The Secrets of Pruning inside!
This month, I attended a follow up workshop about growing and maintaining Mini Food Forests into the next season.
Learn more about Mini Food Forests in my blog: How to Create a Mini Food Forest in your Mediterranean Garden.
It couldn’t have come at a better time, as I had so many questions:
How to prepare my Mini Food Forests for Fall & Winter?
What do I do with the vegetable wall now that it is harvested?
What is the correct watering schedule for the cooler months?
And… to prune or not to prune my young fruit tress?
My key take-away: Pruning is the key to accelerating growth in the Biggest Mini Forest approach!
In this blog I share my latest learnings about growing and maintaining my Mini Food Forests in my Mediterranean Garden.
The Secrets of Pruning for Fast Growth What do I do with the vegetable wall now that it is harvested?
I learned so much in this follow up Mini Food Forest Workshop hosted by The Biggest Mini Forest experts at the Orchard of Flavours Botanical Garden in Portugal.
I want to focus in on the importance of pruning - as this was my biggest revelation :)
The Secrets of Pruning for Fast Growth
When trying to grow young fruit trees in my Mini Food Forests, I was so afraid to prune. After all, I am just happy that they have survived the hot dry summer at all (given previous experiences…)
They are small trees, which I want to grow into large abundant fruit producers - therefore cutting them seemed counter intuitive, just as they are starting to show some growth.
The Biggest Mini Forest experts recommend actually pruning 3x per year: In spring, in summer and in the fall, before the first rains. And when pruning, the recommendation is to cut the trees main branches at least in half, and up to 70-90%.
This gave me chest pains at first…cut my young trees in half or more?
It turns out that the art and science of pruning in the Syntropic agriculture approach is to prune often to stimulate faster growth - helping the trees to shed branches and leaves that they would shed in time eventually in their natural cycle.
Learn more about the Syntropic agriculture approach in my blog: How to Create a Mini Food Forest in your Mediterranean Garden.
Before we go hog wild with our pruning shears, there is some technique to pruning, to not hurt the tree in the process. Also, I learned to think about propagation as you prune - more fruit trees for free!
Here are a few steps I learned about pruning fruit trees from The Biggest Mini Forest experts:
#1. Use sharp, clean shears or saw - make clean cuts - keep your cuts at a 45-degree angle to prevent water damage and disease.
#2. Start with dead (or sick) branches and leaves - remove completely.
#3. Cut about a centimetre and a half above the knot in the tree - or close to the main trunk of the tree if removing the branch completely.
#4. If you plan to propagate the brach for a new tree - you want at least 5 knots in the brach (3 knots go underground, two above).
#5. To prune by half, go branch by branch, and cut in the middle of each branch.
#6. Cut any branches growing from the root of the tree or below the main foliage (that can suck nutrients from the tree) - as close to the trunk as possible, without cutting the main trunk of the tree.
#7. If you are not planning to propagate the cut branches - chop and drop the cut branches back into the forest soil to increase biomass TIP: when adding chopped branches back to the soil, be sure to add under the mulch so that their nutrients don’t expire in the sun.
#8. Take care to prune only in dry weather - pruning in wet weather could invite disease and pests.
I am learning that pruning is essential for plant health - removing dead, dying and diseased branches, branches that rub together, and any branch stubs so the entire tree continues to thrive. Opening up the canopy to let light and air filter throughout the entire tree allows for increased foliage while decreasing the risk of disease. By helping a tree establish one dominant leader trunk, you create a stronger tree that's able to withstand winter storms and high winds.
And...Pruning trees encourages more abundant fruiting and flowering!!
What do I do with the vegetable wall now that it is harvested?
Cut harvested vegetable plants down to the ground, taking care to not disturb the roots. Their root system is adding nutrients to the soil. (Do not pull out the full plant!)
Chop and drop vegetable plants that have finished their season back into the soil (under the mulch layer)
Add a fresh layer of compost to the newly bare vegetable wall
Mix the compost into the existing soil with a garden fork
Plant new vegetables!
What is the correct watering schedule for the cooler months?
It is recommended to keep your Mini Food Forests moist, even in the cooler months - remembering that even if the top layer is dry, underneath may still be moist - best to check deep into the soil to not over-water.
In our hot Mediterranean climate, the Biggest Mini Forest experts recommend watering deeply (with a drip system) less often. Watering for shorter periods more often may not get deep enough to the roots of the trees and plants, causing them to dry out.
Final word:
In the Biggest Mini Forest approach, remember to focus on taking care of the full system, vs. individual trees.
Grabbing my pruning shears and getting busy in my Med Garden before the fall rains!
Jade
Lewon
Med
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