What to learn before picking up your pruners.

Pruning fruit and nut trees in winter is one of the best ways to share with your South Valley friends and neighbors more delicious crops next summer. With fall over, it's also a lot easier to prune without all those leaves blocking your view.
Winter pruning lets you improve the structure, size, and overall health of your fruit and nut trees. The only exceptions are cherry and apricot. Those trees are susceptible to a fungal disease called Eutypa dieback and should be pruned in August.
Before you start pruning, it's a good idea to learn as much as you can about your trees. Different trees have different needs in Gilroy than in, say, Minneapolis. Also, each species has its own needs. Some trees produce fruit on new growth, while others produce fruit on second year growth.
Most fruit trees should be pruned by 15 to 20 percent, while peach trees should be pruned 50 percent. Learning the details about your particular trees can make a big difference in how and where you make pruning cuts. Before you make those cuts, you'll need the proper tools and safety gear.
Putting on long sleeves, boots, gloves, and eye protection before pruning for safety is always an excellent idea. One little piece of flying bark can feel like a jagged boulder in your eye. It's not worth it. Also, make sure your tools are clean and sharp. It is easy to sharpen your tools with a file. You can see how at the Santa Clara County Master Gardeners YouTube website.
There are two basic types of pruning tools: bypass and anvil. Anvil cutters have one sharp blade and one flat blade, which can crush plants rather than make clean cuts, so they should be avoided. You will need hand pruners, loppers, and a curved pruning saw. Also, have a 10 percent bleach solution (1 part bleach, 9 parts water) or disinfectant bathroom cleaner handy. You will use this to sterilize your tools between each plant and after cutting off any diseased plant material.
Regardless of the species, diseased, damaged, and crossed limbs should be removed first. Next, prune for size and structure in ways that allow for good sun exposure and air circulation. Keep in mind that vertical branches tend to be more vegetative (leaf producing), while horizontal branches produce more fruit, and your tree needs both. You will use two types of cuts when pruning: thinning and heading. Heading cuts shorten branches, stimulating new growth where you want it. Thinning cuts are the removal of unwanted branches. When making thinning cuts, avoid damaging the branch collar without leaving nubs. Branch collars are areas of raised bark where a limb emerges. These living cells help a tree to heal itself.
These pruning tips can help you get the most out of your efforts (and your trees):
• Make cuts ¼-inch above nodes that are facing the way out want new growth to go.
• Prune for a size that will be easy to maintain and pick fruit.
• Aim to distribute sunlight evenly throughout tree.
• Most of the pruning should be done at the top of the tree, to allow more sunlight to reach the lower branches.
• Remember that one big cut can prevent several smaller cuts.
• Keep in mind how the tree will grow over the next few years.
• For heavy producers, remove excess fruitwood to prevent broken limbs.
• Sealants are not needed. Trees know how to seal themselves.
• Be sure to pick up and dispose of any rotting fruit or mummies.
As you prune, take the time to step back and look at the tree from several angles to make sure you are getting the shape you want. While you're at it, January is the best time to prune roses in the Morgan Hill area. Keep three to six strong, healthy canes per plant, leaving three to five buds on each cane. Make diagonal cuts ¼-inch above an outward-facing bud. To learn more, the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden offers free hands-on rose pruning classes in January and February.
by UC Master Gardener Kate Russell
This article first appeared in the Dec. 21, 2016 to Jan. 3, 3017 issue of Morgan Hill Life and Gilroy Life.
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Cayce Hillby UC Master Gardener Cayce Hill

One of the best things about gardening in Santa Clara County is that, no matter how big your garden or how long you've been doing it, you get the sense that we're all in it together. A heat wave can wilt a single patio garden tomato as easily a 100-foot row of lettuce. Aphids don't care if you've been gardening for 30 years or just planted kale for the first time with your fingers crossed. They will find you! And so it goes with fruit trees when spring rolls around. Whether you have acres of orchards or a lone apricot in the backyard, it's time to start thinking about thinning your fruit.
If you aren't yet familiar with the concept of thinning fruit, here's a quick primer. Fruit thinning means removing excess fruit when they are between ½ inch and 1 inch in diameter. It is easiest to do this by hand, gently twisting the fruit or cutting it off with pruners. All stone fruit (peaches, apricots, nectarines, plums, etc.) requires thinning. Apples and Asian and European pears do as well. There is usually no need to thin citrus, cherries, figs, persimmons, pomegranates or nuts. Stone fruit should be thinned to 2 to 4 inches apart on each branch. Peaches and nectarines should be thinned to 3 to 5 inches. When it comes to apples and pears, which produce fruit in clusters, you should thin fruit to no more than one or two of the largest fruit per cluster. You'll be up close and personal with your fruit when you do this, so take the opportunity to remove any damaged or disfigured fruit as well.
You'll be inclined to approach this task with a light hand, perhaps even feeling bad for that little fruit. After all, baby peaches are pretty cute. But leaving too much fruit on the tree will only create problems later. All those tiny peaches grow up to be big peaches, which can add a lot of weight to your carefully-pruned (it is, isn't it?) tree. Fruit trees typically set much more fruit than they can support which can be a drain on the tree's stored energy and even cause it to bear fruit every other year (alternate bearing cycle.) By thinning the fruit, you help to prevent these problems and maximize the size of the fruit you leave on the tree!
If this sounds like a lot of work, don't worry. Mother Nature is here to help. During “June drop” (which often happens in May around here) fruit and nut trees naturally thin themselves a bit. So there's nothing wrong with your apple tree if it sheds crop of immature fruit. And all your efforts will be rewarded when you finally take a bite of that ripe, juicy peach!
For more information:
Home Orchard: Growing Your Own Deciduous Fruit and Nut Trees by C. Ingels, P.Geisel, M. Norton
This article first appeared in the April 2, 2016 issue of the Morgan Hill Times.
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