I understand pruning would help it recover as it would have less branches to feed, but then again, not too much as it would stress it. Just a prune like I described in the video. Removing all the excess, opening it up to air and light. I probably couldn’t help much more than that.

Muchea Tree Farm. Not open during summer. They have tons of native trees and shrub tubestock.

If you can afford it, a small tractor with bucket. If you have a paddock, a slasher to cut the grass. You can get all sorts of attachments.

You’re welcome, kat

You’re welcome, Alan

Yes, you can prune it now. It will help the tree cope with the move. Just mainly focus on thinning it out, opening the centre up to air and light.

Great to hear from you. I got an urge to try making videos again. A lot of work. Yes, I love my birds. Hope you’re well.

Hi Peggy. That’s nice of you to say hi. Hope you’re doing well. Jamie

Thanks very much

Yeah, it’s a great idea. I still insist on doing it for every new plant.

Cheers

Thanks

Hey

Hello. If your tree is already 5 years old and it has too many main stems do not worry too much that it is not perfect. Ideally, the shaping of the tree would have started early so there is only one main stem, with a few main branches coming off that once it is a good metre in height. The main goal is having a balanced and even distribution of branches with enough space to let air and light through the tree. Enough space so a bird could fly through the tree without touching the branches. In your case, can you just cut off a couple of main stems, maybe bring the number down to 3? Good luck

​@@LuckyFigFarm thanks for your great suggestion Today I cutt one stem now three stems left

@@sajidaziz7316 you’re welcome

Replied

As long as I don’t go in front of their entrance, open the hive, or make a sudden move, they are happy for me to sit there all day. It’s a very fine line.

Hi Charles. Thanks for watching. I appreciate your view. Regards, Jamie.

Sounds like it was dry? If they’re dry I water them before removing from the pot. Keeping all the soil together is important to avoid stress. It can certainly still grow though. Good luck

No

Cheers

Yeah, I don’t recommend the shovel technique!

@@LuckyFigFarm I have a sandy fast draining mountain soil. Do you know if swales would still be useful without adding clay or geotextile? I was thinking of putting a bunch of rotting wood and brush in them to break down.

@@Rymorin4 Sorry for the delay. My notifications didn't pick this up. ... It depends on the purpose of the swale. However, it sounds like you have the perfect soil (sand) for what swales are generally for - for catching water and draining it away fast into your ground. This is for people with the issue of having too much rain and not wanting to use the captured water. Adding organic matter onto the swales - like wood, branches, sticks, leaves and mulch to break down over the long term - is always the best additive for the health of soil. It will improve moisture retention and the important life systems in the top soil. So if you want to catch the water and redirect it into vegetation growing on top of the swale, making the soil organic is the way to go. I believe people generally have to improve the soil in order to increase the drainage because of clay soils.

Thank you! That’s how these ended up. I planted them as sticks and then one day “oh, heck … yeah, they need shaping”!

Thank you, Juan. Appreciate that.

Wow, very nice place. I’m in Chittering. Same sort of country. Classic vineyard land here. Gently sloping land with gravelly soils. 5 acres. We had our first rain last week! Yes, it will be a food forest. I have over 30 fruit trees in main section with the swales. This area will be developed into its own ecosystem with other plants along the swales to support the soil and garden health. Ie. flowering plants, deep rooted plants … . I have bees now too. This video is 2 years old and I plan to make another of the same type this winter. What grows well will probably have a little to do with the local area too. Nectarines were the best, apples are the slowest. Maples and figs grow fastest. I have all fruit trees growing except tropical. Yes, there’s a bore. Near the bottom of the property. Luckily fantastic water and heaps of it. Solar panel pumps it up to top of my property to a header tank, and gravity brings it back down again to the garden. About a 20m rise over 150-200m. Free water. We have been smashing it, hand watering all the new trees and shrubs over summer and had great success. For screening plants the best are cottonwood and lilly pilly. Such low water requirements.

You’re very welcome 8-)

Hi. When I’m thinning out the branches I’m just looking to let more light and air in, choosing to leave the best looking branches - healthy, 45 degree angle approx. So I’m just quickly cutting and thinning it out, looking for the worst branches and starting from there until the tree is opened up more. The widest window for pruning is any time between when fruiting it finishing in autumn and before flowering starts in Spring. That’s the easiest guide. But I do after fruiting is finished. Some believe pruning just before spring encourages a burst of unwanted growth. My location is Mediterranean climate. Long hot and dry summers and wet winters. Zone 11. South West, Western Australia.

Nothing more than ensuring I soak the hole before planting. Ideally with seasol. This helps give an indication of the drainage too, if there’s clay around. Talking about watering, I’ve learned over the last couple of years that during the dry summer (we go nearly half a year without proper rain in Perth, but then get wet winters) a regular minimal amount of water keeps the plant alive and growing, but this last summer, I gave a lot more, and everything grew faster. So, more deeper watering was ok for my native plants, ensuring it thoroughly drained and probably dried out before next watering.

I would if I was putting natives along the swales, but I’m not. Along the swales I eventually intent to have plants to complement the fruit trees. ie. flowers for the bees, plants with deep roots to help the soil, nitrogen fixers. We just had the driest 6 months in Perth’s (post-colonial) history, and are waiting patiently for the rain as we have big plans for native tube stock plantings this winter.

Thanks! We want to retain all the rain we can in these areas. We’re about a month away from the start of the winter rain here. Last winter was terribly dry. The swales never filled once.

The cooler weather and rain will start in about a month here in Perth, and I’m looking forward to another planting season.

Thanks. I have a different video on pruning fruit trees. Somewhat similar to olive trees.

I plan to. Thanks.

Cheers, Martin

Thank you

You’re very welcome. Sounds like a nice place!

That would be a great idea if you could design it to catch water and also not restrict access to the bed too much. The idea is it would soak water directly into the ground below the garden bed. I have 2 x swales now at my large veggie garden, one at the top and one at the bottom, both against the hedges at the borders, and the rest of my swales capture water for the rows of fruit trees.

I’m picturing you could have 1 x swale on the high side of a veggie/garden bed. The swales need to be able to catch water running into it and also be level so the water spreads evenly over the swale and stays in the swale.

We netted properly for the first time this summer with a few trees. Used the larger netting. Worked great. Aware birds get caught and it won’t stop fruit fly, but this is likely the preferred option for strength and price. We can free any trapped birds as we watch it a lot of the day. The bay tree has grown, yes, slowly. But how many bay leaves do we need lol

I guess it depends on how much time you have to care for them and if kangaroos or rabbits can access them. I’ve been planting about a dozen or two each year now, and I rarely lose any anymore. It took practice. My first year I lost most because the kangaroos were getting in and also the water was pooling around the plant. They just need a little bit of water that drains away and no animals. After the first summer they are fine on their own.

Cheers. I agree

Last winter was the first one the swales never filled up at all. Such little rain. But the benefit is if we have a massive summer storm they will fill and keep a lot of the rain on the property.

Following video. Cheers

Cheers for watching

We’re all colonisers at some point. Who is Mungo Man related to btw? Not aboriginal Australians. Mankind in all cases screw things up in many ways. Indigenous Australians are part of mankind.