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Learn How To Prune Dormant Deciduous Fruit Trees Properly

(This article is recycled from 2010, so includes outdated information. It is deferred from yesterday because Wi-Fi was not operational.)

Deciduous fruit trees require very specialized pruning.

            So many of the kids I grew up with now have an apricot tree in their own back yard, even though not many of us actually like the fruit. We all remember the remnant orchards, mostly apricots, which were scattered about the Santa Clara Valley when we were young. We also remember how we consumed vast volumes of apricots in every form imaginable; including fresh, dried, canned and stewed, and in jams, jellies, compotes, syrups and pies. I could go on, but it would ruin my appetite.

            Deciduous fruit and nut trees are certainly not ‘low maintenance’. Most need to be pruned annually, while dormant in winter. If not pruned correctly, they become overburdened with their own fruit. Also, the process of selecting from the many different cultivars of the many different types of fruit is quite a chore. There are many more cultivars to choose from for home gardens than for orchards, particularly with the many modern cultivars introduced during the past few decades.

            Because those who maintained the orchards are now as nearly extinct from the Valley as the orchards are, we need to know how to care for our own trees. This is why Friends of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens has scheduled the Dormant Fruit Tree Pruning Class with Sean McGrail in only a few days, on January 23, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m.. Tools, techniques and basic pruning concepts will be explained and demonstrated among the many fruit trees, including apricots, cherries, prunes, apples and others, of the Historic Orchard of Guadalupe Gardens. Participants will then get to participate in pruning some of these trees. The Historic Orchard is located just south of Taylor Street in San Jose, adjacent to the Guadalupe River Park Trails. Admission is $15. 

            A week later, on January 30 from 9:00 a.m. to noon, the Best of the Best class, also with Sean McGrail, as well as Nancy Garrison and the California Rare Fruit Growers, will discuss many of the best fruit cultivars for the Santa Clara Valley. Afterward, planting, site selection, drainage and pruning of new trees will be demonstrated in the Historic Orchard. Admission is $30. Required registration can be arranged by telephoning 298 7657. Information about both classes can be found online at www.grpg.org.     

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Dormant Pruning Exploits Winter Dormancy

Fruit trees become congested without pruning.

Bare root season begins as the year ends for a simple reason. That is when deciduous plants are dormant. They are unaware of the otherwise distressful process of relocation. This is also why winter is the season for dormant pruning. Such pruning would be very distressful at any other time of year. While dormant, deciduous plants are unaware of it.

Dormant pruning of fruit trees is also important for a simple reason. Extensive breeding has increased reliance on horticultural intervention. In other words, deciduous fruit trees now generate more fruit than they can support. Their fruit is both unnaturally abundant and unnaturally large. It is both too heavy and too consumptive for its unpruned stems.

Dormant pruning enhances the quality of fruit by concentrating resources. Although less copious, fruit is bigger and better. Also, dormant pruning enhances structural integrity of supportive stems. Although more vigorous, vegetative growth is more compact. Stouter stems endure less leverage from fruit weight. As a bonus, more fruit is easier to reach.

Almost all deciduous fruit trees require very specialized dormant pruning. This includes some nut trees, as well as grapevines, kiwi vines, cane berries and roses. However, it does not include evergreen fruit trees, like citrus and avocados. They do not need such aggressive pruning. Besides, pruning stimulates new growth that is vulnerable to frost.

Unfortunately, dormant pruning is too specialized to describe in a few paragraphs. For most deciduous fruit trees, it is quite aggressive. Peach and nectarine trees may benefit from removal of half of their stem growth! Apricot and plum trees need a bit less pruning. Cherry and almond trees may need only minor pruning. Yet, all six are stone fruit trees.

Apple, pear and quince are all pomme fruits. Their trees require similar dormant pruning. Their many varieties require various degrees of such pruning though. Fig, mulberry and persimmon trees all require particular types of dormant pruning as well. Deciduous fruit trees are certainly not low maintenance. This should be considered before planting any.

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Bare Root Stock

Bare root stock is none too pretty in the beginning.

