Winter pruning
The calendar and the cold tell us that it's time again for pruning fruit trees, berry bushes, and fruiting vines. It is important to prune most fruiting plants every winter, regardless of their age! Essentially everything except peaches are best pruned while dormant, between January and early March.
Annual pruning of almost all orchard plants is best accomplished during dormant season from January to mid March!
Here is a quick list of the reasons for annual pruning:
1. open all parts of tree to sunlight2. increase air circulation3. improve quality, quantity & consistency of harvest4. prevent infection and spread of disease5. create good structure to support fruit6. avoid breakage from poor branch angles7. control size for easier harvest8. ensure penetration of sprays9. stimulate vegetative growth
You can find POP's full fruit tree pruning guide on our website:
And here's our guide to pruning berry bushes and fruiting vines:
A printable version of the POP Pruning Guide is also attached below.
Winter pruning season is also a good time to remove any remaining mummified fruit on trees, which can be a source of disease spores if left until spring. (Photo Credit: Pixabay)
For POP community partner orchard sites, please reach out to your lead POP staff support to schedule a pruning session if you haven't already.
Orchard Tools & Supplies
Winter is a good time to consider what tools and supplies you may need for the upcoming season.
With pruning season getting started, this is a good time to evaluate your tools and equipment. What's missing? What new tool might make your life easier? Order replacement saw blades for any that have dulled. Sharpen your pruning blades with a hand sharpener like this:
The basic orchard pruning toolset includes pole saw, pole pruner, loppers, handsaw, hand pruners, bowsaw, blade sharpener, and spray bottle of alcohol for sanitizing blades. Not pictured: tripod orchard ladder!
This is also a good time to consider what other tools and supplies you may need for the upcoming orchard season. Gloves, hand tools, harvest equipment, organic sprays, etc? Wheelbarrow need a tune up? Shed re-organized? Get these done before you get too busy!
Pest and Disease Monitoring & Identification
Many orchard pests and diseases have gone dormant at this point in the season. During winter pruning, we also look out for and remove any mummified fruit still hanging on the trees (pome and stone fruits primarily). And keep an eye out for overwintering Spotted Lanternfly eggs!
Spotted Lanternfly egg masses can be found on tree trunks and pretty much any other hard surfaces. Scrape them off and dispose of them.
Dormant Oil Sprays for Control of Aphids, Scale, and More!
Breaks of warmer weather in the winter are good timing to apply dormant oil for control of a variety of overwintering insects. Consider this low impact ecological spray option if you had challenges last year with
aphids,
scale insects, red mites, spidermites, pear psylla, white flies and other soft bodied insects.