw.
We built a composting toilet which we use to process human waste. That one is emptied to an enclosed thermal compost for about 1-2 years more before being used. Last year we don't add more stuff to ensure it's safe to use. Kitchen and garden waste goes to an open compost. When we mow the "lawn" which is more like a field we let the clippings fall where they may to keep the nutrients in.
We process wood and sticks into mulch we use with paper to protect the bushes from weeds.
I apologize for my lack of gardening vocabulary.
Sounds like you've got a great thing going! Maintaining fertility by mulching with cut vegetation and composting "waste" is really important. How big is your fruit forest? Do you plan to diversify further and fill up the field? How small do you plan to keep the trees? I've found that pruning tall trees with a pole saw is really tedious and exhausting. Do you have a particular method that's easier?
There are maybe 6 or so of the cherry trees, counting out the young ones 5 apple trees and 1 plum tree. The apple trees have gotten too big and I have been removing fairly big branches so most of the effort is processing the resulting cuttings. So far I have done it little by little, so it hasn't been too taxing.
I will probably plant rowans and more smaller berry bushes. Maybe construct some wicking beds for smaller plants.
This year's effort will be lightening up the canopy to ensure enough light in the lower layers.
Tools I have for this: chainsaw, clearing saw, pole saw, shredder. I also sometimes use a flip saw to process smaller branches as I find the chainsaw... Untrustworthy . I have spent a total of perhaps 300e on the tools, not counting the flip saw - patiently waiting for good used tools to become available and fixing broken ones has served me well. Latest addition is a Klippo lawn mower. Got it for free, spent 40e fixing it and it works now. A new one is over 900. Granted this values my own time at 0e, but... The time you enjoy wasting is not wasted time.