Pruning Fruit Trees

This is the second year we pruned the fruit trees. The orchard at Trillium is overgrown with 20 foot trees with long central leaders. The two sprawling apples at Kindi needed to be sharply managed as well. We hosted a Saturday Workshop on fruit tree pruning. After a basic introduction, the attendees climbed ladders and started sawing. We made a point to only remove a third of the branches, but nevertheless, the trees appear to have a bad haircut.

Checkout this link from OSU Extension office to learn the basics of fruit tree pruning.

Did you know that every apple and pear tree is a graft to a rootstock? The is cool stuff. This is where I really geek out and try out my horticultural hand--- Scion Grafting---Here's a graft of a pear that took last year. I added a couple varieties to the trees at Kindi too.

I am a huge fan of the Home Orchard Society. Look for their Fruit Propagation Fair in Canby in March.

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