Restorative pruning workshop

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Workshops
by Jake Rayson/ on 14 Jan 2025

Restorative pruning workshop

Considering the weather, a considerable crowd gathered for the pruning workshop on a cold Saturday. Martin Hayes has been designing, planting and pruning orchards for many years and is much sought after for his engaging, no-nonsense approach.

All gardens, even forest gardens, need managing, and pruning is essential for pretty much any domesticated fruit tree. This is because they have been bred for producing fruit and grafted on to different rootstocks (a rootstock determines the height and vigour of the tree). If they’re not pruned, fruit trees will gradually produce less fruit, and there is a real risk of branches being damaged by over-bearing fruit.

The workshop took place over 4 sites in Cilgerran: the orchard by the Hope Garden, the Fruit & Nut Community Garden, the village Parc y Pwmp and the orchard by the Welsh wildlife centre. All except Fruit & Nut have been neglected for a few years, so the workshop was really about restorative pruning.

Satellite photo of village with 4 sites marked in red

Map of the pruning sites in Cilgerran, with the Wildlife Centre up the road

Normally you’d prune in the third year, if you’ve planted a young tree, and then prune lightly each year. On many of the trees, Martin had to cut back quite drastically, to rescue the tree and not be concerned about the fruiting this year. This really emphasises that all gardening is a work in progress, and we need well-trained gardeners to look after fruit trees year after year. Many of the attendees live in or around Cilgerran, so we’re lucky to have a pool of enthusiastic pruners to help out.

I have been on several workshops but I still took lots of notes, there is always something to learn. Go and book yourself on a pruning workshop near you now!

The key points for me were:

People gathered around a young fruit tree

Removing cardboard from the mulch around the base of a tree

  • It‘s all about redirecting the flow of sap to change the tree
  • Only dig a planting hole as big as the roots
  • Plant for final size (know your rootstocks)
  • The Xmas tree shape is the simplest and most productive, with a central leader 🎄
  • Prune any Prunus tree (plum, cherry, apricot etc) after the “June drop“
  • Prune apples and pears any time of year, although prune in winter for fruit (where the buds are) and summer for wood (shape)
  • Keep the central leader central!
  • A “dog leg” traps the sap down and encourages low growth
  • A “sap riser“ encourages upright growth
  • Always think of how the tree will fruit
  • Cut back to something, either a leaf or a flower bud
  • Think 3 years ahead when pruning
  • Keep your options open, tie vertical watershoots down to horizontal, or tuck them, because fruit is formed on more horizontal branches
  • Don‘t mulch with cardboard, as encourages mice, just woodchip, or even better, a low-growing perennial ground cover, so you won‘t need to mow
Two people with pruning saws looking at wonky fruit tree

Deciding which branches to cut to get an upright shape can take a while when starting out!

We only managed to prune a few fruit trees on each site, so Martin has kindly agreed to make a return visit for ad hoc workshops. If you‘d like to be notified, please sign up to the newsletter: hopegarden.uk/newsletter

People sat around cafe table

All souped up

We had lovely hot drink, spicey soup and fresh bread at the cafe. And then some more pruning and the most delicious cake baked by Jude and delivered by Callum. Thank you all for a really informative and engaging day.

Man pointing at cake on the floor

Tada! Martin likes cake! Thank you Jude and Callum.

Bonus videos

Restorative pruning on horizontal apple tree

Restorative pruning on near horizontal apple tree