The first year I grew tomatoes at a community garden (elsewhere in California), lots of critters munched my fruit before I could pick it. I had a garden neighbor who grew rat habitat (an unmanaged berry thicket), and I did several things that mostly stopped any predation (except by humans!). One.
This past Picnic Day, Master Gardeners were available to answer the community's questions. One question reigned supreme: What is happening to my peach tree? If you are noticing puffed, curled, and discolored leaves on your peach or nectarine tree, the culprit is likely the fungus Peach Leaf Curl.
My mother, in all her wisdom, once sent me a wooden garden stake that said, I tried but it died, when I take somewhat drastic measures to try to save something in the garden, I always bear that in mind.
Most of us who grow fruit trees think of pruning as a winter practice, done when the tree is dormant and leafless, and the tree skeleton can be better observed.
As we bid farewell to the short, brisk days of winter and welcome the warm embrace of spring and summer, our spirits lift with the promise of longer days filled with sunlight.
