Lazy J Bar C

Lazy J Bar C

Monday, January 23, 2012

Pruning the Fruit Trees - Finally!

We finally got out yesterday and pruned the dwarf fruit trees. Sadly, I must admit that this is the first time we have done it since we planted them as bareroot stock in 2007. The first few years, they didn't really need it and last year I just never got around to it. The pear and plum trees were getting too tall and the peach tree had so many branches and leaves that there was no light getting to the fruit inside to ripen it. The taller tree to the left is a Carpathian walnut tree and it is supposed to be tall so I didn't mess with it. We actually got seven walnuts off of it this past year! :)


When I go back and look at the pictures, it is kind of hard to tell we actually did anything on the pear and plum trees!

Kieffer pear before

Kieffer pear after

The silly pear tree is budding out already! I'm not sure what kind of yield we will get this year, I don't think we have had enough chill hours.

Santa Rosa plum before

Santa Rosa plum after

The height of the plum tree is now even with the top of the fence but it's hard to tell with the Vitex in the background. I cut about two feet off the top.

Peach before

Peach after

The peach tree was given to us so I don't know the variety but it bears the biggest, juiciest, freestone peaches and it is only about 4-1/2 feet tall! YUM!

I certainly hope we did our pruning right and that it helps the trees be more productive. I'm linking up with Heidi's Country Garden Showcase at My Simple Country Living.

15 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

ooh. thanks for the reminder. need to trim the crape myrtles here soon. last year i let them go wild. need to trim again!

Carolyn said...

Thanks for the reminder! I HATE pruning....it's SOOOO hard for me to lop off something living!

dr momi said...

I foresee lots of produce this year :-) We'll wait a couple months before we prune here.

Teresa said...

I have a rogue goat herd that did some "extreme" pruning on my fruit trees. Yours look great!

Millie said...

Tell me you at least gave the prunings to the goats for a snack!

Farmgirl Heidi said...

Candy,
Those trees are going to be very grateful this summer and so will your fruit. Did you that that a good pruning actually speeds up fruit maturity? It's true. I LOVE the shape and height of the peach tree and you did a great job airing out the center of that pear. Perfect! Great job.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Your trees look great.

Candy C. said...

TWG,
Crape Myrtles are so pretty! You should post pictures this spring!

Carolyn Renee,
I know, that's why I hadn't done it before! LOL!!

dr momi,
I sure hope so! The stinkin' birds got it all last year in SPITE of the bird netting!

Candy C. said...

Teresa,
No! Not your sweet goaties, they would NEVER do that! ;-)

Millie,
Ya' know, I didn't but I think I'll get the trimmings out of the brush pile and give them to the goat girls!

Candy C. said...

Heidi,
Yeah, I do know that it is good for them but like CR, it's hard for me to cut back "living" limbs! LOL!!

Kristina,
Thanks and they'll be happier too! :)

Ngo Family Farm said...

The first thing we did after we bought our farm was to plant a bunch of fruit trees! This should be the year when some of them start to give fruit! Looking at your mature ones just got me all excited for spring. :)
-Jaime

Candy C. said...

Jaime,
How exciting to finally get fruit from your very own trees! It gives such a feeling of accomplishment! :)

SweetLand Farm said...

Oh they look good. Can't wait to see some fruit on those trees! I hope you have a great yield and they taste good too! I would love to have fruit trees, but as of right now I can't... someday soon I hope and pray!

Unknown said...

Ah spring there, winter here. No pruning for me til April/May...

Candy C. said...

SweetLand Farm,
I'm hoping for a good yield this year, last year was pitiful!

Nancy,
It is unseasonably warm right now, we could still have "winter" through the end of April.