Fruit Tree Pruning

*flt'*H ! ,e"... i x+. $,#ffiE ffi#? ;i. &t, ffi' ffi, rym' ' 4ffii.'!ffiiu ffieh w.. ffii|, &"m *B 5-! *ttuft$ 24,7 ITCC Jomes Kilpatrick Champions Chrissy Spence (New Zealand) When it comes io fruit flovor, sun-ripened fruit is the woy to go When fruit hos occess to the sun, it's sofler, sweeter, grows lorger, ond hos better color. Fruit-Thee Pruning: No Longer a Mystery By Susan Poizner The arboretum at Mrginia \Testern Communiry College A the demonstration got underway, instead of head- (Roanoke, \7est Mrginia, U.S.) has a beautiful conifer ing back the branches and trimming the ffee into a pretry garden, a shade garden, and more. There are 700 labeled shape, I removed a number of scaffold branches, using a plant taxa on the two-acre (0.81 ha) site. And theret one thinning-out cut that removed them back to the trunk. little apple tree near the roadside, unlabeled and unno- One of the arborists in the group was horrifiedl ticed, waiting to be loved. "\,X&y did you do that?" she asked. "Instead of removing That young apple tree finally became the center of those branches, I would have headed back the others. It attention in the spring of 2017 during a conference, Canopy would look so much better!" Counts: Planning for and Protecting our Urban Forest. Others in the group nodded in agreement. The organizers and staff of the non-profit Tiees Virginia I explained that when it comes to pruning fruit trees, invited me to talk about the benefits and challenges of the goal is not to be aesthetically pleasing; rather, the goal fruit-tree care during the morning session. is to create a strong, fruit-bearing structure that provides In the afternoon, I conducted a pruning demonstration room for sunshine, air circulation, and fruit production. for the attendees, a group that inciuded both practicing Over time, with correct annual pruning, this tree would arborists and tree care volunteers. I brought them to the be beautiful. But fruit-tree pruning is a long-term strategy arboretumt lonely fruit tree and gave them a demonstra- rather than a one-time job. tion that went against eve$/thing most of them had ever \X4ry is pruning fruit trees so diilerent from pruning -W{hy learned about pruning. native or ornamenta.l trees? is it such a mystery for 60 | ARBORIST.NE\VS I www.isa-arbor.com even the most experienced tree care professionals? In this of hard, bitter fruit? Or do you want less fruit that is sweer article, I'11 explore some of the key principles of effective and delicious? fruit-tree pruning. Fruit-tree pruning becomes easier, and ktt look ar ir rhis way. Compare a uee with 100 more intuitive, with practice. branches to a tree with75 branches, all else being equal, consider that when you have fewer branches, each Pruning Fruit Trees remaining branch gets a larger share of the treet energy Years before I started working with fruit trees, I signed up stores from the previous year, ifyoure pruning a dormant a Tiee for Gnders course offered by a local non-profit, tree before it has leafed out and produced new energy for Local Enhancement and Appreciation of Forests. In four the coming year. For the tree with fewer branches, in this sessions, the instructor taught tree biology, nutrition, and of example, each branch will get a greater share ofthe stored course, tree pruning. energ,, it uses for growth and fruit production. \flith the And once I understood how to make a correct prun- extra energy, each branch can grow more vigorously and ing cut, the pruning section was relatively simple. The devote more energy to producing sweet and delicious fruit. goal was to correcdy remove dead, broken, or crisscrossing branches without damaging the tree. I also learned that I Apples, Peaches, Pears, and Plums didnt need to prune a lot to make a difference in the Apple and pear trees are grear examples of the importance health ofa tree. of managing tree energy. 'ff{hen a tree is left unpruned, it And yet, in a well-tended orchard, the trees look very has to find the energy ro suppon lots ofbranch growth different. In the summertime, the canopy looks full, with and excessive fruit production. Ifthe tree doesnt have the healthy leaves and beautiful fruit. In the wintertime, the energy to suppoft all its necessary functions, the apples trees are open, with lots of space around each branch. and pears will be small, hard, and bitter. Fruit trees are thoughtfully shaped, looking more like a Apricot trees left to grow unpruned may respond dif- sculpture than a tree, and there is a good reason for that. ferently. They may produce a huge crop one year, but have Ensure Every Branch