March 7/10
Information from a pamphlet I picked up at the gardening show
Pruning Trees and Other Spring Care Tips- when the temperature is above 10 C, and before buds break out, apply dormant oil spray to fruit trees to smother over-wintering insects that will cause damage to tree/fruit
- 5D’s of pruning: remove limbs that might be Dangerous, Dead, Diseased or Damaged as well as affect overall Design/shape desired
- don’t prune more than 1/3 of the tree in one year
- prune fruit trees when they are still dormant
- also add about 5 cm of organic matter to the root zone (but do not put it right up against the trunk as it will rot the bark and kill the tree)
Any other pruning and spring-care tips for fruit trees?
-- - Debbie, SW Ontario Canada (USDA Hardiness Zone: 5a) http://www.execulink.com/~yohan
2 comments so far
sharad
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548 posts in 331 days
hardiness zone 11
posted 146 days ago
Very valuable instructions on pruning. After pruning the cut part should be protected from any infection or insect attack by applying proper medicine. Disinfect the tools before and after pruning.
Sharad
-- Bagwan-- “If someone feels that they had never made a mistake in their life, then it means they have never tried a new thing in their life”.-Albert Einstein
Robin
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2146 posts in 377 days
hardiness zone 5b
posted 146 days ago
In addition to what Debbie wrote, I would add a few thoughts: When pruning fruit trees, the design goal is to let light into the tree from above so that more fruit is produced and will ripen well. Eliminate branches that cross each other, grow in toward the trunk, have acute crotches (you want a U shape more than a V shape) or grow right under the branch above. I try to imagine the spokes of a bicycle, rising up the tree trunk.
-- Robin, Massachusetts - "Live simply so others can simply live." M. Gandhi