Pruning at Blueskin

This weekend in Dunedin we were warned there would be snow on the hills which would be enough to keep most people in bed early in the morning, yet I fought the cold air and made my way out to Blueskin nursery to learn a thing or two about pruning.

Blueskin nursery is 20 minutes north of Dunedin and has won a number of awards as an outstanding gardening centre. It is owned by Mark and Clare Brown and has been in operation for 21 years. I arrived and it was brisk but sunny and I sat down on one of the chairs put out in front of an array of fruiting plants. The session was hosted by Mark Brown and he began by introducing the group to gooseberrys. I was very tempted into buying one of these plants as I have never eaten a gooseberry but the bank balance said "No!" so I might put it to the back of my mind just now.  He used the gooseberry to demonstrate how to create a standard. 

To create a standard you select a strong centrally upright leader and remove all other stems. This leader should be trained up a stake to a desired height while removing side shoots after each growing season, you can do this by actually digging your thumb nail into the stem and removing the whole bud. Once the leader has grown to the desired height the top bud should be removed (to promote bushy growth) and the strongest three to five side buds left to create the plant.

Standard Gooseberry

He then went on to demonstrate how to prune berry bushes. He started out with a blackberry demonstrating that the best way to prune was to cut the old wood out at the base of the plant ensuring that the middle of the plant gets lots of light and ventilation. Blackberrys fruit on the wood from the year before however in the case of red currants the fruit is found on wood from two years ago and hence is harder to keep track of. A little handy hint he gave us to help with this was to cut the wood as you collect the fruit that way you are only removing the old wood that has fruited. 

He then moved on to apples showing us how to train them into a espalier. This first requires that you create a training system up whether it be wires or a wall. The leader is trained upright to the first wire and then the top bud cut to promote two sideways growing shoots. Once these side shoots are long enough they can be trained along the wire ensuring that the tip of each shoot is the highest point of the plant otherwise growth will begin in the middle of these shoots. A shoot will also begin to form where the first cut was made and this should be trained up to the next wire and the process continued.

Espalier Apple

This was particular helpful as I have 3 apple/crabapple trees on my section that have been roughly trained into a espalier shape although have been somewhat neglected for a while now. After the session I took to them for almost an hour trying to correct their unruly shape, I even had the hacksaw out. I may regret this at the end of this season as there is not much wood left for apples to grow on yet,  I am sure this hardwork will payoff in the coming years and I will finally be able to make something of my apples which so far have gone to waste.

Last on Marks list was to tell us about grapes. He told us about the old wives tale that says to bury a sheep underneath a freshly planted vine (for all these years I had thought it was a cat, a nasty Blakie story perhaps?). He told us that grapevines put out very deep roots and hence by making a hole that could fit a sheep you were ensuring that the roots had somewhere to go. Once again the theory behind grape growing was to train the vine to a certain height and then to prune you cut to a bud on the main part of the plant. He told us that grapes don't like wet feet but the do wonderfully in Otago provided they are planted in a spot with lots of sun. If you are having problem with fruit drop he said it was usually due to early frost that had weaken the developing fruit in the early stages.

The most important things I pulled from this session was the harder you prune the more you are going to force the plant to create new growth. Also that you should prune to ensure that the plant gets enough light and by pruning to the bases of branches rather than just taking the tops of branches you will get a much healthier and compact tree. Whether or not my apples are a success I don't know but I certainly will be attending more session like this one at Blueskin nursery.