North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Alan Haigh <alandhaigh@gmail.com>]

John writes, "when I started summer pruning 5 years ago on my three semi-dwarf trees (Mac,
R Del and G Del), I believe I reduced my pruning effort by about 50% compared to the normal dormant pruning in previous years."

 

I believe there does come a point where the cumulative anecdotal observation of growers outside the range of university research may reveal some useful info.  I was a seat- of- the pants gardener before I ever took a hort class and a significant amount assumptions based on careful research contradicted my actual experience.  Sometimes I later stumbled on other research that confirmed my experience and "contradicted" the previous research.

 

The reason I put quotes around contradicted is that the difference in results may simply have been that the procedure was changed slightly or conditions were different in some way or another, such as a different tree species was used or any number of other variables.  That's what I meant when I suggested that hort research is never definitive.

 

Pruning practices can cover a wide range of methods and relative severity. 

 

I have read that leaves that receive less then 30% full sun consume more energy then they create ("Training and Pruning Apple and Pear Trees" published by The American Society for Horticultural Science).  This fact alone could account for a lot of variability in pruning response.  The reduction of heavily shaded branches (even by removing the ones creating the shade) should theoretically increase a trees vigor.  This vigorous response would probably be increased by the earlier (dormant) pruning. 

 

Wood is generally an energy sink so pruning practices that encourage wood economy (fewer scaffolds while harvesting the same amount of light for instance) would seem to encourage vigor as well.

 

Sorry Lee, I bet this kind of unsubstantiated  blather  makes you cringe.  I hope someone else out there finds it interesting.