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The flowering crab apple tree in our backyard is a decorative shade tree.
This spring it lived up to its name, and then some. The blossoms on the tree were abundant. In a year of plentiful …
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The flowering crab apple tree in our backyard is a decorative shade tree.
This spring it lived up to its name, and then some. The blossoms on the tree were abundant. In a year of plentiful moisture, it was simply lovely.
We’ve had the tree for about 10 years. It’s flowered, produced a few crab apples each year and dropped them. This year it has outdone itself.
The limbs bow under the weight of small, cherry-size fruit. Come mowing day, the heavy-laden limbs have to be pushed out of the way.
And now the crab apples have begun to fall. They literally choke the lawn.
In past years, squirrels and a few robins, and perhaps doves, have shared the fallen crab apples and pretty much cleaned up the area. This year they can’t begin to clear the fallen crumbs. Good chance the sheer amount of crab apples is so daunting that the small creatures shy away from the table setting.
They pile up, and many more are still to drop.
Raking and gathering has filled a large bucket, and that’s barely a dent in what is yet to come. Do they have food value for any critter? Yeah, there’s a seed in the small piece of fruit, but the birds have pecked around it, undeterred.
Ideas? Anyone interested in a change of pace for a pet’s diet, or even for livestock, give me a call or leave a note for me at the Powell Tribune, 307-754-2221.
