Today we hosted a pruning demonstration for fruit trees. It was held in Jeff Windom's backyard. Jeff is a Master Gardener in our county who has first hand knowledge about pruning fruit trees. You would be absolutely amazed at what he has done with a small suburban backyard. His lot has no topsoil, as it was scraped off when the house was built. Today he told me that he once did a percolation test by filling a hole with water to see how long it took to drain. He said the hole still had water two weeks later! To make up for this, he grows his veggies in either raised beds or containers, but the fruit trees are planted directly in that soil without anything added to the planting hole. He has well over 35 fruit trees back there plus a small veggie garden. Did I mention it is all on a slope? If I were to have bought a house on a lot like that, I would have been tempted to despair. What could you possibly do with a sloping backyard with terrible soil? Well, as it turns out, a lot!
Mainly he is interested in peaches and apples and he grows over 30 different varieties of fruit trees.
All of his fruit trees are pruned to stay short enough so that he can work them without climbing up and down a ladder. They are also pruned using either the central leader system for apples, or the open vase shape for peaches. He even has a small spray rig which he hooks up to his riding lawn mower so that he can control insect and disease problems. His boxer, Gracie, is his orchard manager. She oversees the work and does quality control testing on any fruit on low-hanging branches. Today she followed Jeff all around the grove, standing by his side as he explained all about their trees and the care that is involved with them.
Jeff is very knowledgeable and did a great job. There was a good turnout as well as you can see from the photos.
Gracie takes a break
Great pictures and a beautiful boxer!
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