Six years without pruning the lemon outside the studio had shot up, almost touching distance now from the upstairs window. Two preliminary attempts at cutting back thus far have hardly made a mark on the tree. Arthur thought the small fruit was because of the lack of water; none of the tenants or the new owners in front had taken an interest in the tree. The fruit however was plentiful, scores of yellow dots throughout the branches. This morning what sounded like light rain had woken after almost seven hours undisturbed sleep, some light patter against the window and gurgling down the piping. Finally rising for an early breakfast the glimmers of raindrops in the tree seized the attention, a sprinkling of small jewels viewed from on high. There had been little of drizzle in the tropics and in Singapore precious little of any near greenery. In the urban centres all the greenery in Singapore was ornamental planting along paths and roadways. The thrashing of tropical rains were something else of course; trees, plants, leaf forms something else. What the forests and jungles may have presented the hikers and others would know. Here outside the studio an apple one side of the drive and almond the other, the former wild and latter likely planted by Bab. (At Bab's beside her own driveway another wild apple had sprouted, yesterday the remainder of its fruit picked. Over the four weeks the tartiness had significantly lessened.) Beside the almond there was a stunted plum, likewise possibly planted, and an apricot in the same cluster that reached out over the pavement. Around in front of the old house the peach had been removed by the new owners, a line of bottlebrush started along the front boundary. The plum that mother had planted too close to the front veranda there, that had developed a trunk that stretched horizontally at ground level over a metre, had also gone. In the garden in front of the studio two or three other natives were planted during the construction phase, all a bit too crowded in there now these years later. A proper, sturdy ladder was needed for the remainder of the lemon pruning.
Friday, April 21, 2017
The Lemon (April24)
Six years without pruning the lemon outside the studio had shot up, almost touching distance now from the upstairs window. Two preliminary attempts at cutting back thus far have hardly made a mark on the tree. Arthur thought the small fruit was because of the lack of water; none of the tenants or the new owners in front had taken an interest in the tree. The fruit however was plentiful, scores of yellow dots throughout the branches. This morning what sounded like light rain had woken after almost seven hours undisturbed sleep, some light patter against the window and gurgling down the piping. Finally rising for an early breakfast the glimmers of raindrops in the tree seized the attention, a sprinkling of small jewels viewed from on high. There had been little of drizzle in the tropics and in Singapore precious little of any near greenery. In the urban centres all the greenery in Singapore was ornamental planting along paths and roadways. The thrashing of tropical rains were something else of course; trees, plants, leaf forms something else. What the forests and jungles may have presented the hikers and others would know. Here outside the studio an apple one side of the drive and almond the other, the former wild and latter likely planted by Bab. (At Bab's beside her own driveway another wild apple had sprouted, yesterday the remainder of its fruit picked. Over the four weeks the tartiness had significantly lessened.) Beside the almond there was a stunted plum, likewise possibly planted, and an apricot in the same cluster that reached out over the pavement. Around in front of the old house the peach had been removed by the new owners, a line of bottlebrush started along the front boundary. The plum that mother had planted too close to the front veranda there, that had developed a trunk that stretched horizontally at ground level over a metre, had also gone. In the garden in front of the studio two or three other natives were planted during the construction phase, all a bit too crowded in there now these years later. A proper, sturdy ladder was needed for the remainder of the lemon pruning.
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