I’m starting to prune my sister’s orchard in Buckley,WA.
The Grapes were the first to get attacked.What a mess.Some of the main branches may have rooted in other locations.They have also surrounded some fruit trees and are just about covering them.Still much work needed to even find all the trunks.
I’m also not sure what exactly to leave for this year’s crop.
The Peach tree was fairly straight forward.The dead and crossing limbs were removed,along with some very low growth.
A lot of a Shiro Plum’s lower,shaded growth was dead and Lichen covered,which was removed,which left one scaffold out of three that had new growth.Quite a bit was taken from the top,because there were layers of long vertical branches,covering each other.
A Bosc Pear had(and still does)many hanging lower branches,that are getting thinned(scion wood anyone?)There are three or four branches competing for a central leader which still need to get thinned. Brady
Brady,
Yes the grapes look better. I try to get them down to 2-3 main vines. All the new wood is what will produce this years grapes. I noticed you knew that because you left enough to produce fruit. I would get rid of that tangle at the base and pick 2-3 of the biggest vines.
Pears are not easy to make look pretty because they have a tendency towards a central leader which I allow mine to do. I get rid of low branches like your doing, crossed branches, branches that grow straight up, branches to close together, branches growing downward, branches growing back towards the tree, branches that have a sharp angle between them and the tree. That being said don’t try to change the world this year in terms of big branches or as you know pears pay you back the following year with a bunch of straight up new growth that will make the grapes look pleasant to prune. I’m far from a pruning expert but one bit of advice I can offer is watch out for your fruit in all of this because if you take off to much of the fruiting wood it causes excessive vegetative growth. This is all also about getting large fruit. Taking off to many big limbs causes problems also so try not to drop more than a couple per year even on those neglected trees. When you make your cuts on branches make sure the buds at the end of your cuts are headed out and not in so the branches grow out.
So I would take off those two large branches and trim the straight up growth off the other and call it good. I would try to get it some air by trimming larger trees around it off of it. I can’t tell if some of that straight up stuff is other trees or the pear but either way when I looked at that picture next time the stuff straight up would be gone. That’s a really good looking pear and in very good condition overall. It will bury you in excellent quality fruit for a number of years. It’s something you can be very proud of.
Thanks Clark,
That looks like a plan.I’ve read that there are two basic ways to prune dormant Grapes,depending on variety.
Here are a couple of videos by Dave Wilson Nursery. Brady
