Cutting Down Almond Trees
The landscape at my farm is constantly evolving, and keeping it healthy sometimes means cutting down trees.
Trees are crucial to our environment - they provide breathable oxygen, absorb carbon dioxide, help create an ecosystem of food for birds and other animals, and they're beautiful when full of foliage or flowers. However, occasionally trees need to be removed. Yesterday, I instructed my resident tree arborist, Pasang Sherpa, to take down two almond trees behind my main greenhouse. I felt they were declining and preventing much needed light from reaching the berries below. Fortunately, the trees can be recycled into wood chips and used as top dressing for other trees in the woodland.
Here are some photos.
-
- Almond trees thrive in mild, wet winters, and hot, dry summers. The almond belongs to the rose family Rosaceae, making it a relative of several well-known fruit trees. There are different types, ranging from small ornamental shrubs, Prunus glandulosa, grown only for their pretty flowers to medium-sized trees, Prunus dulcis, that produce edible nuts, such as these. In spring, these trees show off beautiful pink and white flowers. Here they are last April.
-
- Here is a view from the side in between rows of growing raspberries. Guests always admire these trees, but I felt they were beginning to fail and had to come down.
-
- Almond trees produce drupes. These drupes grow from fertilized flowers and mature in autumn. These are the trees in October. In previous years, we’ve harvested hundreds and hundreds of almonds. The hairy, green fruits are oblong in shape and the leaves of the almond tree are long – about three to five inches.
-
- These drupes often fall to the ground. Some of them open on their own, exposing the shells, but most are opened manually. At maturity, the flesh of the fruit becomes leathery and splits. And inside the shell is the kernel, which we eat.
-
- Early yesterday morning, Pasang went to work carefully cutting down one branch at a time.
-
- Pasang is our resident arborist. He is very strong and very skilled at taking down many of the smaller trees around the farm.
-
- Pasang starts by removing the smaller branches first. It is quite a process – an arborist must work methodically to ensure the safety of himself and everyone involved.
-
- Down below, my foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, helps by removing the cut limbs.
-
- He takes them to the nearby tractor and transfers them to the dump truck, so they can be dropped off in the designated compost pile awaiting chipping.
-
- Pasang moves onto slightly bigger limbs, taking them down one by one – and always securing himself to the tree with the proper safety equipment.
-
- In between, Pasang takes quick breaks and assesses which branches he needs to cut next.
-
- Within minutes, he is down to the main branches of the tree. Mature, fruit bearing almond trees grow six to 12-inches per year.
-
- Almond tree wood is considered a hardwood, so it is quite dense and heavy. For this job, Pasang uses his trusted STIHL chainsaw. I have used STIHL’s equipment for years – always dependable and durable.
-
- The tree’s bark is grayish, which can be scaly in older specimens. The bark also exhibits “lenticels” or dark gray spots. In addition, these trees had lichens growing on them. Lichens are often found on tree trunks, branches and twigs as the bark provides a stable place to grow and get needed sunlight, rainwater and air. Lichens are simple slow-growing plants that form low crusty, leaflike, or branching growths on rocks, walls, and trees.
-
- Thankfully, thus day was mild and not windy. Any sawdust just fell to the ground.
-
- Here, Pasang is just several feet high working on the biggest limbs of the tree.
-
- Almond trees can live for 40 to 50 years or more in the best conditions. Orchard trees usually last about 25-years. These trees were about 20-years old.
-
- Peak production from almond trees is usually between 10 and 15 years. After that, the number of almonds produced declines, but the tree still produces fruit until the end of its life.
-
- It is sad to see these trees go, but I will grow new almond trees elsewhere on the farm.
-
- Now the area is clear and bright – the best light for my growing raspberries. Shall I plant boxwood here, or leave it bare?
Martha Pins
Martha Tweets