Now that Christmas trees have been moved out of the nurseries, it is time for bare root plants to move in! As the term implies, bare root plants have ‘bare roots’, lacking typical media (such as potting soil) which is typically contained in cans or pots. All sorts of deciduous fruit trees, roses, grapes and berries can be purchased bare root, either bagged with moist wood shavings, or out of the ‘sand boxes’ that they are heeled into in the nurseries. Even more are available from mail order catalogues. (Just check climate zone ratings for mail order stock.)

I purchased all of my deciduous fruit trees bare root mainly to save money. Bare root stock typically costs about half of what canned stock (grown in a nursery can or pot) does. Also, because bare root stock does not take up as much space as canned stock does, more varieties can be brought in and made available during bare root season.

Bare root stock gets established into the garden more efficiently than canned stock does. It gets dug, transported and planted while dormant; and can disperse roots into relatively uniform soil immediately after dormancy. However, stock that gets canned wakes up in spring in uncomfortably warm and confining nursery cans. After adapting to nursery conditions, it must then adapt to new garden environments, and disperse roots into soil that is very different from what it already rooted into.

Bare root stock should be planted as soon as possible after it leaves the nursery so that roots do not get too dry. If they can not get planted immediately, plants that were pulled from sand boxes in nurseries should get their roots heeled into (covered with) damp soil. Bagged stock in original packaging is safe for a few days in the shade.

Roots should be soaked a few hours before planting. I prefer to instead keep roots well watered for a day after planting. Broken or damaged roots should be pruned away before planting. Damaged and superfluous stems should be pruned away after planting.

Planting holes for bare root stock can be wide enough to loosen surrounding soil, but should be no deeper than necessary. Plants are likely to settle too deeply if the soil below is too loose. All roots should be buried while graft unions (the odd ‘kinks’ low on the trunks of grafted trees) remain exposed. Soil can be mounded firmly into a ‘volcano’ in the middle of each hole to spread roots over. Backfill soil can be amended lightly; not so much that it is too different from surrounding soil.

A basin should be formed around each new bare root plant so that roots can be soaked and settled in by filling the basins with water twice. Bare root plants are initially dormant and lack foliage, so do not need water again until they develop foliage, and the soil gets dry in spring. Besides, rain and cool weather will keep the soil wet through winter.

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Living Christmas Trees Eventually Mature

Living Christmas trees are real trees.

Christmas trees are extreme cut foliage. They stand alone, rather than as accessories to cut flowers. Most are a few feet tall, and some are much grander. Ultimately though, they are as disposable as cut flowers. Because they are so expensive, their disposal seems to be wasteful. Realistically though, they are more practical than living Christmas trees.

Now that living Christmas trees remain after Christmas, they require attention. They are otherwise as disposable as cut trees are. Large specimens are too expensive to discard. They might also be difficult to maintain. Because almost all were field grown, they are in very dense and heavy soil. Such soil can retain either insufficient or excessive moisture.

Many initially healthy living Christmas trees can deteriorate through summer. Some get too shabby to function as a Christmas tree before their second Christmas. They adapt to local climates slowly after leaving the climates in which they grew. Some do not survive. They are happier in the ground than in a tub, but as such, can not come in for Christmas.

Living Christmas trees are less expensive than cut trees only after a few years of service. Several of the more compact types can actually survive containment for several years. A few can survive in tubs indefinitely with occasional pruning. Otherwise, most eventually need to graduate from containment to a garden. This is not as simple as it seems to be.

Visual appeal and price limit selection of living Christmas trees. Physical characteristics of such trees should be more of a consideration. Some are more tolerant of confinement within large pots than others are. Some will eventually be quite adaptable to landscapes. The unfortunate reality is that many become very large trees that need substantial space.

Small pre-decorated trees in mylar wrap are the most common of living Christmas trees. Unfortunately, most are either Italian stone pine or Canary Island pine. Both grow too big for compact gardens. Planting living Christmas trees in the wild is not a practical option. Without irrigation, formerly confined trees can not survive long enough to disperse roots. If they could, they can damage local ecology.

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Modern Roses Require Dormant Pruning

Aggressive dormant pruning promotes spring and summer bloom.

(This recycled article posted in 2012, so some information within is now outdated.)

