Getting Rid of Dead Wood


Pruning article Usually I think of the month of February as winter overkill.  Desperate for the smell of damp soil, I always start my seedlings too early, even though I swear I won't do it again.  And just when we start to see pockets of green in the lawn, we get another dumping of snow.  That's part of liveing where there are four true seasons.  One garden task that can be done in the glumy days of "pre-Spring" is pruning and clean-up of your fruit trees and bushes.

If you are like me and hate to cut anything that is still growing, your fruit trees could proably use a good pruning and shaping.  A well cared for tree, trained and regularly pruned, will reward you with higher quality fruit and should fruit younger and live longer.   So this is crucial whether you just put your trees in or you inherited an antique orchard.

Pruning is a winter sport.  This is called dormant pruning, as opposed to the trimming you might still need to do in spring and summer.   When a tree is dormant, its energy is going into maintaining its roots and trunk.  If you were to prune while the tree was growing,  the stress would cause the tree to send out lots of water sprouts and take the emphasis off of forming fruit.  This is less likely to happen while the tree is dormant.

Your tree could still suffer winter injury, so timing is important.  It needs to be before the spring thaw, when the buds begin to break, but not so early in the winter that the tree will be damaged by the severe weather.  Check with your local Extension office for recommended pruning times in your area.  Generally, apple and pecan trees are the first ones ready to be pruned, followed by the later blooming stone fruits - cherry, peach, and plum.   You should prune the older trees first, since the younger the tree, the more suceptible it will be to winter damage.  Like trees, grapes and raspberries respond better to a late winter pruning.

Most people know they should be pruning dead wood and opening the branches to light and air flow, but training trees has not gotten much notice until recently.  What's the difference?  You prune branches here and there to maintain the tree's structure, as when you remove crossing branches or suckers.  Training means you are directing the tree growth into the form you desire, similar to bonsai.  Proper training should result

The copyright of the article Getting Rid of Dead Wood in Vegetable Gardening is owned by Marie Iannotti. Permission to republish Getting Rid of Dead Wood in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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