Fruit Trees

Give Seattle-ites an extra day of sunshine and watch them go crazy. The talk today has been, "What? I thought it was supposed to rain. Look at it! Gorgeous day!"

Quickly followed by, "It's not going to last. It's supposed to start raining again this evening."

I'd like to think the forecast is wrong and convince myself they have it all wrong!

Enough of the weather. Let's talk about fruit trees.

First, my 4-variety Asian pear tree is doing well. I'm hoping to get at least one or two pears this year. Last year, I got one fruit that I quickly removed. It's advised to remove all the fruit the first year the plant is in the ground. Once I saw the small fruit, I removed any other spent flowers. It would have been too tempting if I left any more to go to fruit. Here's a sample of this season's flowers in the afternoon sun.

All three espaliered apples are doing well. I have three tiers on the Nittany and two on the Honeycrisp. And I managed to redirect a side branch that I snapped off from one of the Nittany's (see the Oh Snap! post). Once it warms up a little more, I will tie it down to the wire...carefully this time! I don't want a repeat of last year. I also have more flowers this year. I think I accidentally pruned the flowering shoots. Either that or I sapped the tree's energy by letting them fruit the first year.

My biggest surprise this spring is the comeback of my persimmon tree. It didn't do much of anything last year. I didn't expect a lot, but I thought there would have been a little bit of growth at the end of spring and into summer. With our harsh winter and cool spring this year, I thought it was a gonner. I even called Swanson's about getting a refund. Then I looked more closely and realizes it's not dead. There are viable buds promising leaves soon.

I'll keep you posted on fruit production as the season progresses! Hoping for sunny skies from here on out!

Oh! Snap!

Don't you just hate it when this happens? I couldn't believe it. I was just readjusting the side branch that was established after last year's pruning. Just needed to bend the branch a tab bit more and...

"SNAP!"

There it goes. No saving that branch. Nothing left to do but to prune it and hope some buds break for both a new leader and side branch. It seemed hopeless since I pruned out the possibilities.

Or so I thought.

A few weeks later, there were two buds where I had pruned out another leader. I had goofed the previous year and angled the cut so it was facing west. It seemed unwise with our long, warm summer days. I tried to switch the leader as the side branch and looked like it would have worked just fine. Until, I didn't realize my own strength and broke the branch.

Turns out the new branches are better positioned.

You can see the cracked branch just to next to the new left side branch. You can also see where I made that pruning cut in the front last year.

I'm relieved that I have a new start with these branches. I'm going to be extra careful next time!

In the meantime, I've been pruning out the water sprouts and eying potential fruit-bearing spurs for next year. Last year, I had several apples which I should have gleaned off and not left any on the tree. But, I wasn't able to do it. I left a couple on just to see what would happen. The fruit wasn't that good given it's only it's third year in the ground.

I had flowers, but no fruit this year. I hope it's not because I stressed out the tree last year by leaving the fruit on to ripen. Maybe the tree has to gain more energy. I promise the next time to not leave any fruit on the tree!

Bud Break

Last year we planted three apple trees, two of which are Nittany. We discovered this variety on a chilly fall afternoon on Orcas Island. The burgundy red apples are tart yet sweet and crisp. Eldon decided on the spot we needed an orchard of Nittanys.

Now that we have our own house, it was time for our own apple trees. The compromise was three trees instead of an orchard. Apples do not self-pollinate. You need a 'pollinizer' to cross-pollinate with. This chart helped us figure out a companion tree for the Nittanys. We chose one Honecrisp.

Since our garden is small, the perfect solution to growing fruit trees is to espalier. The art of espalier allows trees to be trained against a wall or along a fence. There are many different patterns including cordon, candelabra, fan, and Belgian fence. Given our fence design and that I'm a beginner, I decided the cordon style would be the most manageable, but ours will be four to five tiers.

Over Memorial Day Weekend last year, we removed the dying arborvitae hedge that never had a chance since they were still balled and burlapped. The mystery of their death had been solved. A post and wire fence took its place in the front yard. Once those holes were dug and filled, more were dug for the trees. A light rain helped water in the new plantings.

Then came the hard part. It was time to head back the tree to the lowest wire. These trees were at least four feet tall. I couldn't do it, even though the planting instructions told me to do so immediately after planting. I made excuses not to: it was too late in the season; I didn't want to shock them; They may be burned in the south-west exposure. When they broke dormancy and started blooming, I felt it really was too late to head them back. And they provided a small screen between us and our new neighbors. They liked the new fence--what a relief!

Now, almost a year ago, I knew their time was coming. Off with their heads! I mustered up enough courage and headed them back at the end of March. All I could do now is wait and hope that the trees would be okay.



This type of pruning goes against everything I've been taught in school and in the field. Heading cuts are never encouraged, but when you're practicing espalier, no problem! To cover my bases, I attended Kristan Johnson's espalier lecture at the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. He's from the Western Washington Fruit Research Foundation and what he said was exactly what all the books and the Internet said to do.

Holding my breath, I lopped the tops off each tree. I checked on the buds' progress weekly. Most of the lower branches had already been pruned at the nursery. Part of me didn't believe that I'd get a new leader and two side branches let alone a few buds breaking. My friends and neighbors asked me what I'm doing and if the trees were taller before. I start to second guess myself all over again, but I explain my plan for these trees.

Sure enough, they leafed out nicely. I wasn't expecting flowers, but I did have one on the southern-most Nittany. This is the same tree in the previous photo.



Eldon and I were careful to install the posts into concrete making sure each post was level. I wasn't careful though how taught the lower wires were. I unknowingly cranked them too tightly. After settling with the winter wet, the posts were pulled inward. To counteract this, we used copper pipe at the very top of the fence and we loosened the wire below. It adds a finished touch and ties in with the copper caps on each post.

(Thanks for your help, cousin Eamon!)

It will be awhile before the trees reach the top. Once they do, I will wrap the copper so it doesn't interfere with the tree branches. We'll see how the pipe resists the pull of the wire next year after another season of wind, rain, and snow.