It’s spring time and there is plenty of work at the base camp clearing brush and pruning apple trees. I Graincheked the process and made a public feed. Generally the goal as I learned it, is to get sun and air to the apples on the branches. My strategy is based on 5 conditions I learned about pruning plus 1 that might be unique to the very overgrown trees at the base camp:

1: Remove anything that isn’t part of the apple tree. I had a very mature bush like plant that had pushed its way to the top and was tangled in the upper canopy. The bush needed to go along with smaller versions of the same that were sprouting up around the base of the apple tree. This may be more unique to my overgrown trees.

2: Remove dead or diseased branches. I had plenty of obviously dead branches, some I took down that probably could have stayed and some I left that probably won’t produce. The birds were very excited that I was touching their tree so I left some branches just for them. Lots of decisions to make and it was super interesting to watch the living portion of the tree take shape as I removed the dead. I’ll have to look into what the apple wood is good for.

3: Remove branches below 4 feet. I have plenty of deer in the area and don’t mind sharing some fruit resources with them so I left a few of the lower branches and took those that were dragging on the ground.

4: Remove suckers, which are branches that grow from the roots or trunk. It’s amazing to me how determined plants are to grow! A little root shows through the soil around the tree and a branch or entire tree sprouts out and shoots for the sky. I pruned almost all of the suckers but left one that had basically replaced half the tree with a trunk of its own that measures 4+ inches across.

5: Remove water spouts, which are branches that grow straight up. My understanding is that a bird should be able to fly through the tree and water spouts would deter this. They will also cast shade on the more valuable branches. I found that my trees, full of character, have complicated branches that are difficult to interpret. Some branches may have started as water spouts but now have a branch that perfectly fits into a sun spot.

6: Remove branches that wind around or cross over another. Pruning was very satisfying as it seems like each step in the process was breathing fresh air into the apple tree. When I pictured a branch putting out leaves, blossoms and apples it seemed claustrophobic until some of these branches that were attempting to take up the same space were removed. It wasn’t always clear which branch should be taken and which should be left though. I went around and around the tree a few times making more adjustments as I went.

I Graincheked the process in the Base Camp project using a new task called pruning. This allowed me to make a custom feed called Agriculture that includes just this new task and any similar tasks I may add in the future. The Agriculture feed is shared publicly and any Grainchek user can check out my agriculture progress at the base camp!