I had a super day on Sunday as a guest of Joanne Butler or Ourganic Garden in Gortahork. Gortahork is not normally my stomping ground, but Joanne invited me up to host a Winter Apple Tree Pruning day.
Joanne is building a super community focused horticulture and environmental project around her home there, with a sustainable woodland, an organic vegetable garden, livestock and more.
When it comes to Winter tree pruning…when you have big over grown trees…be grave and get stuck in!! Always look for a goblet shape on these open planted trees, this helps to keep the centre of the tree more open and more productive. We also covered winter washing, tree selection, grafting and staking trees.
The trees here are pretty well established, so wel also covered hwo to tie down the branches and make a more ‘weeping’ tree to try to keep them lower and make the fruit easier to pick…
To learn more about Joannes Ourganic Garden check out her website here
All in all a very productive day!
For more on selecting and care for apple trees check out this previous post on Apple Tree Maintenance and Care.
Gareth Austin is a Community focused Horticulturist based in Derry-Londonderry and voice of Gardening on the Mark Patterson Show on BBC Radio Foyle. Gareth specialises in Community horticulture, offering a wide range of events, programmes and acitivity on engaging people in the exciting world of Horticulture. Gareth lectures in Horticulture in the North West Regional College and offers school horticulture programs through the Western Education + Library Board. Gareth is passionate about changing land-use to a more positive use, urban food production and showcasing the flora of county Derry through the City of Horti-Culture programme of events.