Just about anyone can plant roses in the garden, and care for them for at least the first year. Pruning them properly while they are dormant in winter in order to get them to perform satisfactorily every subsequent year is what most of us who grow roses have difficulty with. Like deciduous fruit trees, roses should not be planted and expected to perform with minimal attention. They certainly should not be pruned with hedge shears!

The once modern, but increasingly old-fashioned, hybrid T roses have traditionally been the most common victims of inadequate pruning, since they need such aggressive pruning every winter to prevent overgrowth that interferes with healthy cane growth and bloom. More modern cultivars (cultivated varieties) designed to resemble older roses, as well as reintroduced old fashioned roses are generally not so demanding, but likewise perform best with proper dormant pruning. There are slightly, and not so slightly, different ways to prune the different types of roses. Even the ‘low maintenance’ carpet roses should be pruned to some degree.

Fortunately for those of us who are just learning about roses, the first of several free rose pruning lessons in the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden began this morning, January 4. These hands-on lessons continue at 9:00 a.m. every Wednesday and Saturday until late February. Participants meet in the center of the Garden. The minimum age to attend is sixteen; but minors without parental supervision require a signed minor release form that can be obtained from the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy.

Participants should bring bypass shears, leather gloves, closed-toe shoes and preferably a water bottle. Those who lack shears or gloves can borrow what they need at the Garden. The Heritage Rose Garden is located on West Taylor Street near Walnut Street in San Jose. Parking can be found on Seymour, Taylor or Walnut Streets. More information can be obtained by email to Emily of the Guadalupe River Park Conservancy at emily@grpg.org  or by telephoning 298 7657.

The Heritage Rose Garden is the most complete collection of old world roses, the ancestors of modern roses, in the world! Although it lacks modern cultivars, it exhibits a remarkably extensive variety of roses, with all sorts of growth habits. There really is no other garden where one can prune roses with the same basic techniques in so many different ways.

Incidentally, modern hybrid T roses derive their designation from the ‘T budding’ technique employed to attach the scion (upper blooming portion) to the understock (roots), not because the rose hips (fruiting structures) are used to make tea. However, all sorts of roses, including floribundas, polyanthas, grandifloras and all sorts of climbing roses, are budded by the same means; and many hybrid T roses are actually grown on their own roots and not budded onto understock at all. The designation of hybrid T seems somewhat out dated, but is still effective.

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Bareroot Season Begins With January

Bare roots are dormant for winter.

Christmas trees and associated items are no imposition for nurseries. They are seasonal while not much else is appealing to a retail market. They occupy retail area that summer and autumn commodities relinquished earlier. Then, they relinquish their same space as bareroot stock becomes seasonable. The chronology is very coincidentally very efficient.

Bareroot season is not actually contingent on the end of Christmas tree season. It begins with winter dormancy of bareroot stock. This dormancy merely and fortuitously coincides with Christmas. It is as effective as anesthesia for surgery. Basically, dormant stock goes to sleep on a farm, and awakens in a new home garden. Timing of the process is critical.

Bareroot stock initially grows in the ground rather than within nursery cans. Separation of its roots from the soil they grew is harmless during dormancy. Both roots and stems need simultaneous pruning. Then, stock is ready for transport without soil. Some gets packing of moist sawdust in plastic bags. Most awaits resale from bins of moist sand at nurseries.

Bareroot stock has several advantages to more familiar canned nursery stock. It is much less expensive. It is also much less cumbersome. So, not only are more items affordable, but also, more fit into a car at the nursery. Their relatively small roots systems are easy to install. More importantly, without binding, their new roots disperse much more efficiently.

Deciduous fruit trees are the most popular bareroot stock. This includes stone fruits such as apricot, cherry, plum, prune, peach and nectarine. Also, it includes pomme fruits such as apple, pear and quince. Roses and cane berries are likely the second most popular of bareroot stock. Persimmon, pomegranate, fig, mulberry, and nut trees are also available.

Some of the more unusual bareroot stock is available only from online catalogues. More variety seems to become available locally though. Elderberry has only been available in California for the past several years. Currant and gooseberry are variably available here. Artichoke, asparagus, rhubarb and strawberry are perennials that are available bareroot. Cultivars of blueberry and grapevines are available.

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Bare Root Begins As Christmas Ends

Bare root stock is exactly what it sounds like.

