Pruning Fruit Trees in Puglia

[LivingInPuglia]

Can anyone tell me when is the best time to prune young fruit trees in Puglia, Southern Italy - right down the bottom of the heel of the boot!

We have young orange, grapefruit, peach, apricot and apple, and also mature lemon, kumquat and peach tree

[David E. Ross]

You have a mild-winter climate, much like mine. I have a peach tree and dwarf orange, lemon, kumquat, and tangelo trees.

Prune the peach (young and mature), apricot, and apple in early January. Note that peach trees in mild-winter areas are not long-lived; after

12-15 years, they begin to decline and should be replaced. My peach tree is the second in that same spot; it's well over 15 years and will be removed next month. In January, I plan to plant a third peach in the same spot.

Citrus (orange, grapefruit, lemon, and kumquat) don't really need to be pruned to produce a good crop of fruit. Only prune them to eliminate crossing and dead branches. Prune to keep branch ends from touching the ground; such branches become paths for ants and snails. Also prune for aesthetics and to keep branches from blocking walkways. Don't prune to open up the centers of the trees since they really want the trunk shaded. If you get frost in the winter, don't prune in November through February. If you don't get frost, lightly prune any time of the year. When I pick fruit from my citrus, I might shorten or remove the branch at that time. I also pinch back some new growth.

My orange suffered damage in a severe frost in January 2007. It seems to have recovered and has fruit (not yet ripe). However, some branches still show the damage. This coming March, I will remove some of the damaged branches because new, undamaged branches have grown. I can't remove the damaged branches now because some of them have fruit.

[gardening]

News groups are a great discussion. Thanks for the ?

[gardening]

Thanks for your post!

[LivingInPuglia]

Thanks for that. I was interested to read about the mature peach tree as ours (pesca noce - really a nectarine) is really declining badly. We will look at replacing it this year.

David E. Ross;865277 Wrote:

[sherwin dubren]

I have a 19 year old Redhaven that is showing signs of age, but it is still producing numerous amounts of great tasting peaches. The bottom branches have died off, but there is plenty of good growth higher up. I'm keeping it until it peters out.

Sherwin