Pruning Apple Trees | Establishing Tree Structure
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ม.ค. 2022
- Today we're pruning our 1 year old apple trees. These trees are very aggressive in their growth habit and production, so it's critical to establish a very strong tree structure after the first growing season. The question is, how much is too much?
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#pruning
#treepruning
#appletree
#winterpruning
#backyardorchard
#desertfarming
#eonfarm
I love the videos, most people think bigger and faster are better. Taking the time to do it right and grow for production will pay off long term.
So, so true. We talk about this one all the time. The trees need to get a chance to establish before they're put to work and that simply takes time.
Every video is an inspiration! I can see it's going to take a long time for me to get started planting tho, because it will take up to a year for me to save up for a well. Until then it's going to be water hauling and harvesting monsoon season off my roof, on the first year.
Hey Astra! Slow and steady is a good way to go with this. We've been working towards this for 10 years with a lot of planting mistakes along the way. Failing small and then growing is not a bad way to go about this one!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Well I'm i'm pretty young so I have aaaaall the time in the world! Thanks Duane! BTW do you offer consultation? Maybe you could sell online courses. I was told the soil where I want to buy is pretty alkaline. I might have to make my own soil.
@@CringePanda alkaline soil comes with the territory here in AZ. Our soil testing put our PH at 8.4 which is VERY alkaline. With the right varieties and root stocks, you'll be just fine. Lori and I do offer consultations and we are considering some online content as well in the future. Thank you for the suggestion!
Apples are a family favorite. They go in almost everything we cook. The wood is preferred for smoking meat, for carving, and so on. There's an old poem, the haughty rose tho known for beauty is nothing compared to the humble apple. In so-called white magic the power of the apple tree was preferred over all other trees, especially in love potions. Unmarried couples were not allowed to sit under an apple tree without someone else along for fear they would be overcome by her power. Peace to you.
the Golden Dorsett bought last year doesn't need trimming now, but will next winter. As all fruit trees are part of the garden the branches need to be high enough to allow me to work there, and sun to get to the plants.
Hey Martin! We're big fans of apples as well. From butters to wine, they are divine! I like the story of the power of the apple tree. Now to get Lori to sit under one of those this Spring!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Yeah, you ol' romantic! This is where the song, don't sit under the apple tree came from.
Very informative and easy to follow. Excellent presentation Duane.
Glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful!
Thank you. I lived by a farm that had a Apple orchard. About 10 acres. All of the trees were trained like grapes. They were growing on wires no more than 5 feet tall.
Glad you enjoyed this one Benjamin. I can only imagine what it would be like to grow up around an apple orchard! I've seen videos of production apples being grown like grapes. Amazing what can be done with heavy pruning and training with these fruit!
Thanks!
Thank you so much Cara. That was very kind of you!! 🙏
Excellent video. I am afraid to cut young tree. other hand you are expert.
We know just how you feel Abid. Lori was always very hesitant to prune the trees, but after seeing the results she's right in there encouraging me to cut back further sometimes!
Another great video in the hows and whys of proper shaping of your trees when dormant.
Glad you enjoyed this one Eric. For folks like you who have some experience with these it may be a bit rudimentary, but we're hoping to encourage all the new fruit tree fanatics out there and keep them on the straight and narrow!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm naw its always good to get refreshers
The straight and narrow or the wide open center? 😆
@@AndreaGarcia-ke3du ah, I see what you did there! 😂
Thanks for reply,water catchment swales,then planting nitrogen fixers,also get cover crop over bare land, see Geoff Lawton farm in northern territories Australia,because youre already accomplished the sooner the better,also get as much free organic matter on site asap
Geoff Lawton has it down pat with this type of farming and is one of my (Duane's) mentors. In fact, our decision to go with a well was partially solidified by his use of them in the desert. Not only that, Lori would simply not have it any other way....ok, that was the main reason!
I'm on a similar schedule with my 12 month old apple trees in Mesa. I'm heading out today to take the leaves off and prune them. Now I just need to review your video on sharpening my shears!
