Green Thumb 2024 – Pruning Fruit Trees for Size, Health, and Fruit Production

Pruning your fruit trees properly will help increase tree longevity and fruit production, while reducing maintenance costs and pest and disease problems. Find out how to prune your trees the right way! Join Clallam County Master Gardener Tom Del Hotal for the Green Thumb Education Series presentation “Pruning Fruit Trees for Size, Health, and Fruit Production,” for science-based information to keep your fruit trees at peak performance.

The 2024 Green Thumb Education Series presentation “Pruning Fruit Trees for Size, Health and Fruit Production” will be held in person on Thursday, December 12th from noon – 1:00 p.m. at Saint Andrew’s Episcopal Church, 510 E Park Ave, in Port Angeles and will be broadcast live via Zoom.

Find a direct link to the live presentation here.

Or join by phone: 253-215-8782

Meeting ID: 936 2989 8830

Passcode: 676224

Traditional pruning methods are often geared towards commercial orchards and have frequently emphasized fruit production while sacrificing tree health and long tree life. “It is often easier and considered more ‘cost effective’ to prune trees without regard to tree longevity and instead, replace the trees after a relatively short period of time (10 – 40 years),” Tom said.

Research has given new insights on how plants respond to pruning and how pruning affects tree health and longevity. This resulted in new tree pruning standards that have been adopted by many cities, states and countries. Tom will teach homeowners how to use these new principles to prune fruit trees properly.

Tom has been a horticulturist and nurseryman since 1977. He is a Certified Arborist and was a horticulture instructor at a local college in San Diego for over 20 years. Tom owned his part-time business, Fantasia Gardens, (a fruit tree specialty nursery and fruit tree pruning and consulting business that specialized in home and small-scale commercial orchard design and fruit tree management services) from 1983-2020. Tom is currently a Clallam County Master Gardner.