The fig tree in my mum’s front yard is getting out of hand. It seems to be in great health and it definitely isn’t skimping on the fruit production front – at the moment, it’s putting out edible figs galore. Unfortunately, almost all of these are being either half eaten by birds and bats (with the remainders tossed onto the footpath) or they’re simply plopping into the garden to rot. Most days, we manage to get our hands on a couple of good ones, but we really should be raking in the harvest.
This is all because the tree is too tall for us to access most of the fruit. Another problem that comes in the package is this: the crown is so large and dense that it’s starting block most of the light to the front windows, which is problematic for the indoor ambience of the place. To be honest, I suspect it may soon become problematic for the neighbours as well – they’re already a bit annoyed about the fruit all over the footpath. Little do they know that their afternoon sun will soon be a thing of the past if mum doesn’t get some pruning happening in a hurry.
Anyone know of some good tree maintenance services in Melbourne? To be specific, mum wants to find an arborist who gives as many dangs as she does our friends in the plant kingdom. The whole reason that the tree has never been pruned before is that mum, bless her, hasn’t been able to bear the possibility of inflicting pain on it. So we want to find an arborist who is not just a tree surgeon, Melbourne, but also a tree lover (mum’s words). Basically, someone who won’t do a hack job of the operation (my words).
I remember a few years ago when we harvested so many figs that we couldn’t make use of all the fresh ones (something I hadn’t theretofore believed to be possible), so we turned them into a six month supply of jam. I have hope that we can do that again next year!