I have similarly aged grape vines as well. My trees and vines didn't grow nearly as well as yours but they are looking great!
Hey Andrea! It's definitely prime time for pruning those apple trees. This year we're pruning a bit early, so we can get these out there on time for everyone as a reminder. Your grapevines can usually wait a bit longer. Ours are still shedding their leaves, so we plan on tackling those in late January or early February.
Wow, that’s some haircut you gave that tree! Would the tree appreciate wood chips made from its own branches?
I was thinking a high top fade on the next round of pruning, but Lori wasn't having it! The branches will be chipped right into the tree rings. Eventually some of the apple chips will be set aside to dry and be used for smoking!
I really love how well planned the layout of your farm seems to be. I think I need a video on how to do a farm layout so it's organized and makes sense. I am looking at buying 30 acres in west texas. The property is 3 10 acres blocks in an L-shape. I wanted the whole 40 but someone bought one of the 10 acre blocks. It's very dry and has run off "streams" that the rain has cut into the ground. I plan on doing berms to help retain some of the water, but any tips would be amazing. I am watching your videos as well as any on desertification and how to reclaim the desert and make it green again.
Ok, so West Texas has some very similar climate challenges that we face here. The biggest of those is water, so I would say you'll want to figure that out first. We don't do anything here without nailing that down. 30 acres is a lot of space to spread out and you'll need to get water to those areas somehow. We've had a few folks ask us to cover some key points to consider, so we need to do that for everyone. If you have some time we have our Desert to Farm playlist that we use to document certain milestones on the farm. It might help give you a timeline of some of the things we've done over the last 2 years. I'll link that for you here;
th-cam.com/play/PLnT_wyDSIC9iPoiQyyKG9ZA00YiJSw1_H.html
My apple tree hasn't even started dropping leaves. Too hot here in Phoenix.
We know right where you're at. You may not be able to pick it up in this video, but we just removed the leaves from these trees the day before this was shot! It's the best thing to do in order to not only help with any chill hours you may receive still, but also know where to make those pruning cuts!
I believe that the crowns that you cut out could be replanted as their own trees.
Hey G M. In the right environment that would definitely be the case. The challenge we face here is our soil and seedling roots are not able to thrive in it.
Its also been very warm of late…still into the 70’s. Any concerns of things breaking dormancy too soon before cold period ends for us in AZ?
That's always at the front of our minds Eric. As you know, it's not uncommon for us to see bud break on those summer apples in late January. That's why we're getting to these a bit early, so we're all reminded to tackle these early in the season!
I'm starting all over again with all the trees I did have It made someone's pigs happy I was not here I have one fig one pomegranate one apple and I'm hoping that my black mulberries survive what really upset me was the owner of them didn't think it was a big deal as if it was just a natural thing. I told him trees cost money his pigs wiped out 24 trees. There was a long stem left on the orange tree so I did take some cuttings from it I'm hoping they turn out this time I will be putting electric fence around my little orchard
My goodness Pamela, that is just shameful on his part. In my opinion, allowing your animals to destroy private property is showing that you are NOT a good steward of your animals. It's abuse one way or another, as you have damage that results from a neglect in care.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm
I totally agree I myself would of apologize and would have offered to pay for the plants that were destroyed and I understand some people may not have the money but even just to offer or just to say I'm terribly sorry would have went a long ways with me but no matter what I will not give up on my little orchard I will have my fruit
I'm looking forward to sulfur & nitrogen applications this February. The largest amounts I've ever applied. I'm so sick of waiting for fruit, I'm on year five of no-fruit from mayor-lemons. I almost want to try a wicking-bed so I can force citrus flowering with flooding like done in India.
Hey Bob. While it's common for citrus to take some time to fruit, 5 years is definitely pushing it. Is the tree flowering at all?
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I think my PH was too high, like over 8. The plant has a few leaves larger than my hands but only puts out half a dozen clusters of flowers on a thick 4ft tall bush. If it does produce this year it'll be some tasty fruit with all the sulfur I'm adding.
