A couple of Pruning Seminars were held in November - one on Friday and one on Saturday.

Thanks to the Morshuis and Hope family for letting us demonstrate on some of their trees at Big River Grove and Awanui, Clyde.

Steve Morris was able to demonstrate:

1. Some big cuts on mature trees

2. Clearing the centre of an unpruned mature tree

3. Cleaning trunk on very young trees

4. Thinning bushy growth

Pruning shapes your trees to the shape you want and involves planning over multiple years.

You probably want an open vase shaped tree, with 4-6 scaffold branches and an open centre.

You prune to allow light and airflow through the tree. Airflow is important as olives pollinate in the wind.

Light penetration means the fruit will ripen on sunny and shady side of the tree and the sun gets right through.

As a general rule, don’t prune more than one third of a tree in any one year. A third each year is a good pattern to get in to.

We also keep the height down to aid hand harvesting. To about 3-4 metres.

Thanks Steve for the demonstration.