Pruning Fruit Trees

I have three apple trees and a pear tree.  The pear tree is still small and I just prune out any branches that are growing back inwards towards the middle.  On of the apple trees is still quite young and not putting out a lot of growth.  I may take out a branch or two each spring.  Then we have the two Northern Spy trees that I planted in 2009 from grafts of the last old orchard tree here.  One tree is very productive but does not put out a lot of new growth.  It focuses its energy on apples.  I generally prune that one a bit at a time throughout the summer removing a branch here and there.  The other tree, is a beauty queen.  She focuses her energy on new growth and apples are an afterthought.  Most of my pruning focuses on keeping this tree thinned out.

When pruning a fruit tree, first stand back and assess what the goal is.  This tree is shaped well but always needs thinning in the interior.  The first branches to remove is the "Three Ds".  Anything Dead, Damaged or Diseased,  The second consideration is any water sprouts.  These are soft, fast growing branches that grow vertically straight up from old growth.  They are usually at the site of something you pruned off last year.  

Water Sprouts

Take them off right above the collar of the branch which is the angled portion right next to the trunk.  This will allow the tree to heal properly.

They are easy to spot because the bark will be bright and smooth.  These branches are always very straight and will not produce any fruit this year anyway.  I will, occasionally leave one if I want to fill in a bare spot, but most of them need to go.  I save the longer ones because they are useful around the garden for staking things.  You can even use them to weave a fence for your peas.

The third consideration, and one that requires more thought is any cross branches.  It takes a little more thought because you usually have to make a choice of one branch vs. the other.  Which will result in a better shape?  You should always favor the branch that grows straight out from the trunk.  Not up, not down, not to the left or right.   Cross branches will rub against each other causing a scar on the bark and allowing insects and diseases to enter.  They also cause congestion and limit air flow.  I always wonder where they all come from.  Presumably I cut them all out last year.  Trees fill in very fast.

There are several choices to be made here.

When I'm done I have a pretty good pile of branches, but the center of the tree looks airy and well groomed.  Last year and this year I concentrated on "limbing up" to get rid of those branches that are always catching my hair, trying to poke me in the eye...  They shouldn't be pointing down anyway.

Before and After

Now I give it some time.  I walk around the tree, maybe for a week or two, checking my work from every angle.  The hardest pruning cuts to visualize are the Heading cuts.  These cuts shorten a branch and cause it to send out a new shoot from that location.  Here are some Heading cuts I made on the other tree last year.  Then I went back and cut more a week later removing the top of the central leader.

Heading cuts, by their nature, occur on the outer edges of the tree.  The trickiest ones are at the top, mainly because you can't see what needs to be cut when you are standing beside the tree.  A tree will send growth hormone to the uppermost tips of the branches.  So, if you have a tree with one central leader, and one of the side branches develops and starts to come out above the tip of the branches growing from the leader, that branch will get more growth hormone and eventually take over for the original leader.  The other tree, shown above has a central leader (and not the original one) but the tree below has been pruned to a Modified Central Leader.  The top sort of fans out with several main branches.   This is most apparent from a distance.  These branches to the right want to take over and must be shortened.

Because of the size of the tree, I have to use the old pole pruner.  There is no way I could reach these even from a ladder in the center.  I have to choose a good place to cut as well as a spot where the pruner will stay put.  You should always cut a branch right above a bud that is facing in the direction you want new growth but in this case the side branch is already there and I just need to remove all of the tall branch.

Cut #1

Cut #2

Gone.  Now the top has a more uniform shape from every angle.

While I have the pruner tangled up in there, I take the opportunity to cut two branches that are headed back into the middle.

Done.

And here is the Before and After from this angle.

This tree still has more growth on the south side (left of above photos).  That is something I am working on over time.  A few years ago the apple trees got a touch of blight and I had to take a lot of large branches out of the north side of this one.  The tree has recovered it shape well but almost any plant or tree will put more growth out on the side that get's the most sun.  

If you would like more, expert advice the blog link below from Cornell is excellent.

A Basic Guide to Pruning Your Fruit Trees.

After pruning the trees, I applied a general dormant spray and a copper fungicide spray.  The copper I bought chiefly for the pear tree.  Back in 2024 it got some sort of leaf spot, the leaves bronzed out and the whole tree defoliated by the end of August.  I used the copper spray last year and the leaves stayed green and healthy all season.  I put both concentrates in the sprayer at the same time so the apple trees get treated as well.  Last year was the first year I used this particular combination and I noticed a reduction in the sooty blotch on the apples as well.  These sprays can be used up until the time of harvest, but I may spray a second time before they leaf out.

