Your video deserves more views! I gotta say, I felt like I was right there with you, feeling every bit of that pruning anxiety. It's one of those tasks that seems so daunting at first, especially when you're staring down a tree that's turned into a bit of a wild beast over the years. But you tackled it head-on, and that's commendable! The part where you discussed the difference between pruning for an open vase design versus a central leader system really hit home for me. It's such a crucial piece of the puzzle, and you explained your thought process so well. It's a great reminder that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to this, and sometimes you just have to go with your gut and learn as you go. I totally get the fear of making the wrong cut and potentially harming the tree, but as you've shown, sometimes you just have to dive in and give it your best shot. Your determination to improve your fruit production and tree health is inspiring. And hey, pruning is definitely one of those skills that gets better with practice and time. I think the best part of your journey was seeing how you adapted and made decisions on the fly, especially with that peach tree that had the healing crack. It's a great example of how homesteading often requires us to be problem solvers and to work with what we've got. Remember, we're all learning together in this homesteading community, and sharing our experiences, successes, and even our oops moments helps us all grow. Your video is a fantastic contribution to that shared knowledge pool. Keep up the great work, and I'm looking forward to seeing how your trees flourish this season. Let's keep supporting each other and sharing what we learn. Happy homesteading!
Thank you for your encouragement. You are so right. This journey is a learning experience and the Homesteading community is the best support we can all have. Mistakes will be made and successes will be had. It is all about learning and moving forward. Thanks for watching.
I laughed out loud with this. I can totally relate. I've struggled with this same problem. I always feel like I am cutting the wrong branches, too many, or at the wrong place. You'll see a variety of methods on here, so it can be confusing. I think you opened it up nicely. Should get a lot of sun and airflow. I know that both apples and peaches love that. I bet one of the apple orchards around here would love to give you some advice in exchange for some free advertising. I look forward to seeing how that tree does.
Nice video, but you are over thinking it (as I did for many years.) Bottom line. Prune your trees for healthy fruit production, regardless of what they look like (go visit a local fruit farm and you will be very surprised what they do). Too much pruning tells the tree it needs to grow more and will not provide much fruit, but plenty of new growth. That means to me leaving branches that produce fruit (learning the difference between fruit buds and leaf buds is super important - fruit buds form last year and have to winter over - very rarely do new buds form this year and fruit), opening up the tree to get air and sun (regardless of the central leader or shape), and removing unwanted / dead branches, as well as managing the size / height for easier picking (or is a ladder ok for you). In the end it is about quality fruit, not quantity (unless you want a bunch of small ones). And a good management plan includes pest, disease, animal control, water application, and fertilizer usage as well. Don't choke the tree roots with grass, and don't pile mulch on the trunk. A few things I learned from failure. Pears do well in very controlled and tightly kept trees (look how yours grew) they fruit in any direction, Apples prefer horizontal branches - training them helps and requires a mating non-like pollinator, and peaches like plenty of sun and open air and can self-pollinate but prefer a pairing tree. Once a branch fruits, they do for 8 to 10 years in general terms, don't cut them back to far, cut others (huge mistake I kept making). Let the tree(s) change shape as it produces quality fruits, not have a predetermined look, each one might be different. And once you see blight or disease there is very little chance of coming back this year and never leave fruit on the ground near a tree, it is inviting problems. And stop watching too many youtube videos, they show what works for them, and that isn't always a good thing for our own fruit production.
Thank you so much for the reply. You have explained a lot things very well. I will watch my trees very closely this year to see how they reacted to my pruning. We have a local orchard not to far from us so we will pay them a visit and observe their trees as you suggested. I agree that I am overthinking things which can happen from information overload but concentrating more on the health of the tree and the fruit production as you have suggested makes a lot of sense. This will come with more experience and my comfort level increasing. Thank you once again.
Your video deserves more views!
I gotta say, I felt like I was right there with you, feeling every bit of that pruning anxiety. It's one of those tasks that seems so daunting at first, especially when you're staring down a tree that's turned into a bit of a wild beast over the years. But you tackled it head-on, and that's commendable!
