Many people equate pruning with reshaping your tree’s structure to fit a particular shape or style. This, however, is not the case. “Tree Training” refers to the process of changing the structure of a tree. This is a much better method for creating an alternate form for your tree. Pruning should be employed to prevent infections, lopsidedness, and to promote healthier fruit growth.
Pruning is also employed to keep the tree in the appropriate shape. For example, if you have an abundance of branches on one side of the tree, you will employ pruning to remove the larger segments that are weighing down the tree on that side. Consider it in terms of maintaining rather than changing. While pruning can be effective on occasion, training is a healthier and more efficient option most of the time.
Training has only been around for a short time. One can influence the growth of the tree to take any shape they wish by tying down branches or propping them up from the ground. This notion is typically applied in the early stages of the tree’s development to encourage it to completely develop. You’ll save yourself a lot of trimming effort if you direct the tree and get it started on the proper foot.
Typically, training takes place over the summer. Rather to simply cutting off all the branches that aren’t heading in the appropriate direction, you try to reroute them. The mechanisms you employ can be compared to orthodontic braces for your fruit tree. They act like teeth, pulling or pushing the branches in the desired direction. Because of your training, they will eventually grow in that manner.
It can be difficult to select how to train your tree. There are numerous forms and shapes to select from. Some are designed to allow for a high density of trees in a single orchard, while others are designed to produce maximum fruit yielding per tree. You will need to hunt for different types of forms that will exactly fit your circumstance depending on where your tree is and how you want it to work.
Even if you are growing a tree in its conventional (natural) shape, training ideas can be utilized. Because branches can grow too close together and block each other out, training them to grow away from each other can help you avoid having to prune them later. This is really advantageous even if you are simply cultivating a tree in your backyard in a non-professional setting.
You’ll need an exterior brace to push or pull a branch when training a tree. If you want to push two branches closer together or further apart, you can put something in between them or tie them together with rope. It only takes a little imagination to decide what to tie things to and what to push things off of to successfully train your branches. I’ve discovered that stakes, fences, or even an upright two by four leaning away can do wonders.
There is no tree gardener who could not benefit from some training in their tree growing endeavors. Whether you want to give your trees a completely new shape or just optimize branch placement for healthier fruit, training will undoubtedly help you.