Orchard Tasks

Orchard Assessment

• Identification of existing trees and assessment of condition. Looking at disease, growth patterns and pruning requirements. Retaining old, disease-free trees and stumps to encourage wildlife.
• Note orchard aspect (the direction it faces, prevailing weather conditions and surrounding farms and properties)
• Soil assessment
• Understanding the orchard floor. Cutting back grass, weeds, brambles, etc to prevent nutrient competition (while maintaining biodiversity).

Pruning

• Prune old trees to rejuvenate growth (a process that should be spread over a few years to avoid putting too much stress on the trees)
• To fruit well, trees need regular pruning
• General rules of thumb:
• Apples & Pears
  - Summer pruning of current year's growth on laterals, late July/August as growth slows
  - Winter pruning to further shorten summer pruned growth and cut back season's lateral growth, after leaf drop when trees are dormant
• Plums, Gages, Damsons
  - Prune between May and July to avoid disease entering wounds
• Stack disease-free prunings to encourage wildlife or to use for bodging or wood-turning