Written and edited by Tammy 29th June 2024
By now, most fruit trees will have dropped their remaining leaves and transitioned into dormancy making it the perfect time to prune.
Without foliage obstructing your view, you can clearly see the branches, buds, and overall shape of the tree, allowing for more precise and effective pruning.
And not only that, but, pruning over the period of dormancy (while the tree is not actively growing) minimizes stress on the tree which reduces the risk of disease transmission.
Importance of knowing what you're pruning
Recognising and being able to identify your fruit buds can save you the costly mistake of unintentionally cutting off the chance for a bumper crop of fruit this Summer. Imagine your heartache.
Identifying fruit buds, How do I know what's what?🤷♀️
While I don't proclaim to be an expert or able to identify every single detail on all types of trees, I'm going to show you what I do recognise on my own trees and give you my tips for how you can become more confident in recognising what is what on your trees too.
(Click here to jump down to some labelled pics I've taken of my own trees).
Probably sounds old fashioned but don't be afraid to grab a few books from the library and study some diagrams before getting started.
Make yourself familiar and comfortable with the terminology and anatomy of your tree (the names of its body parts).
Have a go at matching up images you've sourced with those on your own tree (as I have here below).
Pay attention throughout the season, when you're enjoying a coffee out in your garden, stop and have a good look at your tree. What are the buds opening into right now? Are they bursting into a blossom or unfurling into a leaf? Take some pics there and then and write some notes for yourself to look back on in a few months' time.
Share and compare knowledge hints and tips with you family, friends and neighbours, chances are they may have the same trees and may be able to help you, or vice versa.
Peaches, Peacharines and Nectarines (Prunus Persica)
(The example above is my Trixzie ®️ Pixzee Miniature Peach.)
I've labelled it to show you the characteristics on my tree in comparison to a diagram in a book.
A. is a lateral (or branch if you rather, it comes off the trunk or a previous season's branch).
B. is a sprig (a small/minor branch coming off a lateral).
C. is a fruit spur at the end of the sprig.
D. is a fruit and leaf bud together.
E. is a wood and leaf bud.
F. is a leaf bud.
Self-pollinating, Peaches, Nectarines and Peacharines will fruit on their own without a companion, and tend to fruit on one year old wood, meaning the laterals of the previous season.
The 'fatter, fuzzier' buds are generally fruit buds. Leaf buds are smaller, flatter and less significant.
Wood spurs are often slender solitude buds normally further back in along the branch prior to the fruit buds.
A close up pic here below👇
Image above is as follows👆
A, B & D are all plump fuzzy little fruit buds, while C is a leaf bud nestled between the two fruit buds.
You'll notice the small round white spots atop each swelling on the lateral, this is where a mature leaf has just recently fallen from.
The tiny, pointed, dark things above those, are where a new dormant bud for a following season lives.
Apricots. (Prunus Armeniaca)
At the tail end of last season, I bought myself a young dwarf Divinity Apricot as the Apricots in supermarkets always seem flavourless. It's not a very big tree yet to use as an example; nonetheless, it has the correct bits'n'pieces for me to label and describe for you.
See the image above👆
A. Both laterals off the main trunk.
B. A sprig coming off a lateral containing some leaf buds.
C. A fruit bud spur.
D. A wood spur. (will become a new sprig).
Also self-pollinating, Apricots bear fruit on mature wood and do so for multiple seasons.
Once mature, regular pruning is only needed really to keep it tidy, and to encourage it to keep producing new wood for future seasons fruit baring.
Fruit buds on Apricot trees aren't fuzzy like those of a peach, though they do still tend to be larger and more obvious than leaf buds. They almost look like little miniature pinecones.
They're also often seen in clusters of '3 in 1' like C. in the image above.
**An important thing to remember is that Apricots are highly susceptible to a disease called 'Gummosis'. (It looks a little like glossy hard oozing honey)
Once it affects a tree is can be hard to bring back under control so it's crucial that you only ever prune your tree when the weather is fine and dry.
Fresh open wounds exposed to moisture are the perfect opportunity for disease to set in.
A close up look at those buds👇
See the image above 👆
A. is a fruit bud spur.
B. is the sprig, a little short branch coming off a lateral.
C. is a wood bud.
A plump little bud that I'm pretty certain is fruit. (I'll confirm that in a few more weeks' time!)
Pears (Pyrus Communis.)
(The example above is my dwarf red pear.)
Pears and Apples aren’t self-pollinating meaning they require a compatible companion to produce fruit.
I've got ornamental pears in my front yard, and it just so happens they are perfectly fine as companions for cross pollination.
Image above is as follows👆
A. 3 year old wood I'm holding between my fingers.
B. 2 year old wood.
C. 1 year old wood.
D. swollen knobbly section known as a bourse.
E. Fruit bud.
F. Leaf of wood bud.
G. Fruit bud. Almost always at the end of a lateral.
H. Dormant bud.
Pears and Apples being closely related are very similar in their characteristics, both almost always fruit on two year old wood.
The swollen looking lumps at the bases of buds are known as a 'Bourse'.
You'll notice them where fruit or wood buds have previously been.
They will continue to produce more either fruit or wood buds in consecutive years so try to avoid shortening them or removing when pruning.
Water shoots, or water sprouts, are non-productive. They emerge vigorously from a dormant bud, and their tendency to grow straight upwards, almost vertically, is a telltale sign of their presence.
And here again 👆
A. Fruit Bud on 2 year old wood.
B. Fruit Bud.
C. Bourse on a 3 year old lateral, having produced a wood spur last year, which now has a fruit bud at the end of it this year, it's 2nd year.
D. Exactly the same scenario as C.
Fig (Ficus Carica.)
(Example is my white Adriatic Fig tree)
Most cultivars of Figs are self-pollinating so you only need one. My particular tree, the White Adriatic is a lower spreading variety which works well in the wine barrel it's in.
Image above is as follows👆
A. Fruit bud tucked in beside leaf bud at the terminal point.
B. leaf bud.
C. Dormant bud beside where a leaf has previously fallen from.
D. Exactly the same as C.
Fruit commonly forms on last seasons wood at the terminal point of the laterals and sprigs beside the leaf bud. (see both images) That being said, every leaf union has the potential to for a fruit bud.
Image above is as follows 👆
A & B are both fruit buds, while C is a terminal leaf bud.
Hopefully the labelled pictures of my trees serve as a useful reference for you. With practice and observation, I promise you'll become more adept at identifying what's what on your own trees too. By investing that time into understanding and recognising their individual characteristics and becoming confident and comfortable with meeting their requirements will enable you to effectively nurture their development and enhance their productivity.
'Happy trees, happy life!'
Keep an eye out over the next few months and I'll continue to post some progress pics of my trees as they head into Spring.
Keep warm,
Happy gardening!😘🌸🌳
Коментари