They have originated from Versailles but the Dutch have really developed it for commercial growing.
- This is a method that is used for more intensive cropping in commercial horticulture, but is superseded by even more intensive methods of pruning and production that allows trees to be planted even closer together and be picked and pruned by machines.
- The purpose of them is produce more, optimum growth on a regular basis, earlier & easier to pick and prune. To maintain a regular fruit size and quality.
- This means that they live less long (less than 100 years) and are usually grubbed out before it dies so that there is no risk of fruit production falling.
- The are grafted onto dwarf rootstocks - M26, M9 (more common commercial one now), MM1106.
- The main concept of the shape is to have a central leader but S shaped/ kinky and not straight. 4 or 5 flat bottom branches. The central leader has a number of small weeping laterals/ small branches.
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| Photo 1: Starting a spindle bush from a feathered maiden. |
- To begin creating a tree of this shape you start with a feathered maiden (one year old tree with side shoots) as demonstrated in Photo 1 - the uprightish stem that you choose to be the leader cut approx. 10cm off. Cut the rest of the branches which will serve as the laterals cut down to 60cm to outward facing buds. If stem is flat cut to an upward facing bud. Again mediocre branches are favoured rather than over vigorous or too weak. Branches won't normally be horizontal so you have to use weights to weigh the branches down. Branches are best weighted down in Spring when they are more flexible.
Weights can come in different can come in different forms:
- Making a loop with string put it around branch and tying it lower down through a nail/ staple further down support post (Photo 2)
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| Photo 2: Demo of looping a piece of string around a branch and tying it to a nail/ staple further down the supporting post. |
- Weighted pegs (Photo 3)
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| Photo 3 |
- Hop screws usually used in hop production
- A corkscrew like piece of metal that you screw into ground and tie string onto that from branch.
- A W clip as another contraption to help keep string to the ground (this doesn't work well here because it the soil is sandy).
- A spiral shaped wire (Hot Screw) that goes around post in a certain way and presses branch downwards - The good ol' cement in yoghurt pot weights.
With all these methods one has to be careful of the string not cutting into the branch. The branches are kept tied for 6 weeks. There are also rubber and plastic ties used to train the central leader up and around the post (these are tied in a figure of 8 formation). For older trees tie down within canopy.
First Jim Arbury demonstrated pruning principles on one of the trees.
- Doing a wedge/ dutch cut (slanted cut that leaves a bit of a bottom jutted out) will stimulate buds to break from the wedge and perhaps grow into a branch of a more preferable direction - renewal & replacement pruning.
- A straight cut will likely kill off that end of the branch and have no bud break near the cut.
- A preference is given to branches that lends itself to bending.
- Leg it up - cut out any branches that are too low - to aid strimming or herbicide spraying. If branches get damaged they are more likely to get canker.
- General idea is fairly bare mid drift.
- Overly tall & vigorous leaders maybe sometimes best cut off in June because cutting it now will make it react too much.
- If you would like a thicker branch to bend you can do armadillo cuts along it (a third into the branch about 1" gap between each cut) and this will allow it to bend, as demonstrated in Photo 4.
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| Photo 4: Armadillo cut. |
Then we worked on our own row of trees - I worked on Row 32. Apples (generally in sets of two of the same varieties): Ye Old Peasgood (Photo 5), Strobo Castle, Stirling Castle, Sowman's Seedling, Hawthornden, Norfolk Beauty and the beginning of New Hawthornden.
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| Photo 5: Pruning result on 'Ye Old Peasgood' apples. |
I generally found that I had to get rid of a lot of overly vigorous and inflexible vertical shoots. Cut off any disease canker, cut out overly crossing branches where there was rubbing or a high chance of it, unless branches on the bottom tier were too sparse. I thinned out overlapping branches and laterals, prioritising stronger budded stems and cutting off weaker ones where necessary. Always considering enough light and ventilation getting between branches. Even if the top leader weeping branches were ok, I would try and cut into these where possible to stimulate new growth there, so that all fruiting spurs won't tire out at the same time and get no replacements.
NB - Sometimes there were fissure in the stems of the trees that was frost split.
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| Photo 6: Pruning result of 'Strobo Castle'. |
Photo 7 & 8 demonstrates pruning of the top of the weeping leader branches on Apple 'Norfolk Beauty'
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| Photo 7: Apple 'Norfolk Beauty' before pruning |
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| Photo 8: Apple 'Norfolk Beauty' after pruning. |
Knip-Boom are 2 year old feathered maiden trees when planted out. Bench grafted first and cut 60cm up, below that all buds are rubbed off. This encourages them to branch out well above and close to main stem. Top vigour is controlled too to force branching out below.