Hello everyone, I'm Darren from Ireland. Me and my partner have just moved into a new home and are trying to get stuck into the garden now there are signs of spring on the horizon. We are fortunate to have a large garden that comprises of several sections but along with that, comes a lot of maintenance. We have a lovely partitioning hedge that forms an archway and it is made up of Crab Apple. Apparently, Crab Apples give off a wonderful blossom and are usually used more as decoration rather than for eating but then I've been told that you can use them in cooking recipes if you prepare them right. Does anyone have any experience using them, any preparation techniques, recipes etc? We want to make the most of all our fruit trees on the land but this is the one we know nothing about and have never come across before. I also wanted to know what peoples preferred method of pruning was for tall bushes like these? Its difficult to get up high without standing on a ladder, which can sometimes be tricky if there's poor footing. I also don't like the idea of wielding a chain saw on an unstable surface up high. Any kind of powered tools that are safer to use but can prune higher branches? Thanks in advance.
