By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
With spring and summer rapidly approaching, many amateur gardeners will look to try their hand at managing fruit trees. However, this can be a problem for novice gardeners, as the pruning process poses a predicament with how strict it can be. To aid in this, Utah State University Extension will host a fruit tree pruning workshop on Saturday, March 29.
Rowe Zwahlen and Steven Price from Extension joined the KOAL newsroom to promote the workshop and explain what attendees should expect.
“Fruit trees are a little bit different; unlike a lot of our ornamental trees that require a little bit of structural pruning every few years, fruit trees need annual pruning,” explained Price of the workshop,” So depending on the type of tree, they will produce fruit on different aged wood. So unless you balance that with pruning, you get maybe some smaller fruit or no fruit or maybe fruit that’s just not as good. A lot of people don’t understand that.”
Zwahlen added,” We will start with some basic knowledge. We’ll talk a bit about the theory of how and why we would be pruning, and then we’ll get into some hands-on. We’ve picked a great site that has a variety of trees. You know, we’ve got apples, peaches, cherries, a little bit of everything. And so we’ll be able to kind of stand by you. Usually, that first cut is the hardest one. If you can get through that and be brave enough, then it really does work out pretty well.”
In closing, Zwahlen stated,” This is simple and it’s fun. You don’t need to bring anything. If you have your own equipment and want to try it out, great. But if not, we’ve got everything available for you.” Price shared,” We will be outdoors, so dress for whatever March is going to be thrown at us that day.”
USU Extension’s Fruit Tree Pruning workshop will be held on Saturday, March 29. To register for this event, call USU Extension at 435-636-3235 for the Carbon Office or 435-381-3535 for the Emery office. Due to the event being held at a private residence, attendees will receive the address following registration.
