Managing Fruit Trees by Summer Pruning
04/02/22 • 14 min
Summer pruning is a confusing management practice. It starts around late spring or very early summer and may continue all summer long. Its purpose is twofold: keep the tree smaller and reduce the winter pruning workload. Summer pruning focuses on removal of new growth only from existing productive trees. Summer pruning allows the tree to invest new growth where it senses light and a "hole" in the canopy needs to be "plugged". When fruit trees are meant to stay small, summer pruning can be a valuable management tool. Learn all about it on this episode of Desert Horticulture.
Summer pruning is a confusing management practice. It starts around late spring or very early summer and may continue all summer long. Its purpose is twofold: keep the tree smaller and reduce the winter pruning workload. Summer pruning focuses on removal of new growth only from existing productive trees. Summer pruning allows the tree to invest new growth where it senses light and a "hole" in the canopy needs to be "plugged". When fruit trees are meant to stay small, summer pruning can be a valuable management tool. Learn all about it on this episode of Desert Horticulture.
Previous Episode
Buying and Growing Citrus in the Eastern Mojave Desert
I'm not a huge fan of growing citrus at the middle elevations in the Eastern Mojave desert but it can be done. Citrus production is best done in southern Arizona and at lower elevations, warm parts of Southern California such as Riverside and Orange counties and along coastal regions such as the Galveston area of Texas. Citrus in our part of the world is best treated as a hobby; some years you get a good crop and other years you don't. Because of global climate change and Covid, citrus is become very popular for home gardens. This episode of Desert Horticulture focuses on what kind of citrus to buy, wear and how to plant these small to medium-sized fruit trees.
Next Episode
Fire Blight Disease in Your Fruit Trees
Fire blight disease is one of the most virulent and aggressive diseases that fruit trees and landscape plants can get. This past year we've had an outbreak of this disease. Some fruit trees and landscape plants are more susceptible to it than others. In particular Asian pears, Quince and some European pears as well is apples can get it. Walk your landscape and Orchard in the spring months when new growth occurs. If you've had fireblight in the past walked your landscape frequently to check on this disease. Learn more about this disease by listening to this episode of Desert horticulture.
If you like this episode you’ll love
Episode Comments
Generate a badge
Get a badge for your website that links back to this episode
<a href="https://goodpods.com/podcasts/desert-horticulture-221748/managing-fruit-trees-by-summer-pruning-25346645"> <img src="https://storage.googleapis.com/goodpods-images-bucket/badges/generic-badge-1.svg" alt="listen to managing fruit trees by summer pruning on goodpods" style="width: 225px" /> </a>
Copy