Hawthorn update

Over the winter, I pruned and wired out nearly every branch on the hawthorn, working to refine the secondary branch structure and begin adding on to the tertiary branches. A few weeks after the first pruning, here is a good shot of the tree in the sunshine:

I had a hypothesis that certain fungicides inhibited growth in this hawthorn, and made a decision to withhold them this year until the tree had grown out strong. Interestingly, growth was very strong this year, but so was the fungal growth. So from this point forward, it will receive fungicide treatments to try to contain the cedar-Apple rust.

The bark shed considerably more this year, which to me, is a sign of strong growth.

So, a few weeks after the first pruning back this spring, the wires had tightened enough that it was time to remove them.

Wires removed:

After all wires removed:

A few branches in the upper right will need to be tweaked further, so they will be rewired soon. The goal for the rest of the summer will be to contain the rust, and selective pruning to keep refining the tertiary branches. The tree still has a couple guy-wires in place, and a thread graft which is years-old and still attached. Since it isn’t visible in leaf, I’m not in a hurry to remove it, since it’s in an otherwise rather bare spot.

One last shot a couple weeks later after the bark has darkened a little.