 

Marigold Transplant Day and Vego Grow Light Review

 I noticed yesterday that the Marigolds were opening their first true leaves, so today was transplant day before the root systems get too big.

That fluffs two little cells in a tray into a large tray that takes up a whole shelf.

I am fully enjoying the Vego grow light tower.  I have it outfitted with fans on timers.  I have one negative note about the design.  All but the lowest shelf are adjustable to two different distances away from the grow lights.  However - if you keep the top shelf on the highest setting, which creates a perfect hooded area to hold heat and germinate seeds, the lowest light has to be three levels above the tray instead of one or two.  And this is quite a distance if you are growing trays of newly transplanted seedlings that should be about 10" from the light to avoid stretching.  

You can purchase extra trays and extra lights.... but that doesn't solve this particular problem because there is no available shelf on the lower section of the frame to hold the extra tray at the desired height.  So I solved that problem by purchasing an adjustable kitchen shelf.  The adjustable shelf has two height settings so you can even tweak that by another two inches.  

This shelf works perfectly.  With it in place you still have a little storage below it.   And if you needed to you could temporarily add another magnetic light underneath it for low growing plants. I consider this shelf essential, because most of the seed starting season you need to use the top tray at the highest adjustment.  I need it there for five or six weeks, but I need the fourth shelf (bottom shelf) for the second half of the season, another five or six weeks.  The two time periods and conflicting agendas overlap by a couple of weeks.  The clip on fans work perfectly. I've had one of these for years and I purchased three more to match.  The Vego tower comes with hooks that are perfect for hanging a heat mat thermostat.

I still need my older grow lights.  I have two out of the three set up, the Oslo from Gardeners and one of my original florescent fixtures.  This set up badly needs trays to contain water when it drains out of the tray and I have two Oslo trays on order to solve that problem.  Then I will be completely decked out!

Under the Oslo high intensity LED fixture I have my Zinnias and Dahlias.  The Dahlias can be pinched back soon but they are going to have to stay in their cells at least until the Cole crops get planted out freeing up another light because when I start bumping these up, a single tray of cells can become three or four trays of larger pots requiring more lights.  One thing to note is that the plants by the window do not lean towards the extra light coming through the window at all which means they're getting adequate light from the fixtures provided.  That's a good thing and pleases me because I've tried very hard to achieve the best set up .

I bumped the Coleus cuttings up to deep four inch pots and they are taking off, even the ones that had really been languishing in the cool workshop over winter.  They have almost doubled in size this week.  In fact, those big ones can be pinched, making either two or four more new cuttings.

I am also starting my sweet potato slips.  This sweet potato was left over from the 2024 crop.  The second winter they really lose their sweetness and texture but still do not rot.  This one was in a basket in the kitchen and started to sprout on its own, so I potted it up and put it in the window.  These slips are about ready to be broken off and placed in a jar of water to grow better roots.

...and Daffodil season is here.

Getting Ready

 Today was clear and pretty yet cold, not getting up out of the 30s.  I need to start prepping raised beds.  I may start sowing peas as early as this weekend.  Because the ground was so well covered by snow all winter, blocking the sunlight, very few weeds grew.

The bed below was the worst.

I set up the bed for Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbages.

The Broccoli, Cauliflower and Cabbages are below, newly transplanted.  They should go out 5 weeks from their sowing date which for these will be around April 18th.  I have a few Romaine Lettuce started to go with them, and more Romaine seeded.

Below are the Ornamental Peppers, five days after transplanting, putting out new leaves and catching up to the Dwarf Tomato plants.

Below are my Dahlia seedlings, the second batch of saved seeds from 2024 singles.  I had so much fun watching them open last year that even though I saved all of last year's tubers, I started more just to see if I get anything different.  On the right of the tray are my Profusion Zinnias.

I used to start Profusion Zinnias from seed way back in the early days of my gardening.  In fact, they were probably the first annual flowers I tackled.  They are a nice short, bushy little Zinnia and I plan on alternating them with white Marigolds around the edges of my Dahlia beds.  The Apricot will border the bed with orange, copper and peach Dahlias and the Cherry will border the bed with the purple, pink and white Dahlias.  Last year I tried the same thing with Celosia, but Celosia are so tricky to transplant I decided to only direct sow my Celosia and try something different for my border.

