When starting the tree pruning several months ago, we wondered if we’d ever be able to say, “finished.” We were facing a daunting challenge as the heavy harvest caused extensive limb breakage and the trees had tremendous growth. However, this past Saturday, March 5th, was a day of celebration. The last trees were pruned and what an awesome feeling it was, knowing that other than maintenance, the equipment could be put away for another year.
Now that the actual trimming is finished, the prunings (brush) laying under the trees will need to be stacked in the aisle ways and mulched. Quite a few labor hours are involved in the clean-up process. Besides stacking the larger limbs in the aisle ways, we rake all the debris from under the trees. This involves the smaller prunings that were cut as well as dropped apples, leaves, weeds and whatever else that took up residence under the apple trees. After the raking is completed the tractor and mulcher are used to pulverize the debris in the aisle ways. Eliminating debris under the trees lessens diseases that may hibernate in the soil, fungus infection and allows easier application of fertilizer and herbicides. Rather than collecting the brush and removing it from the orchard setting, the actual mulching process returns nutrients to the soil.
An important point to remember is that although we prune each tree individually with hand held pruners, the size of our orchard and its topography allows this method of pruning to be conducted. Larger orchards having more acreage and thus more trees, would find our pruning method unfeasible. These orchards rely on more automated pruning methods. However, no matter what method is chosen, proper tree pruning is essential to the overall production of good fruit.