Has EqualAccess no energy Ieft to form healthy buds for the following to the Sun yeart crop. These trees may produce a harvest every orher year. Neglected peach trees will also experience a decline '{{hen it comes to fruit flavor, sun-ripened fruit is the way in productivity and exhibit poor-qualiry fruit. to go. \(hen fruit has access ro the sun, itt softer, sweerer, Cherries are vigorous trees that can produce in abun- grows larger, and has better color. In a poorly pruned tree, dance despite neglect. But in those cases, the trees will the fruit can be hard, small, and bitter, because it grew in produce substandard fruit that either goes to waste (rot- the shade. ting on the tree) or may provide some nourishment for And so it breala my heart when people tell me that wildlife that arent as fussy as humans. they have a "bad" apple tree with bitter fruit. Sometimes Further, cherry trees, if left on their own, may also be they even want to cut it down. But what they dont real- aesthetically unappealing, or diseased or infested with ize is that the tree isnt bad at all. The fruit may be fantas- maggots from cherry fruit flies or other insect pests. tic, it may be that the tree hasnt been pruned properly, \,X{hen a fruit tree of any qpe doesnt have the energy to and so the fruit is not the best that it can be. Ensure Good Air Circulation The main challenge when growing fruit trees is prorecring them from pests and disease. 'When the tree is crowded with too many branches, diseases may develop more readily due to lack of air circulation. A well-pruned fruit tree should have an open suucture, not a crowded one, to help dry out fungal spores before they have a chance to multiply. Heret a memory peg for you. If a fruit tree is pruned correcdy, you should be able to throw a large cat through the branches and not get caught in there. The kitry, osten- sibly, would glide through the branches and land back on the ground. Obviously, you shouldnt be doing that at homel But you need to understand-visualize-the need for lots ofroom between scaffold branches for air flow to keep your tree healthy and productive in the long term. Ensure Proper Energy Management \f/hen we are pruning our fruit tree, we are helping the tree manage its energy. The question is: do you want lors A well-pruned fruit tree should hove on open structure, not o crowded one. ocToBER2017l6r Fru i t-7Ve e Pruning (c o ntinu e d) Each rype of fruit tree requires an understanding of growth habit to develop the best fruit, while also main- taining good tree health. Exploring how each grows, and should be trained, is an important and helpfirl step toward supporting qualiry fruit production and tree longevity. And yet, there are some fruiting trees that dont benefit from structural fruit tree pruning. This group includes tvr'o trees that are native to North America. Serviceberry trees (Amelanchier) and native pawpaw trees (,4simina) can be treated as one would any other native rree, by pruning out broken, dead, diseased, or crisscrossed branches. Pruning Techniques There is a Chinese proverb that says, "The best time to plant a uee was 20 years ago. The second-best time is now." \7e11, thatt similar for fruit-tree pruning, too. The best time to start pruning and shaping a fruit tree is the year it A pruning teom! is planted. But ifyou have an older, neglected tree, you can indeed start pruning it now, and rhe ffee will stiil benefit. The goal in pruning a younger rree is ro create a solid, suppoft all its activities (e.g., branch growth, root growth, fruit-bearing structure, using one of the common fruit- and fruit production), it doesnt have the energy to fight tree pruning strategies, such as "Central Leader Pruning" offpests and disease. or "Open Center Pruning." You can find instructional videos as to how to do this on the internet, per species. But an older tree will still benefit from a thinning out of some of the branches to improve air circulation and fruit production. Itt safe to remove up to 25 percent of those branches each year. That means over four years you can re-invigorate even the oldest, most neglected tree, and youll see, year by year, how the tree responds to this care with improved hea.lth and a more delicious harvest. Susan Poizner teaches fruit-tree pruning and care to ISA Certifed Arbor- ists'and otlters in her award-winning online course (wwu. orch ardp eop le. com/isa). She is the author of the fruit tree cdre boob, GrowitgUrban Orchards, and is the host of the monthb broadcast, Urban Forestry Radio Show andPodcast (wwu orc h ardp e op le.

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