Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
Pruning established trees mostly involves removing crowding branches
and heading back vigorous laterals to form fruiting spurs. Pear spurs live for
8 to 10 years, and it is a good practice to occasionally remove or head back
older spurs to form new fruiting wood.
For high-density, organic pear production, the double leader design ap-
pears to offer more advantages and fewer disadvantages than the V-hedge
or Tatura systems. The V-hedge does allow you to produce four leaders per
trunk, reducing the numbers of trees needed per acre as compared to single
and double leader designs. The spindle and axis systems described for apples
are worth experimenting with for pears.
Training Loquat Trees
Loquats are tropical to subtropical evergreen trees or shrubs that can grow
to be 30 feet tall, although in orchards we keep the trees about 10 feet tall.
The trees naturally spread, and you can train them to central leaders, open
centers, or multiple-stemmed shrubs. Loquat trees are typically spaced 20 to
25 feet apart in rows that are also spaced 20 to 25 feet apart.
Loquats bear their fruits in clusters at the ends of short side branches.
After harvest, some growers head back the fruiting laterals by about 2
inches to stimulate new fruiting wood. The naturally dense evergreen canopy
remains in place year-round and can create challenges with pest and disease
control. Use the training and pruning practices we discussed for apples to
shape and maintain the trees. All cuts will essentially be summer pruning.
Use thinning cuts to keep the canopy open, and maintain the plants at a
height of about 10 feet. Head back fruiting laterals several inches after har-
vest.
Training Mayhaw Trees
Mayhaw trees naturally develop open canopies and are among the easiest
pome fruits to train. Once they are trained, pruning is generally limited to
occasionally thinning out the top to maintain the desired tree height and an
