Monday 24 December 2012
Spiros rang us on Sunday evening and said he had people to prune the olive trees in the morning. So we were up early ready to meet the lads with a chainsaw. Luckily Spiros came to show them where we were and to do the complicated translating. They understood olive trees, but also offered to cut away all that underbrush cluttering the NE corner. We love that thicket. We dissuaded an attack on it about a month ago, when Kristoforos the sheep man was trying to do us a favour and cut it down. Lots of small birds live there, and it gives us a lot of privacy from the building work going on in that direction. Anyway, we said clearly - no ground clearing, just the overgrown trees.
This is the worst example of overgrown tree - the branches get hollowed out by ants and lack of water and you risk the whole tree coming down in a storm - either on the cars or the camper van.
After radical pruning, only the gnarled stump is left, with a few feathery branches. These will grow strong and productive now the tree can concentrate on them.
We also asked for two of the taller 'small' cypress to be taken down. They are forming such a barrier to our panels at this time of year. These trees were barely there when we moved in, we haven't noticed how they've grown.
This was the tallest one. We'd thought about trying to fell it ourselves, but if it fell in the wrong direction it could crush the panels on the zone, the awning, the chicken hut or the studio hut, so we left it to the experts. One of them is just visible in this photo, climbing the tree with a rope. When it came down it crushed a plant pot, which we didn't mind about at all.
And the one I was most concerned about, the lovely tree-house tree of Richie's. Not that we've ever built the tree-house, and he's getting a bit old for one now, but this tree also is a storm risk, being so close to the house structure. It will grow new branches lower to the ground, easier for crop harvesting.
After the men had gone, we had to clear the track, cutting up the logs and collecting the olives, and there is still loads to do, all round the site. In all, an unusual Christmas eve.
Spiros rang us on Sunday evening and said he had people to prune the olive trees in the morning. So we were up early ready to meet the lads with a chainsaw. Luckily Spiros came to show them where we were and to do the complicated translating. They understood olive trees, but also offered to cut away all that underbrush cluttering the NE corner. We love that thicket. We dissuaded an attack on it about a month ago, when Kristoforos the sheep man was trying to do us a favour and cut it down. Lots of small birds live there, and it gives us a lot of privacy from the building work going on in that direction. Anyway, we said clearly - no ground clearing, just the overgrown trees.
This is the worst example of overgrown tree - the branches get hollowed out by ants and lack of water and you risk the whole tree coming down in a storm - either on the cars or the camper van.
After radical pruning, only the gnarled stump is left, with a few feathery branches. These will grow strong and productive now the tree can concentrate on them.
We also asked for two of the taller 'small' cypress to be taken down. They are forming such a barrier to our panels at this time of year. These trees were barely there when we moved in, we haven't noticed how they've grown.
This was the tallest one. We'd thought about trying to fell it ourselves, but if it fell in the wrong direction it could crush the panels on the zone, the awning, the chicken hut or the studio hut, so we left it to the experts. One of them is just visible in this photo, climbing the tree with a rope. When it came down it crushed a plant pot, which we didn't mind about at all.
And the one I was most concerned about, the lovely tree-house tree of Richie's. Not that we've ever built the tree-house, and he's getting a bit old for one now, but this tree also is a storm risk, being so close to the house structure. It will grow new branches lower to the ground, easier for crop harvesting.
After the men had gone, we had to clear the track, cutting up the logs and collecting the olives, and there is still loads to do, all round the site. In all, an unusual Christmas eve.
No comments:
Post a Comment