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nafex - [NAFEX]Choosing Scaffold Branches

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  • From: Del Stubbs <northernlights2n@yahoo.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [NAFEX]Choosing Scaffold Branches
  • Date: Tue, 3 May 2005 06:00:51 -0700 (PDT)

I am just finished with dormant pruning this year ( May 1st 1/3 of my apple
varieties
were still dormant - forcast promises above freezing nights tomorrow). The
most difficult
pruning choices I find are the important long term decisions of main scaffold
branches.
Since mine are mostly on seedling roots, 5-7 years, I have practiced letting
them keep
most branches to feed roots - now it is time to establish the major long term
branches.
I start visually choosing a bottom branch, skip several, pick out next, skip
several,
etc......but by the time I get to the top of the tree I can never remember
all of the 6
choices out of, say, 25. A trick that really helped was getting a handful of
clothspins.
I clip onto any branch I picture cutting, visually the unclipped ones stand
out and the
clipped ones look 'cut'. Once a set of choices is made it is easy to change
to a branch
here or there to see how it all fits.
Looks like first tree to bloom this spring will be a Pittsen plum, with
Trailman Crab
coming next, Del

Del Stubbs http://www.pinewoodforge.com zone 3 N. MN

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