Maintenance

Post date: Aug 29, 2013 2:58:49 AM

Oh, we know. Plant trees let them grow. It seems so easy. Why would anyone have to maintain trees? How does one maintain trees? They grow, we eat the fruits. Are we right?

Anyway, it goes without saying that the orchard needs constant maintenance. With young trees the limbs need to be trained to grow outward. This promotes hearty trees with easy to pick fruits and as we all know, low hanging fruit tastes better. Training trees is a subject of much debate. Some simply tie branches to the base. Others use 2x4s wedged between the tree trunk and limb. We chose a third method: bamboo stakes.

Why bamboo? Well, bamboo stakes allow us to tie limbs to the bamboo and rest 2x4s against the bamboo without having to contact the central leader. Let us assume you want to tie the limbs down. Each 'gentile' breeze will rub the strings across the bark. Eventually wearing thin spots in the main central leader. However, if one ties the string to a bamboo stake then only the limb is effected. This is acceptable, simply on the grounds, limbs regrow, central leaders do not.

Another advantage is the fact 2x4s can be connected to the bamboo pole and the limb. In fact, cross member bamboo poles can help tie down two branches at once.