Now that nurseries and garden centers are no longer selling Christmas trees, they have plenty of room for bare root stock. All sorts of deciduous fruit trees, a few deciduous shade trees, shrubs and vines, and even a few perennials can now be purchased while dormant and without the cumbersome media (soil) that the roots need at all other times of the year. Not only is bare root stock easier to handle and transport in small cars, but it is also much less expensive than canned stock (that has roots contained in media, which is contained in nursery cans). Bare root stock typically costs about a third of what canned stock costs.

Bare root stock also has the advantage of adapting to new garden easier, since it does not need to leave the comfort zone of the media that it would have grown into (within a can) in order to venture out into unfamiliar soil. Instead, it starts to disperse roots into the new home soil immediately as it emerges from dormancy in late winter. Without cans, bare root stock can not get root bound. Instead of developing branch structure that is appealing to nursery marketing, bare root stock can get an early start on developing branch structure that is most practical and efficient for the gardens that it gets installed into.

It seems that all of the ´stone’ fruit can be found as bare root stock. These include apricot, cherry, plum, prune, peach, nectarine, almond (which is the seed, or ´stone’, of a peach like fruit) and the odd hybrids of these. The pomme fruits, apple, pear and quince, are perhaps the second most popular of bare root stock, although quince is still rather rare. Ornamental trees, shrubs and vines include flowering crabapple, flowering cherry, flowering quince, alder, poplar, willow, lilac, forsythia, wisteria and clematis. Perennials include rhubarb and artichoke.

Bare root stock can be purchased as soon as it becomes available, but does not do much until it starts to grow in spring. It should get planted quickly and soaked in, but will get more water than it needs from rain afterward. It should not need water again until after it blooms or gets new leaves in late winter or early spring. Despite guarantees of fruit in the first year, none should be expected. The few fruit trees that might set fruit will probably produce only useless underdeveloped fruit because new plants are busy producing new roots and growing. Actually though, this apples to canned stock as well, except only for citrus, olives and other evergreen fruit trees.

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Winter Bloom Might Be Limited (deferred from yesterday)

Some camellia varieties bloom for winter.

Except for flowers that bloom randomly throughout the year, most autumn bloom is done. Much of the formerly spectacular autumn foliar color succumbed to wintry rain and wind. Many colorful winter berries have already gone with migratory birds who consume them. Overwintering birds appreciate what lingers. Fortunately, some winter bloom continues.

Cool season annuals likely provide most winter flowers prior to spring. Ornamental kale generates a foliar display like a pastel version of summer coleus. Snowdrop bulbs bloom only white, but look sharp if other bloom is scarce. A few species contribute winter bloom merely because they lack regard for seasons. African daisy blooms whenever it wants to.

However, winter bloom is not comparable to spring bloom. That is an unfortunate reality. Most species that bloom randomly throughout the year bloom best for spring or summer. Most species that bloom specifically during winter are relatively subdued about doing so. Although pollinators are less active, competition for their pollination services is minimal.

Witch hazel is becoming more popular locally for its fragrant winter bloom on bare stems. Modern cultivars bloom with earthy tones of yellow, orange, red, and burgundy red. They prefer cool wintry weather though. Bloom may be inhibited somewhat within mild coastal climates. Winter jasmine bloom, although limited to only brilliant yellow, is more reliable.

Some species of Mahonia likewise bloom reliably but exclusively bright yellow. They are evergreen instead of deciduous. So is andromeda. Its pendulous ivory white or pale pink blooms are more striking in form than color. Daphne, which likely finished bloom already, is more striking in fragrance than color. Its light pink bloom is mostly obscured by foliage.

Camellias are among the most reliably colorful of winter bloom. Their floral color ranges through all hues between white and red. Floral form and abundance are notably diverse. Some bloom rather sparsely. Various cultivars bloom at various times throughout winter. Sasanqua camellias generally bloom earlier, with relatively smaller but profuse flowers. Camellias unfortunately lack fragrance.

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Living Christmas Trees Eventually Grow Up

Although relatively compact, even spruce trees eventually grow up.

