Wintertime pruning continues at my Bedford, New York farm - this week, the orchard trees.
If you grow fruit trees, the best time to prune them is now - in winter - or in very early spring before any new growth begins. Pruning not only helps to develop proper shape and form, but also encourages new growth, promotes high fruit yield, and maintains good tree health. My gardener, Brian O'Kelly, has been busy pruning many of the apple trees, so they continue to produce bounties of delicious, juicy fruits.
Enjoy these photos.
Fresh fruit is one of nature’s most delicious products. I have an orchard around my pool filled with more than 200 different fruit trees.
While I have many fruit trees around the farm, this orchard contains an organized selection of apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, pear, medlar, and quince trees. Many were bare-root cuttings when they arrived and now they’re beautiful mature specimens.
These last few years have brought an abundance of fruit. We’ve had bounties of peaches – everyone here at the farm gets so excited for the peaches.
This past season, we also had plenty of pears. I planted many types of Asian pear, Pyrus pyrifolia, which is native to East Asia.
And of course, so many apples.
I already grow hundreds of apple trees here at the farm – some that were here when I acquired the property and others I planted soon after moving here. These orchard apple trees include Baldwin, Black Oxford, Cortland, Cox’s Orange Pippin, Esopus Spitzenburg, Fuji, Golden Russet, Grimes Golden, Honeycrisp, Liberty, Redfield, Roxbury Russet, Windham Russet, and more. This photo was taken in summer.
And this is the orchard now. The fruit trees are extremely healthy, in part because of all the care and maintenance that is done to keep them doing well. Here is a section of apple trees that need to be pruned.
One can see all the growth that has occurred in the last year.
The proper tools for this job include these trusted pruners. If you follow my blog regularly, you may have read my tool sharpening post yesterday. These Okatsune bypass pruners are very sharp and ready for work.
For slightly larger branches up to two-inches in diameter, Brian uses his STIHL bypass loppers.
Brian also brought out his pruning saw. A bow saw, or pruning saw, cuts on both the fore stroke and back stroke and is designed for cutting thicker branches.
I prefer much of the work be done by hand. Cutting by hand gives my trees a more natural appearance and shape.
Brian removes the water sprouts. Water sprouts are thin branches which normally grow straight up from lateral branches and do not bear fruit.
Dead branches, or those without any signs of new growth, are also cut, so the energy is directed to the branches with fruiting buds.
Tree fruit have two types of buds, terminal and lateral buds. Apples flower and fruit on terminal buds. A terminal, or apical bud, is located at the tip of a shoot. A lateral bud develops along the developing shoot at the base of the leaf blade.
Pruning cuts should be made fairly flush to the branch from which it grew. The idea is to leave slight stubs. By removing any more, the remaining branch has too much of an opening for disease to enter. Here, one can see where a cut was made.
Brian cuts branches that are rubbing or crisscrossing each other, preventing any healthy new growth. Basically, the goal is to create a tree with well spaced lateral branches. Any branches which interfere with the tree’s shape or create a dense framework should be removed.
And every so often he steps back to assess his work. A well pruned tree should have a balanced shape. I instruct the crew to cut about a third of the new growth.
One tip – prune with a tarp nearby for cut branches. After the branches are cut, they are gathered, neatly piled, and then either saved for kindling or processed through a wood chipper to make mulch.
Here, Brian removes crowded branches to help let in light and promote good air circulation. Brian is also mindful of the leader. A leader is the dominant trunk of a tree. He defines which one it is and creates a good shape around it.
And cuts should be clean – something that can only be done with good, sharp tools.
By late afternoon, many of the trees are done. This apple tree looks great after pruning. I am looking forward to many lustrous green trees heavy with fruits come summer. There are still a few more to go – keep up the good pruning, Brian.
I always like things clean, organized, and in good working condition - it's a standard I try to impress upon everyone who works with me at my farm, especially when it comes to our valuable tools.
Sharp pruning tools not only make chores easier to complete, but they also make cleaner cuts, which allow plants to heal faster. Making clean cuts also exposes them to less damage from diseases, insects, fungi, and weather extremes. My gardeners and outdoor grounds crew use their tools all year long, so it is important to keep them well maintained. Each member cleans, sharpens, and conditions their pruners, snips, and shears regularly. The process only takes a few minutes, and it keeps these gardening implements in proper working order.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
Pruners are among the most essential tools here at my Bedford, New York farm. Pruners, or secateurs, are used for grooming all the garden specimens. Their primary purpose is to remove dead, diseased, or damaged stems, and branches from plants and bushes.
