sticks begin to sprout

a few of my newly planted bare root trees have begun to sprout leaves. like kids, no two trees are alike and though they are planted at the same time - timing of the leaves can be separated by weeks.

the picture on the right is a cherry tree - and was planted in late january. i havent had a chance to paint the trunk yet, but will soon enough. i am hopefull all trees will make it - time will tell.

you may notice that this tree is pretty short. i am a disciple of ed laivo and his backyard orchard culture practices - which keep trees in the 5-6 foot range. in order to do that, they need to be cut short when planted, to force lower scaffolding limbs. trimming of the tree will occur in the summer - after fruiting and in the fall, where i cut for strcuture as well as cutting for height.