Don't be confused by knobbly bits and spurs
THOSE of you who saw the most recent Beechgrove programme will have heard me talk about “knobbly bits” on an apple tree that I was summer pruning, the remark was clarified by referring to spurs where flowers and then fruits are formed.
To be honest, I am constantly being nudged by friends, new gardeners in particular, who are not yet familiar with the words and phrases that fall glibly from our lips.
Sorry about that, folks, I will try to improve.
A spur is built up over several years by cutting back, quite severely, new side growth from a main stem – as close as an inch from where it starts.
On that short stub, the following spring, new shoots will emerge and they in turn will be cut back to an inch or so.
The flowers, on fruit trees generally, start to appear on these two, three and four-year-old stubs you have created. Collectively, they form a spur.
Last week, I was describing this as part of the item on pruning Wisteria.
Some questions can be simpler than that to explain, for example: “How do you propagate an annual?”
The answer is by sowing seed, because an annual will be born, live its life and die off within one growing season.
The culmination of the growth cycle is to make seeds that fall to the ground in late autumn and germinate the following spring.
We are doing an item on this very subject on the programme next week – collecting seed from a wide range of garden plants (not just annuals) and how to store it.
This seed-collecting theme came up a few weeks ago on a Potting Shed when a caller commented on the toll these last two hard winters have taken on our native wild gorse and broom.
Her question was: “How do we replace them; do we attempt to collect seed, and when would we sow them?
Pruning Young Fruit Trees - News
The flowers, on fruit trees generally, start to appear on these two, three and four-year-old stubs you have created. Collectively, they form a spur. Last week, I was describing this as part of the item on pruning Wisteria. Some questions can be simpler
Even the apple trees escaped. When I came to summer prune my small apple trees, I was astonished to see that hardly any of the growth I was shortening had shoot-tip leaves twisted with aphid feeding. Usually, the soft, tender growth of most shoot tips
And I highly recommend, if you have fruit trees, that you watch the schedule at the Farm casfs.ucsc.edu and attend one of the excellent classes on fruit-tree growing and pruning -- these classes are incredibly valuable local resources!
"Keep the center of the fruit tree opened up, so it does not become condensed with branches," Mills said. Burlison also cuts his trees back to keep them a manageable size for spraying, pruning and harvesting. "I keep the trees short — no taller than I
In the past few years, people have come to the ranch to learn about fiber, press apples into cider, build a clay oven, prune fruit trees, paint Ukrainian eggs, make worm bins and milk goats. Every spring, a plant and seed exchange is held at the ranch.
How to prune a young fruit tree - Urban Farm Store Blog - Urban ...
Now through late June is the best time to plant potted fruit trees and shrubs. Here’s a video to show you how to prune a young fruit tree prior to planting. It’s a big video, so I’d start it playing then pause it and walk away for about 5 minutes to let it load before you resume watching it. I hope it’s helpful.
What an informative video, thanks for sharing. I'm always nervous about pruning my trees, I don't want to kill them. I have been looking for an urban farm store for a very long time, I thought they were maybe just a myth, I'm glad to see they're actually out there. We just need a few here in Florida. Good luck and best wishes.