Skip to Content.
Sympa Menu

nafex - Re: [NAFEX] Summer Pruning

nafex@lists.ibiblio.org

Subject: North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

List archive

Chronological Thread  
  • From: "William C. Garthright" <billg@inebraska.com>
  • To: North American Fruit Explorers <nafex@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [NAFEX] Summer Pruning
  • Date: Tue, 03 Jun 2008 10:26:59 -0500


I've not had good luck tying branches horizontal. I know some people on the
list have made it work, but for me,it gives too many waterspouts, as you
describe.


I wasn't sure if these were actually watersprouts or not, going by the description I've read of them. I've heard that you should cut off *all* watersprouts, but does that mean I should cut off almost everything sprouting from my apricot tree? Yeah, I suppose I got the branches on this one MUCH too horizontal, but it does seem to have slowed up - or even stopped - the growth of the existing branches (on this particular tree, I mean). So what would happen if I cut off all of these vertical sprouts and kept them off?


Also when the branches start to fruit they pull the scaffolds down quite a
bit more, lower than you originally tied them.


I've already discovered this. In many cases, I'm having to tie them UP now! But it's not just fruit. Pulling the branches more horizontal doesn't seem to have made much difference with my plums. They are still growing strongly from the end of the branch, and in many cases, the weight of that new growth is enough to pull the tip down. (Note that this happens when the rest of the branch is pulled down. If it's not, the growing shoot grows straight up. There doesn't seem to be a happy medium, either.)


In general, if the trees are already too bushy, I would make thinning cuts,
not heading cuts which will add more bushiness.


Yes, I tried that with the plum, during dormant pruning. Perhaps I didn't go far enough, though. It's hard for me to cut nice branches off a tree. :-) (For a beginner, this is really traumatic. But you should have heard my elderly mother when I told her I was pruning my grapevines. She was aghast, telling me that no one she knew - she grew up on a farm - ever pruned their grapevines, and they'd always had *plenty* of grapes. Of course, this was nothing compared to the reaction when I told her I was thinning the fruit on my trees! Heh, heh.)


If new shoots emerge where the old ones were cut (which will invariably
happen) I would just keep rubbing off the new buds where you don't want them.


Yes, hmm,... well, here's the problem: This is another of those things that sound good, but I have trouble with in practice. I'm working in my yard every day, and I'm always behind (OK, I know I'm slow, but I'm CONSTANTLY behind). So most of the time, I don't catch these things that quickly. Before I know it - especially now, when we've had a lot of rain - everything is overgrown.

I mean to train the emerging shoots on all my trees, too, but just yesterday, I noticed some new shoots that had grown straight up and were already too set (and too brittle) to move much. I swear I'd have to spend all day every day keeping up with them. Which means that I'd be even further behind on everything else. I don't know how you guys with all the fruit do it!


I've had the most difficult time pruning peach trees. My first peach tree
(grown up now) I positively butchered.


Oh, that's scary! I'd never even SEEN a peach tree before I planted these! And needless to say, I don't have the slightest idea what I'm doing.

And unfortunately, the oriental fruit moths have done more 'summer pruning' on these trees than I have! Still, three of the four have lots of peaches set on (I had to thin them heavily). I don't know why the fourth is different, if it was something I did - or didn't do - or not. Well, if it's just a matter of being less than optimal, I can live with that. As long as the peach trees can live with it, too. :-)


One other thing I've learned is to try to pick the smaller diameter shoots
for scaffolds. When I first read about this technique, I thought, baloney.


Usually, my problem is the lack of branches for scaffolds. I don't often have many choices. I look at pictures of the perfect pruning techniques, but my trees don't look like that even BEFORE I prune. Sometimes, I just keep branches because I don't have any others! I suppose I could cut off these few branches and the tree would sprout more, but that's hard for me to do. Well, I've just about planted my last tree, anyway, since I've run completely out of room. I'll have to struggle on with what I've got.

I don't want to sound too pessimistic, though, since I've got plenty of fruit set on this year. Not as much as I'd hoped in some cases, but plenty enough, anyway. I tend to want perfection, but really, I can't complain. I've been gorging on strawberries the last couple of days, and that looks like only the start of a fruit-filled year. This is fun, you know?

Thanks for the advice, Mark!

Bill
Lincoln, NE (zone 5)

--
He has no enemies, but is intensely disliked by his friends. - Oscar Wilde




Archive powered by MHonArc 2.6.24.

Top of Page