Drastic haircut

Here in France pruning is taken to another level. None of this 'I'll give this bush/tree a quick trim' You have to be serious about it.

This morning it was the turn of our young mulberry. I planted it about five years ago as a complete youth, tall and willowy, without as much as a hint of a beard. Ali laughed at me and said it wouldn't provide shade for years. Luckily she was overly-pessimistic, because it already produces the most wonderful umbrella of leaves each summer - and delicious fruit to boot.

The theory when pruning these babies, is to prune them back hard, leaving just five of six arms evenly distributed around the tree. You cut out anything that looks like growing upwards and choose your outward facing buds/nodes/potential shoots carefully for next year's growth. The inset picture shows the tree halfway though the process.

The offcuts we put through a shredder and use as mulch for some of our more tender plants over the winter.