Planting and Pruning Young Fruit Trees (on-farm workshop) – 25 June

Description

This jam-packed one-hour workshop will cover everything you need to know to give your new trees the best possible start in life when you get them home.

Planting and pruning young fruit trees is straightforward when you know what to do. Too often, we see people make simple mistakes that can cost years of productivity down the track.

This is an outdoor, practical-based workshop where we’ll demonstrate a simple, safe, and effective fruit tree planting technique using minimal equipment. You’ll learn what to do about drainage, how to prepare your tree for planting, and what to do when you’re planting into weeds, green manure, or clay soil.

Then we’ll cover the basics of the all-important (but often neglected) “Establishment Pruning” technique.

Neglecting to prune your fruit tree when you plant it can lead to branches growing in the wrong place. Correcting this later can be difficult, and may result in years of lost productivity for the tree.

By the end of this workshop, you’ll feel confident to take your new trees home and give them an excellent start in life!

Who is this workshop for?

• People who are planting new fruit trees this winter
• People who will be visiting the farm to pick up their pre-ordered trees from Carr’s Organic Fruit Tree Nursery
• Gardeners who work in other people’s gardens

What does this workshop cover?

Planting:

• How to plant fruit trees so they don’t need stakes or other support
• How to safely store your tree until you have time to plant it (and how long for)
• Equipment, size of the hole, whether to prune the roots
• How deep to plant your trees
• What to add to the soil when you plant your tree
• Drainage and deciding whether to mound your tree above-ground
• What to do when you’re planting into clay soil
• The pros and cons of mulch and weed mat

Establishment pruning:

• Deciding what training system you want for your tree, e.g. vase, espalier
• Establishment pruning to create the shape of tree you want
• Why it’s so important to prune your fruit tree before spring
• How to manage multigrafts and fruit salad trees

What you need to bring:

• Your fruit tree if you want specific advice on where to prune it
• A pen and paper for note-taking (there are no notes supplied)
• Appropriate warm and outdoor clothing and footwear

Workshop presenters:

Hugh reckons he’s dug approximately 10,000 holes to plant fruit trees, so he’ll be leading the planting part of the workshop. Katie has followed behind and pruned those 10,000 trees, so she’ll be taking care of the ‘Establishment Pruning’ part of the workshop.

SPECIAL NOTES

1. Grow Great Fruit members receive a 50% discount on all on-farm workshops. The discount will be automatically applied at checkout.
2. A reminder email will be sent out in the week before the workshop, which will also give location details.