The Best Tree Care Videos on the web

Chuck Ingels is a master teacher on schoolyard-scale orchards and a dear friend of Common Vision. In this 2-hour segment he goes through the basics of fruit tree care. Below the videos we have outlines that break down the subjects so you can skip to the sections you need. Some of this is more complex then you need to know. Please email or call us with any questions.



Basics of how trees grow:

0:40 Roots - how they grow
4:30 Chilling Requirement
6:40 Sunlight Requirement
7:00 Pollenization
10:15 Soil Requirements
12:20 Parts of the Tree -
17:50 Planting the Tree
26:00 Post-Planting Care
29:30 Water and Irrigation
34:05 Fertilization
36:00 Pruning

Note: on Pruning: Common Vision recommends an open center kept very short. This is a little different then the "fruit bush" described in that the cuts are made with a little more choice involved.


0:45 Pruning "fruit bushes" cont.
9:45 Espalier
13:30 Managing an overgrown mature tree
22:55 Fruit Thinning
27:55 Common Problems with fruiting
29:18 Budding and Grafting
37:10 Citrus Trees
42:00 Pest Management - Codding Moth
45:27 Boreres
48:00 FireBlight
52:50 ShotHole Disease
53:30 Peach Leaf Curl
56:45 Brown Rot

Disease Prevention

These are, for the most part, general measures designed for the overall health of the Orchard. Occasionally additional measures may be useful for a specific Pest that has gotten out of control. The objective is to have an overall strategy that maintains a healthy ecosystem for plants, critters, and people,and encourages beneficials. It's called IPM (Integrated Pest Management). The point of the Newsletter is to help you keep your trees healthy and vigorous by good cultural methods, so they can resist disease with a minimum of additional intervention. 

         

A - "Keeping it Simple!"

Make sure the Team has done a good job on the "Clean-up," and check for any "mummies" left on the tree. Remove any residual leaves and hose off the tree using a pressure-spray nozzle. It's beneficial to see that all dead leaves are removed from the tree, and raked up. For the Apple Trees; cut a 3 inch wide strip from a corrugated cardboard box, and wrap it tightly around the trunk (so the little tubes are vertical), just below the first branch (or about a foot and a half above the ground). Remove the band on December 1st, put it in the garbage pail (not for garden composting). 

* If there has been a severe infestation of soft bodied insects or scale a "Horticultural Oil" can be sprayed during the Christmas Vacation period, when children are away, and when the Tree is dormant. 

B - "More in Depth"

OK -  The Corrugated Cardboard band will catch Codling Moth Larvae as they travel down to the ground to pupate. Removal in early December should catch some of the larvae in the little corrugations. Best to burn, or dispose of these with trash. This will help reduce the Codling Moth population in the coming season, although, if you had a heavy infestation we'll have more suggestions for Winter and Spring.

     

Obviously-diseased shoots and branches can be Pruned out when the tree has gone dormant and you're removing residual leaves. (The tree begins going Dormant when at the ends of the twigs the tiny leaves have been replaced by a tight Leaf Bud. This is where growth will be initiated in the spring               

    

* Spraying of pesticides (organic or chemical) should only be done if there is evidence of disease uncontrolled by the physical and mechanical techniques. There is always the risk of upsetting the natural balance by injuring the beneficial insects and microbials.  When appropriate however, spray strategies can be used. 

If you're concerned about the level of disease in some trees, call your County Master Gardener office and request a visit from one of the Master Gardeners. The School holiday weekends and holiday weeks during November, December, and January are the best times to use preventive sprays (like Horticultural Oil), and to deal with a School Orchard disease problem.

C - "Why is that ?" 

Many insects and pests (soft bodied insects, scale, etc.) over-winter in the crotch of branches, in the bark, and even  in the bud tips.  Although dormant, they need  to respire (breathe). The Oil will smother them if the coverage has been complete. Horticultural Oil may also be called "Narrow-range" or "Superior" Oil. This technique, is relatively safe and has minimal adverse environmental impact. AdditionallyIt's important to realize that most control measures are only effective at certain stages of a pests life cycle. Oil is most effective during dormancy, at other times the effect may be negligible.

For Deciduous Trees, spraying in the Dormant season has many benefits: The days are cooler and moister, when sprays are less phytotoxic (harmful to plants).  The elements of the tree most likely to suffer damage (leaves, blossoms, new shoots etc.) are safely out of the way. Bees, and other pollinators are relatively safe.

