Why train and prune young trees?
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A young tree that is not pruned will become a shapeless tree.
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A shapeless tree does not fill its space in the orchard and we cannot maximize light interception and light distribution.
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Growing fruit means trapping (intercepting) as much sunlight as possible and converting it into a high quality product that we can sell.
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To shape a fruit tree and give it a good structure we must train and prune young trees.
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The best shapes to intercept and distribute sunlight are the Christmas tree‑type (Central Leader) and V‑type (Tatura Trellis).
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Any pruning during the early years is dwarfing, the trees cannot fill their space quickly and it delays fruiting.
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Trees that are trained well and pruned minimally, grow fast and come into production soon.
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Fruiting reduces tree growth. If we allow fruit trees to crop heavily too soon, the trees will be in full production before they have filled their allotted space.
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Training and pruning young trees allows us to regulate tree growth and fruitfulness so that we can maximize the production potential of an orchard.
