permaculture

[Dieter Brand <diebrand@yahoo.com>]

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