For School Orchards that have Citrus trees, Columbus Day weekend would be a safe time to use Horticultural Oil spray. You don't want to do it any later in the year, and be  sure that the trees are well watered before any spray operation. If they have been a problem; this treatment will help control Scale, Aphid, White Fly and other soft bodied insects that overwinter in the tree.

      

Fall Clean Up

A - "Keeping it simple!"

When harvests have been completed, remove all fruit from the Deciduous Trees and rake up all; leaves, fallen fruit, and weeds. 

Send all the orchard waste for composting.

B - "More in Depth:" 

Many pests "over-winter" in the fallen fruit and fruit left on the trees. The fruit left on the trees are called "mummies." It's best to have these professionally composed, so that the usually higher temperatures obtained can kill all of the pest larvae, bacteria and fungi. If the tree has been very healthy, without a lot of disease on the leaves, then composting leaves in the garden is fine. If not, put the leaves in with the fruit  for the community composting operation.

Accumulated leaves and weeds are a favored spot for pests to spend the winter, in their own state of dormancy. In the Spring they would be ready for another life cycle..... unless of course they've been composted !!

If you have composted leaves  or other clean mulch, this would be a good time to spread a fresh layer under the tree.

C - "What else can we do?"

OK - While you're under the tree  spreading the mulch (remember to keep it away from the trunk), it's a good time to remove any "suckers"

that appeared since your last tree care. These will be sprouts and shoots that arise from below  the graft union, or coming up directly from the

roots. Don't be fooled by their healthy and vigorous appearance. These just steal nourishment from the tree, we're not interested in

growing more root stock. You can also renew the "Tanglefoot"  (your anti-ant trap!).

On the young trees you can renew the trunk paint (white water based latex paint, mixed with an equal amount of water) right down to the

top-most roots. This will protect against sun burn and  ground-level insect Borers. 

How to Prune

Footage from UCTV Gardening Series

Mulch those trees!

Get some wood chips, spread them around the tree (2 inch to 6 inches deep) and keep away from the trunk 6 inches. Next year, do the same thing. Mulching is a technique for covering the root area of Trees with a protective material.

This helps retain water, reducing water loss by up to 30%. Mulch also supresses weeds, which compete with young trees for nutrients and water. Organic Mulches also slowly add organic material to the soil and encourage beneficial soil organisms.

Coarse wood chips make excellent mulch, when applied properly. Most cities offer free mulch, from their tree trimming and maintenance operations. Call, and get a load delivered. This Mulch tends to derive from many varieties of trees, rather than the single source you usually find in purchased bags. Variety is better. Although some Mulches are considered Allelopathic (like Black Walnut Eucalyptus etc. "can kill plants") all of the coarse wood chip mulches, applied properly, will be beneficial to your trees. You want coarse material (chips, not sawdust!) so that air can penetrate, and it can dry out and not support mold or fungi.

Watering your Fruit Trees

Watering once or twice a week is best. Here are the guidelines for watering based on region and tree age.


Basic Summer Watering Chart: (80% of these rates for coastal schools)

▶  1st year trees:   10 gallons per week.  
▶  4’ diameter canopy:   15 gallons per week.
▶  5’ diameter canopy:   25 gallons per week
▶  6’ diameter canopy:   30 gallons per week
▶  7’  diameter canopy:  45 gallons per week
▶ 10’ diameter canopy:  80 gallons per week  

How we got those numbers:
Inland Counties: Requirement in Gallons/week is about equal to canopy area.  Example: A canopy with a 4ft diameter has an area of about 12.5 ft^2. (If you need a review on how this works, please see the math teacher down the hall). Thus this tree wants about 12 gallons/week. Add 20% if you are watering in the day time for evaporation loss.

Coastal Counties: Follow the same formula as inland, but use only 80% of the water. Example: A tree with a 4ft canopy diameter will want 80% of 12.5 gallons or about 10 gallons. Add 20% if you are watering in the day time for evaporation loss.

Spring and Fall:
50%-80% of the summer water amount.
If a fall fruit has already harvested, reduce down to 25-50%.

Check the soil under the mulch several times before leaving for Summer. Adjust water quantity up or down so that between waterings the soil is not wet enough to stain your palm, or dry as dust.

