At a certain point in winter it's "now or never" with respect to cutbacks and pruning. I'd been waiting for a crisp, cold, sunny day to prune the apple and plum trees here at Struan Farm, but the weather gods just weren't cooperating with me.
When a partially sunny day arrived I decided to go for it on the fruit trees in our main orchard despite threatening showers. The weather has been so temperate that I was mostly worried the trees would start to bud before I'd had a chance to prune them.
Our Monty's Surprise and Peasgood Nonsuch apple trees definitely needed pruning. Both have huge apples that can stress the branches, and Monty's branches were growing hither and yon. I consulted some members of the NZ Tree Crops Association about Peasgood, posting a photo of the tree on FB and asking how best to prune it after seeing a post with a guide to pruning fruit trees. Peasgood's central leader was bending way over due to the weight of fruit. They recommended topping that, confirming what I'd thought I should do.
The rules of thumb for pruning involve the Five D's: remove Dead, Damaged, Diseased and Defective branches, also "Dumb Mistakes." Hopefully I won't make too many of those! The plum trees are easier than the apples, I clip off errant branches and anything sprouting too low on the trees.
I've still got to tackle the roses in the new gardens at the house, which really do need a dry, sunny day, as well as the other young apple trees in our "Old Orchard" area beside the Pet Paddock, where we've got Granny Smith, Akane, Cox's Orange Pippin and Bramley trees. Plenty to do this time of the year, weather permitting!
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