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Post by wildlifefriendly on Feb 28, 2011 15:03:41 GMT
Today I armed myself with my RHS guide to pruning with the intention of getting my fruit trees into shape. None of my fruit trees even vaguely resembled the illustrations in the book so I am at a complete loss as to what bits to prune  . I removed all damaged and touching branches from the plum and cherry, gave the Greengage a short back and sides but the pear is totally beyond me. When it was young it was badly damaged by a falling ash tree plus I have never remembered to prune it at the correct time. The result is an unproductive, unruly tree. Does anyone know which bits I should chop off?  |
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Post by Cherry on Feb 28, 2011 16:34:17 GMT
If that tree has not fruited yet, it will. It is a lovely shape for fruit. It looks like a spur bearer, so you would want to cut off some of that newer fine wood back to the spur. The one sticking up on the second branch up should come back a bit. The one below it could stay because the branches coming down should be productive. The one on the left which branches further up looks too long. Have a look for fruiting buds and cut back to there. On the next branch up is a very strong branch. Just bring this back a bit so there is something left on the tree and you are not worried about it. If the tops are too high to reach, bring them into reachable height (for someone who is not a shorty ;D) You do not want fruit way up there.
Now that I have had some fun with your tree, we will see if Steve approves of what I have advised.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Feb 28, 2011 16:48:54 GMT
Thanks Cherry. It's a good job I have wi-fi, I can see me out there with laptop and secateurs. ;D
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Post by Cherry on Feb 28, 2011 17:22:11 GMT
You are not getting away that easily WF. How old is the tree and has it fruited? It looks like it has.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Feb 28, 2011 18:14:12 GMT
The tree is about four years old. It had two small pears last year right on the end of the longest branch, all the others fell off before they began to grow. Last year was the first year any have ripened.
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Post by steve on Feb 28, 2011 19:51:33 GMT
I agree Cherry looks like it has a few good spurs on now and I wouldn't be surprised if it had plenty of flowers this spring, some branches do look a bit odd shaped but will look different altogether when in leaf (Think old man and clothes) ;D
The Cherry and Plum should look after themselves and pruning usually results in a lot of quick thin growth, water shoot-ish
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Post by Cherry on Feb 28, 2011 21:47:11 GMT
Pear is early flowering, so you will be hoping for good weather and lots of bees, probably bumble bees at that time. The fruit may not set brilliantly because the tree is young yet and has only just started fruiting. I think it will do well for you.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Feb 28, 2011 22:10:51 GMT
I'm not short of bees in the garden so I'll be patient, I thought it wasn't producing fruit because I hadn't been pruning it.
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Post by Cherry on Mar 1, 2011 10:37:40 GMT
No WF. The tree is young yet. The fruit may get a bit smaller and more sparse if it is old and unpruned.
I have a Conference which is so big, we can only reach two branches and two aeroplanes have run into it. (Not ours I hasten to add.) This means that the lower branches have been cut off and we can hardly reach the fruit. There are two more trees, probably about 20 years old, which have lovely big fruit, but I have to stand over a big ditch to reach only a few of the pears. I might take the pruners down there as you have reminded me.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Mar 2, 2011 19:55:30 GMT
Today I took my secateurs down to the pear tree and then got confused. Are the bits that are new wood and growing vertically spurs? Are fruiting buds the big fat ones?
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Post by Cherry on Mar 2, 2011 20:18:40 GMT
Yes WF. Fat ones are fruit, thin buds are leaves and spurs are two or three thickish stems which are only about an inch long coming from branches. These may not be prominent as the tree is not fully established yet. Cut back the verticals because, as you said, they are new wood. As they are new wood, they might form fruiting spurs too far up the stem. You will encourage them to fruit nearer the branch by cutting them back a bit. The weeping look to those branches is excellent because they will stimulate fruit to form. If they are too upright it is not as good as the shape of your tree. Don't worry about it. Have some fun.
I just had a thought that your tree may be a tip bearer. Then you won't get spurs, but all else I have told you is OK.
When we moved in here, I said to my son that the apple tree was a tip bearer, and he was looking forward to a tree full of tits because he misheard.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Mar 2, 2011 21:20:01 GMT
Thanks Cherry, I'll have another go tomorrow.
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Mar 3, 2011 14:55:22 GMT
I gave the pear a prune today, it was a lot less daunting once I understood fruiting buds and spurs. I probably should have been a little more drastic, one step at a time  (Think old man and clothes) ;D It is far more Sean Connery and a lot less Iggy Pop now ;D |
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Post by wildlifefriendly on Feb 3, 2012 16:51:52 GMT
It is that time of year again. The tree is looking good and produced some lovely pears for the first time last year. I want to keep on top of the pruning to keep it growing properly. It wasn't easy to photograph clearly  It has grown lots of upright branches, these are the ones which look like they should be pruned, should they and if so, where do I cut them?  |
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Post by Cherry on Feb 3, 2012 18:13:08 GMT
I would be cutting those ones down to 1/3 of their length, like a rose, above an outward facing bud. This is making harder wood for next year, or even later than that. Your tree does look good. Keep your branches pointing level or downwards.
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. I removed all damaged and touching branches from the plum and cherry, gave the Greengage a short back and sides but the pear is totally beyond me.