Don't let water stand against the trunk.... not good!

Fine tuning your watering amounts:
You can check the moisture level with a metal probe into the soil (e.g. straightened hanger). It should go down about a foot for your new trees. That means there is enough water at the root level. If it's too dry or too wet just prior to your irrigation, adjust the amount up or down by a gallon.
If the soil is Sandy or Sandy Loam, divide the total amount of water in two, and water twice per week. If the soil is heavy clay, once per week for the entire amount should be fine.

Paint the Trunks! (Spring)

Before the Summer heat, all young fruit trees can benefit from painting the trunk. This protects against sunburn that can cause damage or even death of the tree. Here our friends at Dave Wilson's show us how.

Winter Pruning Overview

Winter pruning and training to achieve optimum tree structure is part science and part art. It's a very important part of having an orchard, a skill that's fun to learn and very satisfying to practice. Courses are given in many public gardens or arboretums. The County Master Gardener Programs will also have introductory and advanced courses. The L.A. County Urban Orchard Team can put on a workshop at any school or community orchard. Common Vision has online resources as well to make it even easier. We want to help you feel empowered and informed through this great activity. Feel free to contact Common Vision with any questions.

Winter is a good time to do very important "Maintenance" pruning, and you've probably already had some practice with the post-harvest pruning and trimming. When the trees are bare of leaves, the woody structure is more clearly visible, making pruning much easier. A primary objective of training and pruning is to develop a strong tree framework that will support fruit production. Improperly trained fruit trees generally have very upright branch angles, which result in serious limb breakage under a heavy fruit load. This significantly reduces the productivity of the tree and may greatly reduce tree life. Another goal of annual training and pruning is to remove dead, diseased, or broken limbs. Pruning is also really important to optimize fruit production, open the canopy for more light for flower bud development and optimal fruit set, flavor, and quality, as well as airflow for drying out and disease prevention.

Are you move of a video-based learner? Most of this is also covered in This Pruning Video

Have a Newsletter or Worksheet with you if it helps!

So first things first, a diagram of a tree and terminology:

a)leaf buds
b)flowerbuds
c)spur
d)short shoot
e)long shoot
t)terminal bud






Suggested Pruning Cuts

A. Suckers.
B. Stubs or broken branches.
C. Downward-growng branches
D. Rubbing or criss-crossing branches
E. Shaded interior branches
F. Competing leaders
G. Narrow crotches
H. Whorls








It's important that you take a moment, and be sure that you can identify this year's growth from the previous year's growth.

So, we'll stop for a little exercise: Look at the end of this past Summer's growth. The shoot tip has a little bud on the end (that will be the start of growth this coming Summer). Run your finger back towards the trunk. The bark of the shoot is very smooth, quite green, or at least greenish brown. Soon you come to a little scar, a circumferential ridge. This is where last year's bud was. The bark now becomes somewhat rougher and browner; the shoot is a little thicker. You've now identified the transition to the previous year's growth. Actually, you can keep running your finger down and identify each year's successive growth. For fun, you can go right back to the trunk, and there you have the year your tree was planted!

Why is this important?
An apple tree will set its fruit on a little "Spur." Year after year the tree will produce fruit on the same little spur, maybe more than 10 years.
We don't want to cut this Spur, or its branch. A peach tree will set its fruit on the shoot that grew last Summer. Once it has produced a peach on that spot, it will never again produce a peach there ever! So, that's why the little exercise has practical value. We want to keep the older wood in the apple, but we continually need new wood on the peach tree...if we want peaches.
And remember the important rule: We don't prune the apricot in the Winter! Perhaps it's best to put a little sign on the apricot: "No Prune Zone", or perhaps Pruners in a circle with a line through them (the international No Prune sign ?).


PRUNING: Let's review the simple approach.

The following applies to all of the trees:
1) Prune out the Suckers. These are the very vigorously growing shoots, that come from the "Root-Stock" below the "Graft Union." Recall that's the slightly swollen area 2" to 6" above the soil level.

2) look for any Watersprouts that may have been overlooked in your Summer pruning. These are vigorous growing shoots, not usually bigger than the width of your little finger. The bark is smooth and green and they grow straight up, without any branches. They rarely bear any fruit, and they tend to shade more important fruit bearing branches. So...cut them off, right outside of the little branch bark-collar. Remember that's the little swollen ring of bark at the beginning of each branch...where it originates from the trunk. Or where a shoot originates from a branch. Protect the "Collar," because that's where the tree will heal the pruning wound.

