Pruning Fruit Trees for Size, Health, and Fruit Production

Description

Pruning your fruit trees properly will help increase tree longevity and fruit production, while reducing maintenance costs and pest and disease problems. Find out how to prune your trees the right way! Join Clallam County Master Gardener Tom Del Hotal for the Green Thumb Education Series presentation “Pruning Fruit Trees for Size, Health, and Fruit Production,” for science-based information to keep your fruit trees at peak performance. Traditional pruning methods are often geared towards commercial orchards and have frequently emphasized fruit production while sacrificing tree health and long tree life. “It is often easier and considered more ‘cost effective’ to prune trees without regard to tree longevity and instead, replace the trees after a relatively short period of time (10 – 40 years),” Tom said. Research has given new insights on how plants respond to pruning and how pruning affects tree health and longevity. This resulted in new tree pruning standards that have been adopted by many cities, states and countries. Tom will teach homeowners how to use these new principles to prune fruit trees properly. Tom has been a horticulturist and nurseryman since 1977 and member of the California Rare Fruit Growers since 1978. He has a B.A. degree in biology as a park ranger naturalist, four advanced certifications from the California Association of Nursery and Garden Centers, is a Certified Arborist, a Certified Pesticide Applicator and a member of the International Plant Propagators Society. Tom worked at retail garden centers from 1981-2022. He was a part-time horticulture instructor at Southwestern College in San Diego, California for over 20 years and owned his part-time business, Fantasia Gardens, from 1983-2020. Fantasia Gardens was a fruit tree specialty wholesale/retail nursery and a fruit tree pruning and consulting business that specialized in home and small-scale commercial orchard design and fruit tree management services. Tom is currently a Clallam County Master Gardener. The Green Thumb Education Series presentation “Pruning Fruit Trees for Size, Health, and Fruit Production” will be held in person on Thursday, December 12th from noon – 1:00 p.m. at St. Andrews Episcopal Church, 510 E. Park Avenue in Port Angeles. Or you may join via Zoom from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: https://wsu.zoom.us/j/93629898830?pwd=UnRkYjdwSGNmTnA4Y2hxVFBuRHVkZz09 Meeting ID: 936 2989 8830 Passcode: 676224 Or join by phone: 253-215-8782 The Green Thumb Education Series, sponsored by the Washington State University Clallam County Master Gardeners, is held on the second and fourth Thursday of each month through October. In November, December, and January, one lecture is offered. Scheduled presentations are subject to change. Visit the WSU Extension Clallam County website calendar for the latest information on upcoming presentations. For questions, call 360-565-2678.