On Thursday I worked for my mum. Every few weeks she has the children for a day and I attack her massive list of jobs. I know who is more tired at the end of the day though and it's not me!
She did dangle the proverbial "carrot on the end of the stick" for me though and said that once I got so many of the jobs done could I prune our orchard.
I've mentioned this orchard before, it's one I planted with her about 10 years ago on the farm, before I left home. Full of old varieties and some tried and tested favourites of apples, pears, plums quinces, damsons, gages & medlars. There must be about 40 trees in there now and I try to prune it every year if I get around to it.
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| The "new" orchard on the farm. The old orchard is very old and used to park machinery now, so 10 years ago my mother and I decided to plant another one for the future. |
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| This tree is starting to have the goblet shape that I want |
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| Much larger prunings were required on some trees |
It's been interesting seeing the shapes of the tree forming and some I'm getting right whilst others need quite a bit more work to them. I won't go through the process here, as I know I'm a bit boring when it comes to pruning fruit trees, so I thought I'd just show a few pictures.
The photos below are a before and after of a tree I'm trying to bring back down. It still needs plenty taking off it but that's plenty for this year, with some big branches marked up for next year as well. Hopefully in about three years I should have the shape I want on this tree
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| Before - far too much upright growth and lots of canker in the branches |
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| After - reduced the height and removed one of the large limbs that was growing too vertical. |
Sorry if I keep boring everyone with fruit trees and pruning - I'm sure they'll be more posts about it yet though!
I wouldn't apologise Kev. I often think pruning fruit trees (especially established ones) is one of the most neglected tasks in gardening, and unnecessarily shrouded in mystique.
ReplyDeleteI'm just a little obsessive about the subject and I worry that I post too often about it.
DeleteYes, I agree with Philip, we need any help we can get...
ReplyDeleteIt's good to see how everyone does it as it reinforces what we know.
DeleteNot boring, informative!
ReplyDeleteThanks sandy!
DeleteI've always read that cutting off ANY uprights, except the one you want to be the trunk, is very important. They say they don't produce much fruit, but their grow DOES reduce the vigor of the tree.
ReplyDeleteYou can let them grow and then bend them down. The next year they will have lots of fruiting buds on them. With the tree in the photo I was careful not to take too much off I one year as that can incorage to much wood growth.
DeleteI am always interested in seeing how others prune. It is something that no matter how much I read about or watch videos etc the practice never seems to match what I have studied. I am never 100% sure I cut the right little branch :)
ReplyDeleteTue fact that you cut it is the main thing. I think the worst thing people do is not prune at all then moan about not having any fruit.
DeleteNot boring at all, very interesting. Passing on knowledge is a wonderful thing to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks Irene.
DeleteWe have some fruit trees, such as plum, prune and blueberry in our small garden. I wish I could have such a nice and big orchard.
ReplyDeleteMy main aim in life (besides having a family) was to have some land to grow things on.
DeleteI don't think it's boring at all, in fact, I really dig it. I love to prune as I feel it gives me a hand in deciding how I want the tree to grow. I am particularly interested in the idea of pruning to keep fruit trees to a more manageable height without the use of dwarf or semi-dwarf trees. They simply don't have great root systems. I love how Paul's apple trees look on the Back to Eden film, for example.
ReplyDeleteI only use mm106 rootstocks as I agree about dwarf being too weak. Pruned every year it's easy to keep them to the size you want.
DeleteAs for the back to Eden I think that works well if you don't get much water, not something we struggle with here!
I've just lost my Granny Smith to canker; I'm wondering now if it's worth replacing. re your plucking: here we tend to dip the bird in boiling water, and the feathers just fall out by the handful. The finished job is very clean.
ReplyDeleteSo many other apples more interesting than a granny Smith! I've never liked them.
DeleteIf I had to do multiple birds then ill try the hot water method as a few have mentioned it now, but for one bird its not worth it.