3) Now that you have a good view of things, remove any branches that have broken, or are rubbing against other branches. Branches or shoots that are pointing down or towards the center of the tree (rather than growing up and outward) are very apt to cause trouble. They should also be removed...at the little "branch bark-collar" of course and make sure there are no stumps sticking out...nice cut!

4) Try to recognize any diseased shoots or branches. Fire Blight, for example, unfortunately affects pears and to a lesser extent apples. The end of the branch may look burned or blackened, bent over, and often with the dry crumpled leaves still attached. Obviously diseased areas like this should be pruned out, removing at least 12" of healthy looking branch together with the diseased section.

Whenever you're pruning branches that don't look perfectly normal be sure to disinfect your pruners between each cut with 70% to 91% Isopropyl alcohol (drug store alcohol). Dip your pruners for a few minutes after each cut. An old tooth brush or spray bottle is also helpful for this. Also make sure your pruners are sharp!

If your trees are 1 to 3 years old, or if they're growing slowly you can limit your pruning at this point.

This next part is for those trees that are more than four years old, and have grown substantial structure:
5) Last, but equally important, is to remove some of the previous year's growth. This will protect the tree from limb breakage and from fruit setting too far out on a fragile branch. This type of pruning will also lead to larger, better quality fruit.

Pruning a mature tree:
The peach and nectarine, (and the apricot, once the rainy season is over) need "heavy" pruning. 50% of the one-year old shoots should be removed, that would be every other 1-year-old. shoot...pruned! with the remaining one-year old shoots: get a good look at the whole shoot, and mentally divide it into thirds. Then remove the outermost third. So we've left a little more than 60% of 50% of the shoots. Who said there would be no math?

There's going to be a lot of wood on the ground!
Years ago my instructor said, "When pruning, or thinning fruit it's best not to look down!"

Now what about those 2-year old shoots, they're not going to bear any more fruit! Assuming that they are not needed as major branches, they should be cut back to a one-year old shoot, or near a nice bud where they can start some "new wood."

The apple and pear trees need a lot less pruning. If they have not yet reached your target size, remove only about 10% off the ends of this past Summer's growth (remember how to identify it). This will encourage branching and more fruit spur formation.

The pomegranate will have a lot of suckers coming from around the main trunk. Unless you want to grow the pomegranate as a "bush" (which is OK), prune these extra little trunks down to the single large one. These suckers are really accessory trunks, part of the main fruit producing tree.

The persimmon sets its fruit on the ends of last year's grows, so don't cut off too many of this "fruiting wood."

With all the trees; keep the tops pruned down so the trees do not exceed 8 feet in height. As we've mentioned before, this type of height pruning is best done during the Summer, when you're less likely to stimulate more rapid regrowth.

Dormancy - What's really going on

Thanksgiving has passed, the leaves have dropped, the trees are bare, and the Orchard is entering "Dormancy." 
AND... beneath the bark all sorts of things are going on, and the trees are (with chemical reactions) "counting" the days to Spring! Photo-receptors near the leaf scars are noting the ratio between dark hours and light hours (the "photo-period") that's how the tree will know exactly when Spring arrives. All the Enzyme systems that drive the leaf and flower making machinery are on "idle".  As the temperature rises the chemical "gears" will start to whir. The Hormone that signaled the leaves to drop, is now the "brake", keeping everything dormant. When the temperature is cold, the dormancy Hormone will degrade (get used up). When the right number of hours of "chill" have been accumulated (those are the "Chill Hours" on your tree label.  Check it out!,) the brake comes off. With the dormancy hormone is gone, the temperature and photo-period will be in control, so watch the Orchard for the "March Magic." (check the bottom of the email * for more detail)
The trees have been storing up water and sugars that will fuel that first big push of flowers and leaves. (Then that sap begins to flow in Spring, think "Maple Syrup.") 
 
Though looking very quiet and serene, the trees keep working and we've got some Orchard Activities that will have a major effect on how the trees function in the coming year, and how bountiful a harvest you'll enjoy.  By doing these activities you'll also understand a lot more about your Orchard.  Have fun!