WHAT’S GOING ON IN THE FOREST?
I’ve said it before. The Catskill Mountains have some awesome volunteer or wild apple trees growing around. Some of the best fruit I know comes from them. However, if they’re not pruned, they will “umbrella” or shade themselves out over time. In other words, the upper branches will begin to overshadow the lower ones and decay and death of branches will “ladder-up” the tree. This tree’s structure was drastically improved to avoid the “umbrella effect.”
Ryan Trapani
Director of Forest Services
Catskill Forest Association