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  • From: Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>
  • To: permaculture <permaculture@lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [permaculture] Fwd: Fukuoka and trees
  • Date: Sat, 28 Jan 2012 04:50:27 -0800 (PST)

I do agree that it is best to avoid “unnecessary” pruning. However, to say
that trees should never be pruned doesn’t make any sense. In my parts, most
fruit trees are grafted. Therefore, they need pruning. Except for one apple
tree, all stone trees (apples, pears, prunes, peaches, etc.) growing
naturally on our property either don’t produce any fruits, or have fruits
that are too small or too hard to be of any use even when cooked.

Different trees need to be grown in different ways. Regarding pruning, there
are broadly speaking 3 categories: 1) trees that don’t need pruning, 2) trees
that need some pruning, and 3) trees (or bushes) that need to be cut back
radically from time to time.

1) Trees that usually don’t need pruning:
Citrus trees, fig trees, chestnut trees, loquat trees, persimmon trees, etc.
(most trees on Fukuoka’s farm fall into this category, especially citrus,
loquat and persimmon). Additionally, in our case, I don’t normally have to
prune peach trees, nectarine trees and apricot trees – even though these
trees are grafted.

2) Trees that need some pruning:
Most grafted stone trees: prune trees, apple trees, pear trees, cherry trees,
etc. need pruning, especially in the first 3 to 5 years. After that, not
much pruning is needed. Also cherry trees usually don’t need a lot of
pruning even in the first years. Quince trees need a lot of pruning or even
cutting back.

3) Trees that can be cut back from time to time:
Most Mediterranean type trees and bushes growing in our parts can be cut back
either to the stem or to the ground. Among the fruit bearing trees (bushes)
there are in particular olive trees and arbusto unedo. Cutting back olive
trees to the stem is often the only way of getting rid off the olive fruit
fly. Arbusto unedo is cut back to the ground, otherwise they stop producing
berries. Instead the whole bush will be full of dead wood that presents a
fire hazard.

To know when to prune, when not to prune or when to cut back is part of the
skill and knowhow of the farmer. The rule of no-pruning does not represent
any skill whatsoever. Leaving fruits on the trees for the birds to feed on
sounds romantic, but in our case it would be better to cut down the tree
altogether, because fruits not eaten by me will be eaten by worms, which will
proliferate rapidly from one year to the next until there isn’t a single
worm-free fruit. And the worms will spread from one tree to the other, until
all are affected.

With some trees or bushes, cutting has a beneficial effect, just like cutting
grass or getting a haircut. They grow better after cutting. The parts cut
above ground can be used to enrich the soil as mulch and a corresponding
portion of the roots will probably go to enrich the humus below ground. I
may be a died-in-the-wool Fukuokan, but I do keep on cutting all year round
as much as I can.

Dieter





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