Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
cherries. These slender drooping side shoots
remain productive for many years.
year-old growth that is about the thickness of
a pencil, so thinning weak growth will
improve yields.
Maintenance
Maintenance pruning can be limited to
thinning new side growths to about 10 cm
apart and removing dead, diseased, crossed or
crowded growth. Every few years, a branch can
be pruned out to renew the branch structure.
Commercial orchards have occupational
health and safety issues to address when they
need their crop harvested either by hand or
machine. Therefore, they need to keep their
trees at about 10 m high. This is usually
achieved by removing one or two large
branches each year and shortening and
thinning side growths in winter.
Chestnuts
Castaneasativa
The majestic chestnut is a magnificent
spreading tree best for large gardens and
parks. Growing up to 30 m high, it is not a
tree to be planted lightly. There are no
dwarfing rootstocks for chestnuts, and seed-
grown trees are roughly the same height as
grafted varieties. Trees are self-pollinating
but the presence of another tree will
increase yields.
Whichever approach you take, start by
training your chestnut to a single trunk
up to 1.5 m high. Select three stems to act as
scaffold branches to form a basic open vase
shape (see page 130). If you have the luxury of
space, practically no pruning is necessary.
Prune out any overly vigorous vertical growth
that will upset the balance of the tree, and of
course remove dead, diseased or crossed
growth. Otherwise they can be safely left to
themselves.
The main reason for pruning is to allow more
light into the canopy which will increase nut
size. Chestnuts fruit best on one- and two-
Chestnuts are also a classic coppicing tree
providing high quality timber (see
'Coppicing', page 84).
Figs
Ficuscarica
Figs are one of the most luxurious of fruit
and yet are easy to grow in any Mediterranean
climate. They are very pliable, and can be
trained as espaliers, open vase and bush
shapes. They can also be pruned as a low
bush to fit into a large pot for frosty areas as
they are easily covered or moved to prevent
damage (see pages 128 and 129).
Figs are grown from cuttings, and as there are
no dwarfing rootstocks available for them,
Figure 6.19
Chestnuts.
