No, I'm not talking about SCM branches.

But – growing the software to maximum usefullness can take years – working software however can reward us again and again, and we often start getting results before it is “finished” – it can often live for years and produce results even if it doesn't get much care – like fruit trees, unless it gets pruned it will become messy if kt is allowed to grow naturally year after year – it stops growing when it is dead

I was out in the garden today, pruning our plum tree and our cherry tree. At thst moment it made even more sense as I was cutting away a number of branches that could have had fruit next season.

It hurts somewhat to know that I'm probably reducing my harvest for the bext year but I felt I had to to reduce the risk of aphid invasions and other pests as well as to make sure the tree develops well in the longer run: – I'd rather have slightly less fruit next year but even more in a couple of years.

These small cuties feeds on aphids so be careful with them.

8 or 9 years ago I used insect spray on that tree to get rid of the aphid colony.

Took two or three years before I got my ladybugs back, but since then I've seen them every year.

If you see ants however you should try to get rid of them: they farm aphids, move them around, protect them against ladybugs and stash them away in the winter.

More info here:

• Aphid Ant mutualism on Wikipedia
• or search for ants aphids relationship on DuckDuckGo

Filed under #gardening and #makesMeSmile