One of the problems with driving my favorite vehicles that were old long before I learned to drive them is that I spend considerable time waiting for a bus or walking. The cool thing about that is that I get to seem so much scenery that I would otherwise drive past. While waiting nearly an hour for a bus at the Cavallero Bus Terminal in Scott’s Valley, I went across the street to see the landscape of the somewhat new Post Office, which has actually been there for many years now.

The landscape is a bit sparse in front (I think because of architectural modifications after the landscape was designed), so was outfitted with recycled live Christmas trees. Although none of these particular trees seem happy in the local climate or sandy soil, I had wanted to get better acquainted with them for some time. They are an odd assortment of spruce and fir that are rare here.

The more typical concern with the more common live Christmas trees is not that they are not well suited to local climates and soils, but that they actually do too well and grow much larger than expected. Except for the small rosemary, holly and English ivy ‘trees’, most coniferous evergreen live Christmas trees are young pines that get remarkably large; and some waste no time doing it! The most common live Christmas trees are Italian stone pines, which happen to be the two very large and broad trees in Blaney Plaza in downtown Saratoga!

Canary Island pines, which had been more common than they are now, do not get quite as broad, but do get very tall and messy. Years ago, Aleppo, Eldarica and Monterey pines all took their turns being popular live Christmas trees. Each of them grows large enough to require significant garden space.

This is of course not a problem for the few live Christmas trees that happen to get planted where they have plenty of space. However, those that get planted where they do not have room to grow can cause serious problems. Because they seem so cute and innocent while they are young, and are so often expected to stay cute and innocent, many often get planted dangerously close to houses, where they can displace porches, walkways and even foundations! Large pines, particularly Italian stone pines, are also too messy and potentially combustible (if not pruned and groomed regularly) to be too close to houses.

Sadly, large pines do not like to stay in containers too long. They can be pruned for a few years, but eventually get congested roots. (Bonsai techniques of root pruning can maintain even the largest types of pines in containers indefinitely, but not many of us know these techniques.) Small pines, like Austrian black, Japanese black and Scott’s pine (which has no relation to Scott’s Valley), as well as other small coniferous evergreens, like certain junipers, can stay in containers much longer, but these are the sort that are small enough to get planted in the garden, so do not necessarily need to stay in containers anyway.

If space is not sufficient, pines and other live Christmas trees that eventually get too large really should be given to friends and neighbors who have space to accommodate them. Fortunately, most do not require much attention once they get established after two years or so.

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Cut Foliage For Christmas Decor

Coniferous evergreens are popular Christmas decor.

Christmas trees are extreme cut foliage. They grow on farms like cut foliage that florists use, but are entire trees! Although most fit under household ceilings, some within public venues are famously grand. Nonetheless, they are ultimately as disposable as any other cut foliage. Eventually, after their Christmas season, they become common greenwaste.

Other cut foliage is also popular as home decor through the Christmas season. Much of it is from the same sorts of coniferous trees that become Christmas trees. Almost all of it is evergreen, since deciduous vegetation is already defoliating. A few deciduous stems with colorful bark, such as red twig dogwood, are nice too. So are colorful winter berries.

Cut foliage is more practical as wintry decor within climates with cooler winter weather. Not much blooms during such weather. However, because of this same wintry weather, people prefer to be inside. While inside, they appreciate the color, texture, and perhaps aroma of cut foliage. Locally, such foliar decor for winter is more traditional than practical.

Actually, the most traditional cut foliage of Christmas is uncommon within local gardens. Scraps from the lowest branches of Christmas trees are a good source of minor bits of it. Premade wreaths and garland include a few types that are otherwise unobtainable here. Improvisation is necessary to create wreaths and garlands from locally available foliage.

Only a few of the few blue spruce that live here grow large enough to share many stems. Their best foliar growth is also their most important structural growth. Removal of it might cause minor disfigurement. Other spruce, as well as various fir, are very rare within home gardens. So is Eastern white pine, although a few other pines are notably common here.

Atlas cedar, Deodar cedar, various cypress and various juniper are also rather common. A few sorts of holly are uncommon but not rare, but they produce only a few berries here. Holly olive may be more common, and resembles English holly, but produces no berries. Southern magnolia is a strikingly untraditional cut foliage, but becomes fragile as it dries.