The part where you discussed the difference between pruning for an open vase design versus a central leader system really hit home for me. It's such a crucial piece of the puzzle, and you explained your thought process so well. It's a great reminder that there's no one-size-fits-all approach to this, and sometimes you just have to go with your gut and learn as you go.
I totally get the fear of making the wrong cut and potentially harming the tree, but as you've shown, sometimes you just have to dive in and give it your best shot. Your determination to improve your fruit production and tree health is inspiring. And hey, pruning is definitely one of those skills that gets better with practice and time.
I think the best part of your journey was seeing how you adapted and made decisions on the fly, especially with that peach tree that had the healing crack. It's a great example of how homesteading often requires us to be problem solvers and to work with what we've got.
Remember, we're all learning together in this homesteading community, and sharing our experiences, successes, and even our oops moments helps us all grow. Your video is a fantastic contribution to that shared knowledge pool. Keep up the great work, and I'm looking forward to seeing how your trees flourish this season. Let's keep supporting each other and sharing what we learn. Happy homesteading!
Thank you for your encouragement. You are so right. This journey is a learning experience and the Homesteading community is the best support we can all have. Mistakes will be made and successes will be had. It is all about learning and moving forward. Thanks for watching.
I laughed out loud with this. I can totally relate. I've struggled with this same problem. I always feel like I am cutting the wrong branches, too many, or at the wrong place. You'll see a variety of methods on here, so it can be confusing. I think you opened it up nicely. Should get a lot of sun and airflow. I know that both apples and peaches love that. I bet one of the apple orchards around here would love to give you some advice in exchange for some free advertising. I look forward to seeing how that tree does.
Glad you enjoyed it. Everything is a learning experience I guess. Thanks for watching.
i wouldnt know where to start when its comes to pruning, i would end up taking the wrong ones off
Thanks for watching
It looks like you have electric around your orchard. Do you like it? We currently have each tree fenced and it's a pain for mowing!
Actually the wires you see are our grape trellis wires, but it is still a pain for mowing. Thanks for watching.
Nice video, but you are over thinking it (as I did for many years.) Bottom line. Prune your trees for healthy fruit production, regardless of what they look like (go visit a local fruit farm and you will be very surprised what they do). Too much pruning tells the tree it needs to grow more and will not provide much fruit, but plenty of new growth. That means to me leaving branches that produce fruit (learning the difference between fruit buds and leaf buds is super important - fruit buds form last year and have to winter over - very rarely do new buds form this year and fruit), opening up the tree to get air and sun (regardless of the central leader or shape), and removing unwanted / dead branches, as well as managing the size / height for easier picking (or is a ladder ok for you). In the end it is about quality fruit, not quantity (unless you want a bunch of small ones). And a good management plan includes pest, disease, animal control, water application, and fertilizer usage as well. Don't choke the tree roots with grass, and don't pile mulch on the trunk. A few things I learned from failure. Pears do well in very controlled and tightly kept trees (look how yours grew) they fruit in any direction, Apples prefer horizontal branches - training them helps and requires a mating non-like pollinator, and peaches like plenty of sun and open air and can self-pollinate but prefer a pairing tree. Once a branch fruits, they do for 8 to 10 years in general terms, don't cut them back to far, cut others (huge mistake I kept making). Let the tree(s) change shape as it produces quality fruits, not have a predetermined look, each one might be different. And once you see blight or disease there is very little chance of coming back this year and never leave fruit on the ground near a tree, it is inviting problems. And stop watching too many youtube videos, they show what works for them, and that isn't always a good thing for our own fruit production.
Thank you so much for the reply. You have explained a lot things very well. I will watch my trees very closely this year to see how they reacted to my pruning. We have a local orchard not to far from us so we will pay them a visit and observe their trees as you suggested. I agree that I am overthinking things which can happen from information overload but concentrating more on the health of the tree and the fruit production as you have suggested makes a lot of sense. This will come with more experience and my comfort level increasing. Thank you once again.