Our lovely old apple tree had previously been pruned so hard that it now had a tangled mass of new vertical shoots. It was dense, cast too much shade, and hadn’t produced many apples for years. I called in an expert pruner called Posy Gentles who specialises in transparent pruning of trees and shrubs. www.posygentles.co.uk
Before pruning
She and her colleague transformed the tree by thinning it out and now it is open, balanced, light and airy. They were a joy to have working in the garden as they took such care with what they were doing, creating beauty out of chaos.
We now have lovely views through the bare branches to beyond the tree and to the rest of the garden while still keeping the privacy aspect between us and neighbours. They did this branch by branch, always standing back to get the overall picture to make the tree beautiful. It really is a work of art. It looks like a lace parasol.
After pruning, full of light and air
They also stripped the ivy off the bark to reveal the beauty of the brown trunk which now contrasts with the ivy-clad fence behind it. As there is ivy everywhere around the tree but not up the trunk, birds and insects still have their habitat.
Tree trunk, and spot the blackbird
Hope we get apples this year