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 Over the next several weeks, KYR will be delving into our pruning season. If you're new to the trade, or looking to hone your technique, follow along with us! First, we start by gathering our tools and developing an understanding of what we’re doing and why.
Knowing the Orchard
How old are the tree's you're working with? How large? What will you need to be full prepared?
Knowing your trees also involves knowing their history with regard to disease. With spore-spread diseases like fireblight or black rot, it may be necessary to sanitize pruners between cuts. Depending on the severity of an outbreak and the overall pruning context (time frame, scale, etc.) you may also decide to forgo such precautions. Some methods call for painting cuts with latex paint infused with an anti-fungal like neem oil or biodynamic tree paste. Knowing what you’re working with becomes crucial to making these calls, and being able to better anticipate the challenges and joys of your next fruiting season.
Regardless of the orchard, you will certainly need well-sharpened pruning shears and long-handled loppers. Make sure you have sharpening tools with you, whether it be a pocket-sized blade straightener or whetting stone. For large-scale orchards, we always arrive with a small kit with sharpening hones that range from coarse to quite fine, and oil to clean accumulated metal shards from the hones. As a rule of thumb, practitioner Jason Mannka says that a blade is sharp enough when you feel a bit nervous to press your finger against it. If you will be working with larger trees, (over 8-10’ tall), you may need pole pruners or a ladder. Three legged ladders are the steadiest on uneven ground. For mature trees, you may need a pocket saw, or even chainsaw for cuts that pruners can’t handle.
Why We Prune: The Philosophy and the Cold Steel
Mike Biltonen, our resident connoisseur, describes pruning as an art and a science. On one hand, we’re pruning based on the facts of tree biology: clipping away apical buds will stimulate growth of lateral buds, whereas pruning lateral buds will cause the terminal to shoot out. On the other hand, we’re also sculpting the tree slowly, planting seeds with what we take away. Our cuts can be just as much about aesthetics, as about invigorating a weak tree or stimulating fruit growth. Generally speaking, though pruning purposes ca n include all of the following:
- invigorate a tree,
- stimulate growth in strategic places,
- free up space for better air flow and light penetration,
- remove competing growth that may eventually injure a tree,
- remove threatening branches,
- to influence flavor by streamlining a tree’s resources into the remaining branches.
- Depending on the business we’re in, we may also prune for the perks of obtaining scion wood!
Stay tuned for our next installment on tree anatomy and the crucial role it plays in determining cuts!
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