We Can do Better than This | Pruning to give Life

[@patriciaking3213]

Moved back to my home state in SW Michigan after living in GA for a decade. In my opinion our peaches here taste better than any of the peaches I’ve had in GA!

[@robinlj5767]

Rachael, you are dear!!! I have pruned my own trees many times over the years and I love that you said “give yourself grace” because I’m no professional either!!! I have found that you actually have to give some of the professionals grace too!👍🤣You included some great pointers in this video. I love everything you share and invariably learn something of value from you! Thank you for the bottom of my heart for courageously sharing your life, your journey and so much valuable info with all of us!!!❤❤❤

[@ginad729]

I live in Utah and we get very hard and cold winter's here most years. And we can grow amazing peaches 🍑.

[@leelindemann7729]

I learned that dwarf and semi-dwarf are regular fruit treas grafted onto dwarf/semi-dwarf root stock. I also learned that if they are not properly pruned and maintained (why are you looking at me?!?!) the graft can get screwed up and the growth will start coming from roots that grow above the graft. You now have a ‘normal’ size fruit tree. Severe snow /ice around the trunk can sometimes cause this. The best thing to do is take excellent pictures of the base and other weird things you think need pruning, and take those into your local State Extension office. They can be really helpful! Call ahead to make sure the correct person will be there.

[@kahlaschmidt505]

My mother in law always said to plant trees in the months with R’s. Not sure why but she worked at a greenhouse for years

[@virginiarussell3767]

I was taught by an elderly farm neighbor to prune fruit trees during any month with the letter 'r' in it. So basically don't prune in the summer!

[@melissalee3040]

I love the smell of pine.

[@joeyhardin1288]

Thank you. We planted all out fruit trees three years ago, time to prune ours. God Bless, stay safe and warm.

[@myrrhidian3166]

Pears seem to always grow straight up. We have some that we planted a few years ago now, and they have also grown way above our heads, though similar to you, everything we planted was supposed to be a dwarf. I did my pruning a couple weeks ago, and am trying a bit of grafting this year. Deer killed the grafted varieties on two of our peach trees, but the rootstocks are thriving so hopefully we can repair the damage by grafting them over again. Good luck with your orchard this year!

[@robingirven4570]

Omg, you guys. I stopped at my local Mennonite store yesterday for staples. I had a dream last night that I was in there and you two were in the store and I embarrassed the heck out of myself seeing you in there. It’s really not too far from your cabin. Lol We’ve never trimmed our orchard. Ever. We just let it go. Apples, peaches and pears. We do not prune our orchard. We don’t prune our blueberries or raspberries either 🤷‍♀️I wish I could share photos!

[@suewhalen3919]

Good for you. A new skill in your tool belt.

[@tater357]

I'm not an expert either, but I did find out in the research I've watched if to keep your blade on the tree side. You have the same cutters that I do, so if you are holding your cutters in your right hand, then you'll be cutting to the left with the actual cutting blade on the side of the main tree. So cutting clockwise around the tree. It makes a cleaner cut from my experience.

[@lassie7777]

What a job! I broke down and got a electic hand saw. Works great for 3 inches and up 10 inches. I let mine go wild for 15 years and never again. 🙄

[@cynthiafisher9907]

You’re supposed to take three years to “fix” a neglected tree so the radical pruning doesn’t stimulate the wrong type and too much growth. I know, hard to do.

[@JoyoftheGardenandHome]

Anne of All Trades just did a pruning video as well. There's knowledge there...

[@annmacbride3100]

I am in Zone 4...I have one resilience and one contender peach tree. They are supposed to be good for colder zones. I did lose one resilience a few years back. I find bear root seems to do better than potted when it comes to peach trees.

[@Gidget1616]

Love all your videos! It’s beautiful out today! Enjoy

[@brianczuhai8909]

I trim mine after the fruits have set. Which, THEY SAY, is the WRONG TIME. But I can see and keep the fruit growth. The other aspect is to be able to cut grass around them. You have to trim the peach trees in a bowl or upside down umbrella shape. I did put sticky Tanglefoot goo around the trunks which protects against ants, squirrels, and raccoons from robbing me.

[@fincarosa6767]

My Alberta peach did great at my house in ohio!! Sweet and juicy too. Good luck growing them again and thanks for sharing!

[@TheRestlessKind]

I live in Southern Ontario and have multiple peach trees they are native to this area. I don't remember the exact species but don't give up! And remember peaches love to almost be too wet.

[@missouribroad978]

3:46 The giant tree, off to the right in the background, is amazing! Do you have an estimate of how old it is? Growing up we had a tree in town that was similar in size and it was the oldest tree in the area.

[@NanaSuze77]

Thanks for the pruning inspiration!

