Pruning My Cherry

Yesterday was a gorgeous and sunny day. There was plenty of work to do inside with regard to cleaning and schoolwork and cooking. But it was sunny out there! So I decided to tackle my cherry tree. It needed its annual pruning. But mostly I just needed an excuse to be out in the sun.

I don't know how to prune! Sure, I've read books. I know that spindly branches should go. I know twigs and branches must not overlap or rub against each other. I know that watershoots should be taken off. I know that sun and air must be able to get to all parts of the tree, so the tree must be thinned so that leaves won't interfere with the necessary light and air movement. I know these things. I've read books. I've talked to people who know what they're doing. But that doesn't mean that I know what I'm doing out there with my pruning shears.

In the past, I've gone out in the backyard with trepidation and started a-snippin'. Year after after, it astounds me that I managed not to kill the tree. The year I really cut back the grapes with a vengeance, I was afraid I'd gone too far. But sure enough, the next year, buds sent out shoots, leaves grew, and I got a bigger harvest from the grapes than I'd had for a couple years. I'd been letting the vines grow without tending them, and I wasn't getting enough grapes for jelly, and certainly no chance of making juice or wine. The pruning made a big difference.

This year I was more worried. Something is wrong with my cherry tree. I got enough semi-tart cherries to make an utterly delectable batch of jelly. Only one batch, but, hey, it's a dwarf tree, and the birds usually beat me to the fruit, so this was an acceptable amount of cherries. But soon afterward, my cherry dropped its leaves. When I went out to prune today, I saw that the tree is covered with lichen-growth, especially where twigs branch off from the branches. This is not good. Nevertheless, I needed the sunbath, and I hoped pruning wouldn't hurt the tree any more than the lichen (or mold or whatever that stuff is) is already hurting it.

I couldn't help but wonder if my clueless pruning in the past led to the damage to the tree. And as I clip-clipped, each snip of the shears made me wonder whether I was taking too much off, or if this was the right one to take off, or if this was a healthy part that should be left. Was I whacking and hacking too much? Was I whacking and hacking not enough? Was I doing the right amount of whacking and hacking, but not in the right places?

Pruning trees is like raising kids. I don't know what I'm doing! Am I too strict? Am I too lenient? Who knows whether I'm working on the right things with the kids, and in the right amounts? What if I have hang-ups, and they're the wrong hang-ups? What if I'm not pruning back their bad behaviors with enough diligence? What if I do it wrong, and "lichen" grows on them too? What if my mistakes make them "lose all their leaves"?

Right now, I have only two reassurances. First, I don't think anybody else knows any better than I do. Whereas I could theoretically pay a knowledgeable gardener to come in and prune my grapes and my cherry, the people who purport to be experts on child-raising probably know even less than I (especially when it comes to these particular children).

The other assurance is that God certainly gives daily bread to everyone without our prayers, but we pray that He would lead us to realize this, and to receive our daily bread with thanksgiving. He gives cherries to those who don't prune enough. He gives grapes to those who prune too much. He gives blackberries to those who don't water enough. And He gives devout children even to those of us who don't deserve it and haven't earned it. And, further, when He has not "given devout children," it is not because of something we have done or not done. I'm pretty confident in my head (although not in my gut) that the lichen on my cherry tree has nothing to do with my pitiful pruning skills. I could be an incredible gardener and still have those kinds of problems crop up. Or I could be clueless and have every kind of rich temporal blessing. We don't earn cherries or blackberries or grapes or good kids.

God gives. He is good. When God doesn't give what tickles our fancy, He is still good. "The Lord giveth. The Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."