In the late winter, it is always fun to dodge the cold rainy weather and freezing temperatures to find time to trim your fruit trees. In the early years of owning an orchard, this process didn't take that long. The trees were small and the decisions that we had to make regarding future fruit production and growth were not that pressing. However, in year 5, we are finding that the task is a bit more daunting. You see, fruit will only bloom from one year old wood, so we must remove up to a 1/3 of the tree and still leave fruiting branches that are strong enough the withstand the weigh of the oncoming fruit. Also, not every tree made it though the winter, so we remove the dead trees and count them for replacement. In year 5, this has become a lot of work, but is necessary to the productiveness of the upcoming season. We try to use the wine glass shape for all fruit trees to allow for the greatest level of air and light to penetrate the branches and fruit. We expect up to 50 pounds of fruit from most of the bigger trees(approx. 150), maybe more, fingers crossed. With the size of this job this year, you may drive by and see me in a parka, trimming trees! But I'll be wearing shorts still, because I don't wear pants! More to follow after bud break which should be around March 15th. See ya then & happy farming.
Trimming fruit trees
Updated: Feb 24, 2022
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