Professional apple pruning Ireland

Winter Orchard Pruning Season is Open!

Paul Lynch2 CommentsOrchard, , , , , ,

With the first proper freeze of the winter come and gone the winter orchard pruning season is well and truly open in Ireland. I tend to the orchard care needs of customers in Cork and Kerry, and sometimes further afield in counties Limerick and Clare. My interest in the care of fruit trees goes back to over 20 years ago when I was a curious teenager and I have tended to hundreds of orchards since turning professional back in 2016. Some pruning jobs involve a few small trees in a domestic garden while other jobs can involve tending to centuries old orchards on the grounds of old estates. Holistic Orchard Care While there are general rules and concepts that apply to all apple trees, each one is also a unique individual with its own personal history. Because of this I treat each one according to its own circumstances, history and Continue Permaculture Story

Summer Pruning Espalier Apples and Pears in Ireland

Paul LynchLeave a commentOrchard, , , , , ,

I was working locally today pruning some pear and apple espalier trees. What are espalier fruit trees you might well ask? Espalier Fruit Trees Espalier fruit trees are a restricted form of fruit growing that trains the trees to grow in a two-dimensional vertical plane. Usually there is some form of post and wire structure built before tree planting to tie the tree to as it grows. This results in a compact two-dimensional tree that in theory is easier to harvest from. In the Irish or UK climate it is a system often used against a south or west facing wall to take advantage of an the warmer, more sheltered microclimate created there, or along a path to take advantage of more regular attention and easier access that the trees will get on a highly frequented walk-way. Basic Espalier Fruit Tree Advice My basic advice for people who want espaliers Continue Permaculture Story

Permaculture Summer Pruning & Orchard Care Course, Sat 27th July 2024

Paul LynchLeave a commentUncategorized, , , ,

I’m looking forward to running another pruning course this weekend! There are still some places so please get in touch if you are interested. Here are the details: Summer Orchard Pruning Workshop 2024 Orchard Summer Pruning Workshop Details Saturday 27th July 10am -16.00pmBallingeary, Co Cork Join Paul Lynch for a workshop on the theory and demonstration of orchard care from a permaculture perspective, focusing apple pruning. Here is an article introducing the subject: https://permaculturedesign.ie/orchard-pruning-cork/ Course topics: Bookings & Information To guarantee a place on the course contact paul@permaculturedesign.ie for bank transfer details and directions to the venue. Or ring 089 2553096 for enquiries. About the course leader: Paul is a professional permaculture teacher designer and orchardist based in West Cork, Ireland. Paul’s teacher bio: https://www.permaculture.org.uk/user/paul-lynch Permaculture orchard pruning – photos from previous courses Here are some photos from the 2022 summer pruning and orchard care workshop at the Ansa Permaculture Continue Permaculture Story

An Irish man and an apple tree

Apple Trees in the Mountain Orchard

Paul LynchLeave a commentOrchard, , , , ,

I thought the magic orchard was going to be my last winter pruning job this year but I was visiting another neighbour who I hadn’t seen in ages and realised I had another pruning job left to do. I had tended to these trees once (maybe twice) before and I actually grafted the younger ones in my own little nursery back in 2018 or thereabouts. So I was very interested to see how these little trees were getting on, and in particular how they were shaping up.

Magic West Cork Orchard

Paul Lynch1 CommentUncategorized, , ,

I was orchard pruning recently for one of my neighbours and here are some of the photos. The trees are overly shaded to the south by some big Cupressus Leylandii trees making the situation not ideal from a fruit growing perspective but there is an absolutely magical feeling in there. The farm itself and setting is beautiful but stepping into the orchard is like like entering another world. Most of the work I did was cutting off dead dying and diseased wood (very little disease given the circumstances) and thinning and restructuring the trees to a natural shape. In some cases I kept branches that didn’t fit the future structure I was setting but were healthy with plenty of fruiting wood – they can always go later on as the replacement branches are developing. You can see in one of the photos I have splayed potential new scaffold branches from Continue Permaculture Story