Summertime is time for eating those juicy peaches and picking your blueberries. So Good!
Summer time is also the time for some quick and easy tasks your fruit trees will appreciate.
For more help go to the Dave Wilson Fruit Trees web site. This is the wholesale fruit tree company that we buy all of our fruit trees from. Their web site is full of useful videos and other fruit tree help.
Here are your quick and easy tips for a summer pruning.
Why do a summer pruning on your trees? It makes that winter pruning easier. Keeps your fruit trees from getting too tall. Remember you want a short tree that lets you pick the fruit without a ladder! You might want to consider professional tree trimming services to get your trees in the condition you want them to be in.
How old are your fruit trees? For your older trees you are pruning hard to keep those trees short and easy to pick. A young first year tree will need less pruning but this is the time to start training the tree to stay short and pickable.
We call it the summer touch up pruning. After your fruit tree has finished its summer crop is the time to get out those pruners, lopping shears or what ever tool you have that will easily cut those nectarine, plum or peach branches. If you don’t have the right tool head on over to Weidners and we’ll help you choose the best one for your needs, you can also look into tree lopping services that may be able to assist you with your pruning and lopping needs.
Is your fruit tree getting a bit tall? Remember you want to be able to pick the fruit without climbing up that rickety ladder. Are there branches that go out 6 feet for no good reason?
Cut back the other new growth by half in your summer pruning. Don’t worry, it’s hard to make a mistake. Your fruit trees will keep on growing all summer long. You could consider reaching out to the likes of tree pruning gold coast professionals who can help you cut back, lop, or fell your out-of-control trees.
Helpful things you need to know and look for. Plums grow like crazy so they really need that summer pruning. If you have a 3 in 1 fruit tree you may find that one of the varieties is trying to take over. Your summer pruning job is to prune off some of that extra growth to even up the competition. If your fruit tree is a new young tree you still want to do a little summer prune. This is the time to start training that fruit tree to stay short.
Prune out any growth on the inside that crosses over a branch. Keep the center open to let that sunshine in. Long out of control branches? Get rid of them. You can prune to leave the center branches a bit taller. Shape your tree by pruning the outside branches more. This allows easier picking and also lets in more air and light for the center of your tree.
Next look for growth below the Graft or Bud line. The Bud is the little knobby spot right down at the base of your main trunk. We call it the Bud or Graft. This is where the good fruit tree variety was grafted onto to the strong growing Root Stock. Any growth below that graft is growth you do not want. It is not going to have good tasty fruit and will grow really fast and steal strength from the good fruit tree growth. Prune off any such growth. You will need to prune off such growth fairly often..
We hope this helps keep your fruit trees healthy and happy and keeps you off the ladder.
Happy Gardening
Weidner’s Gardens