Suckers

We were really excited about our apple tree fence. Excited enough that we designated four posts to it: here, here, here and here. But it turns out that we have to reign that excitement in a little, because our trees are apparently not interested in growing. We had been watching them all spring, eagerly awaiting a few tender buds, pondering which slim little branches we would keep and which we would prune. The bark went from grayish-brown to reddish-brown and we were sure leaves would unfurl any day.

But we've got nothing. Nada.

We have dry twigs, surrounded by lovely perennials and mulch. Oh, and we have these.

You see there, what looks to be healthy tree growth? It's not. They are called sucker roots, and, according to the nursery we we ordered the trees from, should be removed immediately. So I marched right out and clipped it off.

We had them on three of the trees. The nursery also suggested scratching the bark gently to see if it was still green underneath. Green = living, healthy trees.

That would be a no. So, they will replace the trees (they are guaranteed for a year after their ship date) and we'll try again. In the meantime, we'll leave these in the ground and see if anything happens with them.

And maybe we'll have apples around the time we pay off our mortgage.