The Grounded Orchardist

So I’m pleased to say that the winter pruning is now over for my orchard. I say pleased…I am a little sad too as I really enjoy pruning.

Over all I am very pleased with how the orchard has bounced back. It was very overgrown in places when I came. There was not a lot of fruit bud. What little fruit there was, was at the tops of the trees. Due to all the vigour being at the top, the lower canopy was distinctly lacking in branches let alone fruit.

The heritage section is all trained fruit. We have Fans, Three tiered Espaliers, U cordons, Double U cordons.

I told my bosses it would take two years to get them back in shape and I am pleased to say that estimate was right. There are three rows which need another year in my estimate. There is now a lot of fruit bud and I am expecting a lot more next year. We have lots of new branches which are gradually forming the lower canopy and the leaders are all tipped back allowing the vigour to go back into the tree. In terms of disease, there was minimal Canker. Five trees need to come out due to Fire blight but that’s it.

The heritage section contains our trained fruit. I am hoping that now they are back in shape they will bulk out a bit. They still need a bit of work so perhaps another years growth

My plan was to write a blog post early in the season to give you some pruning tips and go a bit more in depth than the tips on my last post. However, after writing a pruning course, teaching others, pruning other orchards/trees, orchard tours and of course pruning the orchard at work. I have struggled to find the time and at times really want to think about something else. So I’ll do an in depth post in Autumn, ready for the next winter pruning season.

I’ll also write about the pruning courses another time but I am pleased to say they went very well.

So now I’m thinking about spring and the tasks that come with that but for now I get to plan creating habitats for biodiversity within the orchard, enjoying the calm before the new season starts and helping my colleagues on ornamentals!