backyard fruit pruning

8/12/2019 Backyard Fruit Pruning

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The Backyard Orchard— Pruning —

Allen Buchinski, Santa Clara County Master Gardener



Master Gardeners

Mission: To develop, adapt and extend research-basedhorticultural information and educational programs to theresidents of Santa Clara County.

Master Gardeners are members of the local community whovolunteer to provide practical, scientific horticulture andgardening information.

Master Gardeners are available to answer your questions

Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (408-282-3105)



Prusch High Density Orchard

Master Gardener demonstration garden

83 trees, 55 known varieties

Approximately 70% apples, remainder pear and quince

Illustrates high density planting and pruning

Multiple plants in a single hole

Aggressive height control



Pruning Agenda

Overview, pruning principles & basics

10 Basics of pruning

Tools

Pruning systems; tree structure

PDF of presentation and additional resources at:

http://www.mastergardeners.org/fruit-tree-pruning



Orchard Considerations(From The California Backyard Orchard)

Site

Tree selection

Prep/Planting

First year care

Irrigation

Pollination

Pruning & Training

Fertilization

Fruit thinning

Pests & Disease

Harvest



Reasons for Pruning

Control size for easier care — a primary home consideration

Develop strong limb structure

Distribute sunlight evenly throughout the tree

Remove undesirable wood (disease, deadwood, crossing branches)

Regulate fruit bearing – removes excess fruitwood

Renew fruitwood – to continue strong buds and flowers



Heading (topping/tipping): used to spur growth of buds in the

area of the cut, known as invigoratingThinning: removes growth, devigorates the tree by removingreserves

Pruning Principles

Pruning is a dwarfing process used to control tree form andfunction. There are two types of cuts:

HeadingThinning

Before After



Pruning Basics

Avoid the “new pruner effect”

! Not cutting enough; too worried about damaging the tree, orlosing potential fruit

Pruning combines both art and science



10 Pruning Basics – #1

1.Prune fruit trees when theleaves are off (dormant).

! Easiest to see what you’re doing

! Invigorates remaining buds! Exception for apricot

! Summer pruning has pros andcons, is most used to slow downoverly vigorous trees or trees

that are too large, but slowsfruit development and riskssunburn




2.Right after planting a new tree, cut if off to short stick 24 to 30inches high and cut any side shoots remaining below that to1-2 buds. Paint the tree with white latex paint.




3.Low vigor, young trees should be pruned fairly heavily andencouraged to grow rapidly for the first 3 years without muchfruit

! Leave most of the small horizontal branches untouched for laterfruiting

! Vigorous growing young trees can be pruned much less or not at alland encouraged to fruit with branch bending




4.Upright branches generally remain vegetative and vigorous.Horizontal branches generally are more fruitful.

! A good combination of the two is necessary, for fruiting now and

in future years! Branches bent to 45º to 60º achieves this balance

Spreaders Tie Downs




5.When deciding which branch to cut and where to cut it,remember that:

! Heading cuts

- Topping a vertical branch encourages vegetative growthnecessary for development of the tree and opens the tree to moresunlight

- Tipping horizontal branches is done to renew fruiting wood andto thin off excessive fruit

! Thinning cuts

- Thinning vertical branches opens the tree to more light

- Thinning horizontal branches may remove fruit



10 Pruning Basics – #6a

6.Cut location: new growth occurs where you make the cut; theinfluence of the cut only affects the buds within 1 to 8 inchesof the cut surface not farther down into the tree.

! The more buds cut off the more vigorous the new shoots will be! Heading cuts on vertical growth will result in the most new shoots,

typically with very narrow angles

! Thinning a branch at the origin will also spur new shoots, but not asmuch



10 Pruning Basics – #6b

Location of the cut –consider potential bud growth

Cut above bud “a”

Cut above bud “b”




7.No brainers:

! Remove diseased or broken branches

! Remove suckers, water sprouts and most

competing branches growing straight upinto the tree

! Downward bending branches eventuallylose vigor and produce only a few smallfruit; cut off the part hanging down

Suckers

Water

sprouts




8.Do most of the pruning in the top of the tree so that the lower branches are exposed to sunlight

! Sun exposed wood remains fruitful and produces the largest fruit

! Shaded branches eventually stop fruiting and will never producewithout drastic topping and renewal of the entire tree



10 Pruning Basics – #9a

9.Make clean cuts (within !") of bud; don’t leave stubs

Stub cut Flush cut Stub cutClean cut




9.Angle of cut



10 Pruning Basics – #9c

9.Cutting small versus larger branches




10. Know your plant:

! Peach , nectarine, grape and kiwi bear on last year’s shoot growth

! Fig, olive, walnut, chestnut, pecan, almond, cherry, persimmon,apple, pear, plum and apricot bear on spurs

! For citrus, just keep branches pruned up off the ground




10. Apple leaf bud vs. fruiting spur



10 Pruning Basics – #10c

10. Apricot, cherry, plum spurs are similar



Pruning Tools

Good tools for the job will not guarantee success, but poorones invite poor work and accidents. Price is a generalreflection of quality, and three tools are essential for pruning:

! Hand pruning shears (bypass recommended)! A folding or fixed handled pruning saw, with 8- to 15-inch curved

blades and wide set teeth

! Lopping shears (loppers) with 24- to 30-inch handles

Folding ladders and extension ladders are unsafe and notdesigned for unstable ground or tree work

! An orchard (tripod) ladder is the only ladder considered acceptableand safe, even on hillsides and uneven ground

! Properly cared for, an orchard ladder will last a lifetime and more.



Training/Pruning Systems

Open Center or Vase Shaped! Can be used on all fruit and nut trees

! In the first year select three to four limbs distributed evenly around trunk.

Leave small branches on these limbs for early fruiting and sunburn protection.

Head limbs half their length, should be 24-30".

! At the second year select one or two limbs on each primary. Head these back to

" their length (24-30"). Remove other limbs



Training/Pruning Systems (continued)

Central Leader

! Makes a small tree

! Select lateral branches,

spaced evenly around tree,two to three feet apartvertically

! Laterals may need trainingto 45º angle



Pruning

Thank You!



Pruning

Pruning Examples



The Santa Clara County Master Gardener Program is a volunteerprogram sponsored by the University of California CooperativeExtension to extend research-based gardening information tointerested persons and agencies in Santa Clara County.

This is accomplished through the utilization of knowledgeablevolunteers who have successfully completed a 16 week, 60+ hourtraining program in home horticulture, offered every other year.Master Gardeners are a primary resource for dissemination of

gardening information from the University of California to thecommunity.

SCC Master Gardeners



Training/Pruning Systems (continued)

“Y” System

! Starts at knee height as other systems.

! Makes a small tree. Easy to train.

! Good for peaches and nectarines. Space trees six to seven feet apartin rows 15 feet apart.

! The “Y” is perpendicular to the row.

! For apples plums, pears and cherries, increase distance betweentrees to eight to ten feet.

! Develop lateral branches from all side of each arm of the “Y.”

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