Here, Phurba uses Japanese hedge shears to groom the boxwood shrubs. I prefer hand held tools – it’s a slower process, but they make cleaner, neater, more detailed cuts compared to powered versions.
And here is Pasang pruning and grooming the European beech trees, Fagus sylvatica, that line both the east and west sides of the South Paddock as well as the west side of what I call the Southeast Paddock.
In order to do the jobs best, it is important to keep all our shears and various snips as sharp as can be. Every few days my gardeners take stock of their cutting tools and clean and sharpen whatever is needed. Here, Brian shows the tools before they are cleaned and sharpened.
We all like to use Okatsune secateurs. Bypass garden pruners such as these make nice, clean cuts using two curved blades that bypass each other in the same manner as a pair of scissors. One blade is sharpened on the outside edge and slips by a thicker unsharpened blade. Pruners can cut branches and twigs up to ¾ of an inch thick.
For this task, Brian uses a coarse cleaning block and a whetstone. Both are soaked in water for about 10-minutes before using. This makes both blocks work more efficiently. A whetstone will help keep the pores of the stone clean, dissipate frictional heat, and ensures smooth sharpening.
This larger block is also soaking in tepid water. This piece is helpful for longer blades.
Brian uses the cleaning block to remove any dirt, sap, etc.. This cleaning block has a slightly rough texture for removing grime from the blades. Cleaning blocks are great for removing rust and other debris. They’re made of a semi flexible rubber compound with abrasive grits for scouring. Brian goes over every part of both blades. One can also use a medium grit sandpaper.
It is important to also get all the dirt off the metal parts – anything left on tools can attract and hold moisture and cause rust.
Brian closes the pruners and goes over the blades again.
Brian stops to wipe the blades dry every so often. This allows him to inspect the cleaning he has done and to see how much more is needed.
Next, Brian uses the whetstone to sharpen the blade. Brian holds the pruners firmly and places an even and gentle pressure drawing the stone along the blade from hilt to tip.
Here’s another view. Most secateurs are single bevelled – Brian sharpens the outside, and then smooths off the inside, going slightly over the edge.
These blades are now very sharp. To test, Brian carefully rubs the blade against his nail. If it bites in, it is sharp. One can also use the side of a pen or pencil.
Next, Brian lightly lubricates all the clean, sharpened metal parts. Oil will help the pruners perform more smoothly. One can use multi-purpose oil from the hardware store. Brian uses oil from the seeds of Camellia oleifera. This oil is the traditional Japanese choice for protecting tools from rust. This oil leaves a deep, non-oily, and odorless finish. It is available online or at various gardening shops.
Brian does the same process for this pair – first, he uses the cleaning block… My greenhouse cat, Blackie, is always curious and loves to sit close and watch.
… then the whetstone…
Brian holds the whetstone at an angle to sharpen the edges and maintain the bevel. The bevel is what makes a tool sharp. The blades are factory ground to a precise angle that’s just right for each tool.
For these snips, Brian uses the larger block, which can cover more blade surface with less strokes.
And he also uses it for the long hedge shears.
This block is one piece, with the darker cleaning section on one side and the sharpening whetstone on the other. Cleaning and sharpening supplies are available at many garden shops and online.
Once again, Brian tests the sharpness of the blade against his nail.
And then oils the entire piece. Here, he also oils the joint where the two sides meet. After oiling, it is a good idea to open and close the pruners to hear how the parts move together – they should work smoothly, quietly, and evenly.
All the tools are now ready to head back out to the gardens. It is crucial to keep these garden tools sharp at all times. Sharp pruners for working in the gardens… it’s a very safe, efficient, “good thing.”
Here at my Bedford, New York farm, patches of snow and ice cover the ground, but inside my greenhouse there's a flurry of spring activity. This time every year, my head gardener, Ryan McCallister, starts seeding our vegetables in preparation for the coming growing season. One of the first vegetables we start are the onions.