@@SlackerU sounds like it may be a root stock issue, so that may solve it. Our soil testing put us at 8.4, but the citrus trees we purchase are on sour orange root stocks that love the alkaline soil. Fingers crossed for you on this one!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm You're correct it's my only plant that is not on any rootstock. If sulfur doesn't work I'll be forced to upgrade I guess.
Do you have advice for a tree that doesn't yet have four scaffolding branches? The tree is a little less than a year old, planted last spring.
Hey Kathy. There isn't a specific need for 4 scaffolds. We have trees with as little as 3 and as much as 5. The key is balance and enough space between each scaffold so as not to inhibit the growth of the others. With a 1 year old tree the key thing right now will be to open up the center above some relatively even spaced branching that can eventually become your primary scaffolding. Much like you're seeing us do with these trees here at just over a year in the ground.
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thank you so much for the info! My apple trees are about a year old and I wasn’t planning to prune them this winter. I actually let out a little scream when you made the first cut in your video. 😳 very helpful videos! I know what I will be doing today ☺️
I'd bet those problematic rabbits could be quite tasty if harvested at the right time of year.
Ahh, now you're onto something...and yes, they do!
Can you tell us if you pruned the tips of those scaffold branches ... or do you let those go and perhaps do that in summer, or next January? Thanks for doing these videos ... very helpful
Great question Kevin and it depends. If the ends of the scaffold branches are starting to curve inwards then we do prune to an outward facing bud/node. If not, then we leave them alone for now as we're already removing a LOT of material at this point.
Have you had a chance to watch any or Orin Martin’s UC Santa Cruz Center for Agroecology pruning videos? Obviously, you need no further instruction, but boy this guy really has some good content.
Hey Larry. No, I haven't seen his content, but it sounds like it's worth the view. Maybe during our Summer downtime dreaming of cooler weather!!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm Thought of you and your strategy of pruning your late season apples to a MCL form. th-cam.com/video/uuHSu8ymf-o/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/mm3VfEljBg0/w-d-xo.html
@@larrypollman5243 this was a good one Larry. It's pretty much what I have planned for the late season apple trees, but seeing the cuts he's making help to ensure I have the right plan. Thank you!
@@EdgeofNowhereFarm I hope you keep us posted as to this type of training and more importantly, if it works. I know why you’re doing it and I’m highly interested in the results.
Hi Duane. I was following this series. I thought in the last year‘s video when you did your first pruning you were going to go with a central leader, as opposed to an open center because of the sun damage on your fruit. Now I see your’re going with an open center. Did your strategy change?
Great question Larry and I should clarify. We use an open center on all of our Summer ripening varieties which is what we covered in this episode. We have 3 trees that are Fall ripening varieties that are on a central leader, but we did almost no pruning on them this year.
This was so helpful! I have been making myself crazy trying to determine the best structure for my Anna and Tropic snow. Most pruning advice is not suited for our Phoenix climate, so thank you for the demonstration and explanation of why you chose open center over central leader @@EdgeofNowhereFarm
@@chawn521 glad you enjoyed this one and found it useful. It definitely is a bit different here!
Hi. How are your late season apple trees pruned to a modified central leader doing?
Two of the three set fruit this past season, but none of them survived the summer. As usual, the birds took them all out.
Was a tropic sweet one of them? @@EdgeofNowhereFarm
@@larrypollman5243 actually the Tropic Sweet is an early Summer ripening variety, so we have those on an open center design. They're usually ripe around the same time as Dorsette, Anna and Ein Shemer.
Do you think Apple can fruit in Jamaica
That's a good question and I'm not sure. They need at least some time below 45 degrees (F), or 7 Celsius. That's what signals the tree to fruit.
I’m going to try a Dorsett golden And see
@@matolabrown6832 that would be my choice as well. Please let us know how that does for you as we have a lot of folks in the Philippines and parts of Indonesia that have asked us the same question.