2-5-2019: The orchard is almost always in need of one thing or another: fertilizer, weeding, oil spray, bird distraction, netting, picking, checking and/or treating for blight or other diseases, and pruning. Late winter is the time to prune.
Apple tree before pruning
Last year we had a bumper crop of fruit. It took me 2 solid months to get it all canned. But we left fruit on the top branches of the Big apple tree and the tallest pear tree. These are two of the original trees in the orchard that have made it through snap freezes, irrigation failures and rabbit feasting. They have both been pruned back once before, and then there was an attack of fire blight. After pruning out the blighted branches I left the trees to recover. That was 2016. Then they put on quite a bit of height and fruited in 2018. Time for another hard prune.
Apple tree after pruning
A hard prune on a fruit tree means it probably won’t yield fruit again for 2 – 3 years. It’s a sacrifice that needs to be made for the health of the tree, and to keep it from getting so tall that it can’t be fully harvested. I’m not willing to drag out a ladder any taller than 8 feet. So that means my trees can’t be taller than 12′. So, enough said – before and after pictures!
Tuesday – February 5, 2019. Monday was 60 degrees, but really windy, today it’s a high of 50 degrees and tomorrow is supposed to be maybe 30 degrees tops. So I decided to take advantage of the one moderate day we’re going to have this week, and start on the spring landscaping maintenance.
One of the important things that needs to get done before it warms up too much is tree pruning. So I tackled the Russian Olives and Locusts in the Garden of Pain, with help from my landscape guy, Jester (of Nadurra Gardens https://www.facebook.com/nadurragardens/.)
Garden of Pain, after pruning, looking west
I chose to plant Russian Olives and Locusts in the Garden of Pain for two reasons: 1) they were free; all 6 of the trees in this garden grew from seed on the south berm, probably having come in with the mulch; and 2) they are thorny, really thorny. These two varieties are naturally very large trees, reaching at least 30 x 40′ at maturity. When I transplanted them from the south berm they were about 3′ high. Immediately after planting I cut them in half; three years later I pruned them down by half again, and today I pruned them down to 6′ tall – depending on the tree, that’s 40-60%.
I want the trees in the Garden of Pain to be no taller than 12′, so they will need regular pruning. Here are some pictures of the process, as well as some before and after shots.
Russian Olive #2
Russian Olive, about 17′ tall, brought down to 6′. To prune, I first had Jester saw off the main limbs down to 6′. These limbs were between 2 and 4″ in diameter. This is the hardest part. It hurts me to see it, all that work to grow cut away. It hurts the tree too – they are confused.
Russian Olive pruning process step 1
But I told these trees when I planted them, that they would always be kept short, and would not be allowed to reach their natural height. I had a conversation with my trees during the pruning process to reassure them that everything will be ok, and that I am not cutting them all the way down or killing them, and that they are valued and loved and serve a special purpose here in the Garden of Pain.
Next you remove any crossing, redundant or water sprouting branches. Crossing means the branch is cross horizontally through the tree branches, rather than outward. Redundant means that there are two branches coming out of the same side of the trunk, growing outward in the same direction, or sitting too close to one another. Water spouts refers to branches that are growing straight up from the outward moving, horizontal branch.
Close up, Russian olive, after interior crossing branches removedClose up, Russian olive, after interior crossing branches removed
After pruning, 6′ tall.
Garden of Pain, Russian Olive #2Locust #1Garden of Pain, after pruning, Locust #1
Garden of Pain, after pruning, Locust #3Locust #3
Garden of Pain, after pruning, Locust #2Locust #2
Russian Olive #1, after pruning (I didn’t get a before picture on this tree – forgot)The aftermath
Everything in the Garden of Pain is thorny!
Close up of Locust and Russian Olive tree thornsGarden of Pain, after pruning, looking east