Starting onions from seed isn’t difficult. They can be planted closely together in seed starting trays, and because they are shallow-rooted, they can be pulled apart easily when ready for transplanting outdoors. Many of our seed trays, supplies, and seeds are from Johnny’s Selected Seeds - we've been using Johnny's for years. Once planted, the onion seeds remain in the greenhouse until they’re moved to my vegetable garden. And by mid-summer, we will have lots and lots of beautiful, flavorful, fat bulbs to harvest.
Enjoy these photos.
Remember all the onions we harvested last year? Such a bounty of gorgeous fresh onions – it’s one of our favorite crops to pick. The onion, Allium cepa, is the most widely cultivated species of the genus Allium.
Onions require 90 to 100 days to mature from seed, which is around four months. We start seeding our vegetables shortly after the New Year and then in spring we transplant them into the garden.
Seed starting trays come in all different sizes and depths. We use trays with shallow compartments for planting onion seeds. These are 20-row seed flats from Johnny’s Selected Seeds. They keep varieties separate and make the removal of seedlings easy for transplanting to larger celled trays or pots later.
Because I use a lot of onions for cooking and for sharing with my family, we plant many trays of onion seeds. Ryan fills the seed starting tray with mix and pats it down lightly into each row.
It’s best to use a pre-made seed starting mix that contains the proper amounts of vermiculite, perlite and peat moss. Seed starting mixes are available at garden supply stores.
The soil should be level with the top of the tray. Ryan fills several trays first and works in a production line process.
Next, Ryan uses a wooden marker to make quarter-inch deep furrows in each row.
We keep all our seed packets in plastic envelopes, and plastic bins – all are labeled and filed for easy reference. Mason jars with tight-fitting lids, or glass canisters with gasket-type lids also work. Humidity and warmth shorten a seed’s shelf life, so we store the organized seed packets in a greenhouse refrigerator. Then, when it is time to seed our trays, we know they are well organized and in good condition. Here are many of our seeds for onions, shallots, and leeks. We get our seeds from our favorite companies and wherever I find them during my travels. Ryan labels the seed markers and keeps them together with the matching packets.
On one side of the marker he writes the vegetable variety so we can keep track of what grows well and what doesn’t.
On the other side, Ryan indicates what color this particular onion variety is – R for red, W for white, and Y for yellow.
Onion seeds are very small, so be sure to take time dropping them into the tray cells. It’s also a good idea to keep a record of when seeds are sown, when they germinate, and when they are transplanted. These observations will help organize a schedule for the following year. This is a hand seed sower from Johnny’s Selected Seeds – it is one option to help drop the seeds into the trays. This tool allows one to control the flow of seeds through five different size outlets. The funnel-shaped spout makes it easy to return unused seeds to packet.
After pouring a generous amount of seeds into the center dish, Ryan screws the plastic top back onto the hand seed sower and adjusts the amount of seeds that will be released at one time.
And then he begins to drop onion seeds evenly into each compartment.
Ryan places a marker into one of the cells, so it is clear what variety is growing in what tray.
It is good to start larger onions from seed, so they can be harvested the same year. Smaller onions can be planted directly into the ground. Barolo onions are long-day onions with globe-shaped, dark purple-red bulbs.
Once the seeds are dropped, Ryan adds an additional light layer of soil mix, so the seeds are completely covered.
Then he tamps down lightly to make sure there is good contact with the soil.
If preferred, one can also drop seeds by hand. The pellet coating on these seeds helps in seeing, handling, and sowing.
A line of seeds is dropped along the row. The sprouts will be selectively thinned in a few weeks. This process eliminates the weaker sprouts and prevents overcrowding, so seedlings don’t have any competition for soil nutrients or room to mature.
Ryan also adds another thin layer of soil mix to this tray and tamps down lightly.
Once the seed trays are done he places them into our trusted commercial size Urban Cultivator growing system – it has water, temperature and humidity all set-up in the refrigerator like unit.
He covers the trays with plastic humidity domes until germination begins. Once established, the trays will be moved out into the greenhouse where they will remain until they are ready to be separated and transplanted into the ground.
Seeds are usually started about two months before the last frost. We will be planting seeds well into March. Follow along to see what other vegetables are started from seed right here in my greenhouse. I hope these blogs help remind you what you can do to get ready for the next gardening season.
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