Cutting a swathe

This may be blasphemy to many Aussie blokes, but I hate petrol powered tools. They're smelly, noisy brutes that scare the chooks and belch carcinogenic fumes into their operators' faces. In many cases, they're simply unnecessary for the modest workload on hand.

In our backyard, we find a cordless electric 'Enviromower' from Victa more than adequate. It even has a nifty edging attachment to keep the edges neat and tidy. Not that the chooks have left much lawn worth mowing.

Up at the Patch, it's a different story. The Victa would struggle to mow 300 metres of couch and blanket weed on one battery charge, and I'd rather not have to cart it back and forth anyway.

So, I've gone for a low-tech alternative: I've got in touch with my inner Grim Reaper by acquiring and learning to use a scythe.

The mainstay of farmers before mechanised industrial farming, the scythe has become a fairly specialised tool. Mine was imported from Austria. It has a hand-carved snath (that's a handle to non-scythe users) and a variety of hand-forged, razor-sharp blades, including a wicked 65 cm job. It came with an instructional CD featuring a family of barefoot, scythe wielding Canadian farmers who made scythe mowing look really easy. In one memorable scene, a 15-year-old girl with a scythe raced a burly bloke with a brushcutter and won. Her hay was even neatly piled in a row ready for collection; his was just mashed and scattered across the paddock.

Well, I've got a long way to go to match that barefooted scythe girl, but getting started is really quite easy. It's very gentle exercise and that 65 cm blade cuts through swathes of long grass with a satisfying swish. Despite Susan's initial fears, there's actually no danger of cutting your own feet off. Other people's feet, maybe.

Before too long, Jill and Mike may even be able to distinguish the areas of grass I haven't mowed from the ones I have. We live in hope.

Not-so-grim reaper with his new toy

Prune in June

This advice on winter pruning from Pauline Wilson, who will be giving a winter pruning demonstration after our next swap meet on 3 July:

For those gardeners who are beginning to feel the urge to prune, remember the rule: Prune in June. This applies to most deciduous trees because:

• trees are generally best pruned when they are perfectly dormant; 
• many varieties commence to shoot in July;
• in areas prone to gummosis, spores are at their lowest numbers in June and cuts have plenty of time to dry out before heavy spore discharge in September.

Summer pruning is used when the aim is to dwarf or espalier a tree, to reduce vigour and stunt growth. Summer pruning should be avoided in areas where water is restricted.

The objectives of pruning fruit trees are to improve size and quality of fruit, to promote regular bearing and to maintain the tree in a healthy, robust condition.

Pruning is a means of adjusting the vigour of a tree to suit its environment (water, soil quality, space) and to your needs: fruit size and quantity, accessibility of fruit. Tall trees are harder to harvest for the home gardener and harder to protect from feasting wildlife!

What to remove from any given tree depends on the tree’s stage in life: planting to bearing, bearing to fully developed framework, maintenance or renovation. Fortunately trees are quite forgiving, and if mistakes are made they can be rectified over a period of two to three years. Get the tools ready now: clean and sharpen your secateurs, your long arm pruners and your pruning saw, and if in doubt, get advice before you snip!