[nafex] Re: summer pruning

["Mark Lee" <marklee3@onebox.com>]

I have a webpage I put together on a summer pruning technique called 
Lorette pruning.  Here is a link to it
http://marklee3.tripod.com/fruit.html
I've found it works better with pears than apples.  After two seasons 
of summer pruning, the pear trees are well controlled in size, and 
the tree is loaded with fruit spurs.  The pears this fall were 
excellent (Flemish Beauty and Conference).  I don't have the 
excessive growth of branches in the spring I used to have when I 
pruned in the winter.  The growth that happens now is more directed 
towards fruit production, which is the main reason I'm growing them!

-Mark Lee, Seattle


--- In nafex@y..., edforest55@h... wrote:
> I am all in favor of summer pruning to keep a tree small BUT, with 
> two reservations:
> FIRSTLY: loss of trace minerals, a forester once told me that most 
of 
> the minerals are found in the buds. If you constantly prune away 
the 
> buds and haul them off elsewhere, you are effectively mining the 
soil 
> of minerals and trace minerals, the kind that you can't just buy in 
> your average mineral supplements as they are usually major 
minerals. 
> The perfect solution is to shred the prunings and place them back 
> underneath the tree whereby you establish an excellent environment 
> for growth as described previously on this webgroup under the 
> heading "ramially chipped wood". 
> SECONDLY: Summer pruning can increase the chance of the spread of 
> disease, especially fireblight. It could be a huge mistake to prune 
> under moiture, wind, temp, and insect conditions that favor the 
> spread of fireblight.
> I summer pruned my first standard tree last summer and am anxious 
to 
> see how its growth will be affected next year. 
> How about the rest of you?
> Kevin B


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