This manual has been written for those who:
- plan to plant a new orchard
- must take care of young apple trees and manage a high density orchard
- nurserymen who grow the trees
- in any way are concerned with the establishment, management and performance of high density apple trees.
List of topics in this manual:
- Row spacings & tree heights
- Tree spacing and densities
- Which rootstock - Dwarfing, semi-vigorous, vigorous?
- Nursery trees - the ideal tree
- Scion rooting of apples
- Tree growth habit
- Different pruning cuts
- Heading cut - spring vs winter
- Thinning cut
- Delay heading
- Bench cut
- Clean cut
- December cut
- Ring cut
- After planting
- When buds move in spring
- When you can not plant feathered trees
- Manage trees in the first season
- feathered trees
- Rods/whips
- Second year
- tree growth and management
- Third year
- prepare for ongoing productivity
- Fourth year - trees should have filled their alloted space
- Renewal pruning
- Summer pruning for skin colour
- How to minimise sunburnt fruit
- Hail net UPDATED
- positives and negatives
- bee activity
- type of net, structure, shape
- colour
- What causes biennial bearing
- Root pruning
- Crown Gall
- What are burr knots
- Calcium in the soil, tree and fruit
- What is watercore?
- Tree nutrition
- A guide to replace the nutrient losses from harvested fruit
- Nitrogen applications
- How useful is a soil test
- Soil organic matter
- why is it important
- supply of nutrients
- Use winter weeds to improve your soil
- Weed mulch + gypsum
- Six steps to prepare soil before planting
- Winter chill for breaking dormancy - chilling requirement
- Balancing growth and cropping
