Converting vigourous, leafy apple trees into fruitful producers
On Saturday the 19th of July I hosted the annual summer pruning course here at Ansa Permaculture Design headquarters in Cork.
We had a full house of course participants from all over Cork including Ballydehob, Mallow, Ballingeary, Cobh and Ballinhassig. Many of the participants had inherited the care of orchards in various conditions and wanted to learn how best to manage them.
Orchard pruning workshop topics
The pruning workshop covered the following topics: Why prune at all; the natural shape of an apple tree; the purpose of grafting; grafting effects and side-effects; summer pruning vs winter pruning; vegetative and fruiting wood; orchard guilds and design considerations; pollination; tools and tool care; disease pruning; pruning demos; plant succession, mulching, and, very importantly, the Lorette system of summer pruning.
Lorette system of summer pruning
In the course notes I also included a copy of Natural England Technical Information Note TN17 titled: Traditional orchards: maintenance pruning. This document includes details of the Lorette summer pruning system which is a central concept of my summer pruning approach for managing vigourous mature fruit trees. This document is available free to download here: https://publications.naturalengland.org.uk/file/83044
The action learning cycle
We had a massive amount of material to get through in a day and I think it would be very difficult to absorb in purely theoretical terms. I am a firm believer in the action – learning cycle however and I appeal to diverse learning styles during the course by providing demonstration and opportunities for active learning through practice.
Here is a general article introducing the subject of orchard care: https://permaculturedesign.ie/orchard-pruning-cork/
Summer pruning workshop student feedback
I enjoyed the day teaching and found it rewarding passing on the techniques I use on thousands of trees for hundreds of customers across Cork and further afield. It’s always revealing to see and hear how useful this is for people learning it for the first time.
At the end of the course the participants left the following feedback on their experience:
Really enlightening experience
Really enlightening experience for someone who had no idea how to prune! I’m so excited to go home and look at the orchard with new eyes : )
Mary
The practical methods
What was the most valuable part of the course?: The practical methods
Barry
Provided great inspiration
A really lovely spot with a nice relaxed pace but I really learned alot.
Very open and informative approach to teaching – Paul answered all questions well & is very knowledgeable.
Whole new approach to pruning – I’d only ever done winter pruning.
This course was an excellent “refresher” course the information was presented excellently and provided great inspiration to get back the confidence to prune again.
Noreen Dalton
The theory and technique
What was the most valuable part of the course: Learning the theory and technique of summer pruning and the benefits of it.
Tadhg
Very practical and interactive
Do you have any suggestions on how we could improve this program?: No, it was very good this way!
Marleen
Paul Lynch teacher biography
Paul is a professional permaculture designer, sustainability consultant and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland.
Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch
All sustainability Courses Past and Present listed here.
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