[@jeffmeyers3837]

Lesson on Summer vs. Winter pruning, in case anyone is interested in knowing. I prune a lot of trees for people, and here's how I typically explain it to them. Winter pruning will stimulate growth, good if your tree is too small. Summer pruning will keep a tree from getting too big. Basically in the Fall, the energy that went down into the root is at equilibrium with the amount of branches up top. When you remove branches in the Winter, you're left with much more root energy than branches, so in Spring when that travels back up the tree, all that excess energy stimulates top growth. Good way to direct energy and stimulate a tree. However if your tree is already the size you like, do your major pruning in peak Summer (longest day), when the energy is in the branches you are removing. That way you're removing excess energy from the tree to keep it at the size you want. If you plan to Summer prune to keep your tree small, you can still do some light Winter pruning, mostly to eliminate diseased wood or branches that are pointing inward. (I could go into cloning your removed branches into new trees, but this would be a very long post). Hope that helps someone.

[@smas3256]

So you're probably done but some info about fruit trees is at The Gardening Channel With James Prigioni He does pruning and spraying with a liquid mud of some sort.

[@patlevac918]

Hi Rachel…was looking for ur walnut tree video for the sap…..just wanted to let u know that if u put an aspirin in that hole then tap two inches away from that hole the following year, your not harming the isn’t I would let u know….daughters recommendation…:)

[@aronwatson8019]

My biggest tip is to clean your tools (snippers and hand saw) with rubbing alcohol between each tree. That way, if one tree has a disease or fungal issue, you are not spreading it to other trees.

[@deltorres2100]

The pear tree will do great. I butchered my pear tree this winter and it’s already giving me blooms cause I’m in Houston Texas so it’s starting to get hot in here already 🍐🍐

[@ub6ilb975]

Great Video!

[@brianczuhai8909]

Where’s your battery chain saw? I have peach trees. They are delicious. Just walmart, meijers, lowes, and TSC ones. Plums too. Good year on apples last year. I spray them just a couple times with Sevin. That REALLY makes a huge difference on bugs. I fertilize, and bought some tree rings at Ollies, 3” mulch the smaller trunk ones. I had no luck on cherries. Japanese Beetles loved them too much. Trees remained expensive last year. Need to try to propagate some.

[@andrewhammill6148]

That one tree looked like the leaning tower of Pisa.

[@MargieBenson-dv9ek]

❤

[@ShalomShalom-d5c]

In SoCal, my Apple tree is in full bloom! 🤦‍♀️ its too early

[@jo-annjewett198]

I didn’t buy dwarf but am keeping my fruit trees at 8 feet or less.

[@monnanugent8168]

I pruned my lemon tree a couple years ago and half my tree died. I talked to some folks at UF agriculture office in Gainesville and they said I should never prune more than 30% of any fruit tree in a year. Now I live in Florida so that might be for my area only. But thats what they said.

[@KeithNorman-j9r]

I grow peaches very easily, can’t keep any sweet cherries alive! (West Michigan- Grand Rapids)

[@AngiesPantry58]

🤗💞

[@jessidutton3441]

Please tell me exactly what to get to tap my trees. I'd like to get the same setup as you have.

[@1870s]

🫙Supplies to get you started🫙 Tree Taps: amzn.to/3upKENu Camp Chef Propane Stove: amzn.to/3Sst1op High Pressure Cooker Propane Cooker: amzn.to/3UKuOaZ 44-qt Stainless Stockpot: amzn.to/3UH2Qgk 10" Filter Stand: amzn.to/3uBddaY Syrup Pre-Filters - 6 Pack: amzn.to/4bAZjGB Orlon Filter Cone (Final Filter): amzn.to/3SHk6iU Easy Tree Taps: amzn.to/3upKENu

[@cynthiafisher9907]

One thing is that different types of fruit trees need different amounts of pruning. Cherry and plum trees should not be pruned too much and peach trees should be pruned more. I’m not an expert, I e probably made just about every mistake you can make, mostly pruning too much. It’s a learning process. I wonder if it would help your peach trees to put straw and then burlap around them in the fall? Is it the harsh winter temperatures that kill them? I live in a cold climate as well, but maybe not as cold. We have peach orchards here that do fine and I have two peach trees that are healthy.

[@allisonhartley6712]

I am a registered nurse that rates disability claims for the Dept of Veterans Affairs. I usually just say there was very little landscaping and gardening training in nursing school so I just wing it.

[@debbiealtman5373]

All you can do is try.

[@chadwolfeschledgelsteinhau9697]

99% of the people that prune on youtube have no idea how or why theey prune. I have 15 yr old appel trees and dont need a step ladder to pick a single appel