Profusion Apricot and Profusion Double Hot Cherry

I am growing a tray of white Marigolds to go with the Zinnias.  The first variety is my favorite from last year Vanilla Cream, and the second is a new release from Burpee, another white variety called Star-Spangled in honor of this year's US Semiquincentennial.  Boy, that's a mouth full.

Star-Spangled and Vanilla Cream

I have the tray filled with potting mix and ready for the transplants as soon as they start putting out leaves.  Next week, the first of April, I will start my indeterminate Tomato varieties and then my indoor seeding will be done for the year.

On March 10th I scattered some Pansy seeds in the Strawberry bed and they are already up.

Look at all of these littles babies!

The Pansies I already have growing here are Delta Citrus Mix which are yellow, white and a very few orange, so this year I added more orange and some blue.

Seedling Transplanting

 Winter returned this week, but I don't mind much because...

It is sunny and warm in the workshop

Today was a transplanting day.  After I start my seeds in bulk in smaller 6 packs, one variety per cell so I can fit everything up under the low light fixture and on a heat mat, I have to transplant them into larger trays of cells packs.

I use my tidy tray as a workspace on the counter and have a separate tray for dampening the potting mix.  I have used Pro-Mix soil for my transplants for several years.  I like the dry, compressed bales of Vegetable and Herb mix.  Last year I purchased two regular bags, not compressed, because of cost if I remember correctly, and I was not at all happy with it.  Despite the fact that it was the same formula Organic Vegetable and Herb Mix, it was dampened in the course of production and the darn stuff never dried out.  Ever.  I had all kinds of damping off problems, and the plants were telling me that whatever organic fertilizer was supposed to be mixed in was severely lacking.  I suspect it may have already leached out with the moisture.  I ended up having to repot several things and dumped what was left of the new soil in my compost. 

I have my sprayer full of water, and my fruit tree sprays ready to go when I get the right weather

These ornamental pepper plants were seeded on March 1st.  Some of my other seedlings have already been transplanted, but peppers are slow.  The best time to transplant is when the plants have their first true leaves.

The Cotyledons are the first leaves as they germinate out of the seed.  This stage is just right.

You don't want to wait too long because the root systems will be harder to stuff down a hole.  The easiest stage to transplant is one hair root, but the tipping point is very quick. 

These peppers are sharing a tray with micro and dwarf varieties of tomatoes that were transplanted a week ago but are also slow to develop.  

I noticed a fungus gnat flying around so I put out some traps and caught three right away and two more shortly afterwards.

I am about halfway through seeding this year.  I just started some Marigolds today and in another week or two I will start my indeterminate tomato plants.  So far I am quite happy with my new grow lights.  I am still 6 to 8 weeks away from planting out.

Early Spring Chores

It's time to start the spring garden chores.  

I removed the dead leaves from the strawberries as the new growth is coming in.  I gave them a shot of fertilizer.  Then I sprinkled some more pansy seeds in there to fill in the bare spots and compete with the weeds.

There is already a Citrus Mix of orange, yellow and white pansies.  This white plant is blooming already.  The honey bees are out looking for the crocuses.  This time of year I have to juggle my wire cloches around taking them off of lower risk plants and protecting the yummy Crocuses from both deer and rabbits.  I also go around sprinkling Milorganite fertilizer on anything with new growth.  Critters don't like the smell and it helps to get a few more days out of unprotected crocus flowers and protects the new shoots of Hosta as they emerge.

The Snowdrops and Winter Aconite (yellow) are blooming.  Next will be Hyacinths then Daffodils.

Time to empty the compost tube.  We drag it out to the center and lift it off the pile.  This will still need to be turned for a couple of months to finish composting before it is ready to use.  This has accumulated from last June until fall when I started the tall tube.  The tall tube will be added to until the pea plants come out. 

I removed one layer of surrounding netting from the Pear tree to make it easier for me to get in there and spray with dormant oil and copper fungicide.  Everything is pruned, now I just need a dry day without a March wind so I don't end up wearing it.  I will post about the pruning when that is done.

The other thing I have done is to check on the woody stemmed shrubs. About half of them had lower branches break off from the weight of the snow pinning them down.  I trim the ragged edges cleanly and check for any splits that need to be cut back.  Next we will start edging and mulching.  The lawn is firm enough, but the mulch pile is still frozen.