"Good, better, best" - Stefan Sobkowiak and the Permaculture Orchard

Stefan Sobkowiak.... and Beyond Organics Permaculture Tour of NZ

Stefan lives and works in a much harsher climate than we do in New Zealand. In his permaculture orchard near Montreal, Canada he combats ice storms, metres of snow and temperatures that get down to -40, a spring that lasts 10 days and then summer temperatures averaging 35C.  It's a short but  good growing season.  There are some advantages to working in such a cold climate - you can do other things over winter where in the warmer parts of New Zealand there is always something to be done in the garden or orchard.

Stefan grows a permaculture orchard using the principle of food forest design but in a structured commercial orchard way.

Stefan with the wire trainers he uses to train tree branches.  They
are left in place for 2-3 months and if the branch still bounces back he will
keep them wired for longer.  He makes a number of lengths over winter ready for use
in summer.

At the Habitate Heritage Fruits Nursery in the township of Waitati (15 minutes north of Dunedin) we were treated to a half day practical workshop on the training and pruning of orchard trees. Stefan managed to impress not only the novice orchard growers like me, but others experienced in pruning.  Many left this workshop with a completely different view on training and pruning orchard trees.

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Stefan showed us step by step how to train and prune apple trees.

Training to Reduce Pruning by 80%

Training a tree involves selecting branches to grow in a downward slope from the trunk rather than up in the vase shape we have previously been told an apple tree shape should be.  By encouraging the branch downward it reduces the vegetative growth of new branches and increases the number of fruit spurs on each branch. A fruit tree only has so much energy and so it's important to focus that energy on producing fruit rather than vegetation.

The branches should slope like our arms on our bodies (Stefan demonstrating below) but the lead trunk should keep growing upward until it reaches it's ideal height.

Stefan illustrating the angle the branch should be off the trunk.
Photo by James Samuel Beyond Organic Tour NZ

 It's up to you what height you want but Stefan aims for a 4 metre tree simply to get the productivity he needs for a commercial orchard.  Once the lead trunk reaches your height, do not cut off it's head or it will sprout a number of branches from that cut. Just like us Stefan says a tree needs just one head.   You now bend this lead branch down so that it fruits but doesn't continue to grow upward.

If your tree has previously been pruned to cut out a central branch you have two choices. Treat each of the main branches like one tree, or select the strongest upward branch to become the new head.

Train in the middle of summer when there is enough sap flow for the branches to be supple and can be manipulated without the danger of cracking.

Small upward branches you do want to crack to lay in a downward position.  The tree quickly repairs the crack and this will mean you won't need to use wires next year to shape this branch.

Avoid doing this job if it's going to rain or is raining.  You need a few days of sun to avoid disease on the cracked twigs. A healthy tree will quickly wall off the break from infection. Stefan doesn't use pruning paste taking his cue from nature.  If the soil has a healthy soil biology the tree will repair itself fast.

When training choose the branches that are less than 50% of the size of the main trunk.  Each tree should have 12-14 branches so at this time you might identify the branches that may have to go at pruning time because they are either too big or is growing in the wrong direction for the line you want in your orchard.  If you have a pathway between your trees you do not want branches sticking straight out and blocking ease of movement and you don't want the branch touching the next fruit tree at the sides either.  So you aim to create an "X" shape to your branches.

Stefan said it was not the best time to train as the branches were
beginning to stiffen up...but then his byline throughout the day was
"good...better..best". Not always do you get the opportunity to do things at the
best time but it's better to do it now than wait for another year.

To train hold onto the branch where it meets the trunk while with the other hand twist towards you and gently but firmly push down the branch.  When at the position you want, with the hand that was at the trunk hook the wire from this branch to another branch to keep the branch in this downward position. Alternatively you can use ties but these wire hooks are easy to put on and take away.

After a couple of months the branch should stay in place.  If it doesn't put the wire back on the branch.

For established trees it could take three years to train the shape from a vase to branches in a downward motion.

Note Pear trees require branches to be in a horizontal not downward position for maximum fruiting.

Stefan Sobkowiak on tree training:
The French primarily from the research at INRA originally led by Dr. Jean-Marie Lespinasse progressed the art and science of pruning to a simple and far more efficient system... It has cut my pruning time by 80%. Training branches to a 100-120 degree angle (resulting in below horizontal branches) produces branches that are fruitful instead of being branchy. In the end do you want to grow branches or do you want to grow fruit. Each tree has a limited amount of energy and will put it into branch growth or fruit growth or both. Focus the trees energy in its youth to grow branches and once mature to grow fruit...
Limit your tree to 12-14 branches and you will get a commercial crop.
Each branch below the horizontal should be left intact or almost so and the pruning is simply the removal of growth BELOW the branch. This growth is usually shaded anyway so not as productive. This is pretty well the only pruning you do to a branch. Do not cut the tips. The branch continues to be productive by adding a little bit of growth to each spur which will give next years fruit. Eventually that spur bends down with the weight of fruit on it and becomes a spur or branch below the branch which you will dormant prune off. We use a heavy glove and just rub them off. Try it since you already understand that that branch angle is productive.
As a transition to having a fully trained tree I dormant prune one or 2 of the most vertical main branches each year until I get a tree with all branches below horizontal. Follow up with 1-2 years of summer training and you will enjoy years of FAR easier pruning. My trees have gone from: OK where do I start (since there is so much to remove) to now Ok is there ANYTHING to remove. A dramatic change.

Pruning

Stefan doesn't use secateurs for pruning, just a pruning saw for large branches and his hands. 

You prune when the tree is in a dormant stage

There are three major actions you take in pruning a fruit tree:

1. Create a Chimney

Just like in a compost heap you need to create a chimney up with central trunk of the tree to aid in air circulation for the tree and light to ripen the fruit.  Take every set of leaves off branches up to a handspan length from trunk. As the trunk increases in size you extend this distance.  

You can see from this tree that there is a section of the branch clear of
vegetation next to the trunk.

2. Select the best 12-14 branches only

There is a three point rule to follow in selecting what branches get pruned or stay... LBL 

- Low hanging branches

- Big branches

- Line

Low Hanging Branches - It is best practice to have the first branch between 1-2 metres from the ground.  Remember the branches will be trained downwards so you need height for this to work.

Stefan does leave one or two low branches for the rabbits because his theory is that "If you don't give it to them, they will get it" and to get at the higher fruit could end up damaging the bark of the tree.

Big Branches - 

Branches should never be over 50% of the trunk size so on an established tree select what 12-14 branches to keep.   You may have to reduce larger branches over a couple of seasons as the rule is no more than 33% of the tree should be removed at pruning.  If the branch is not required to grow again in this area then simply cut 2mm from the collar (the collar is the thickened area where the branch meets the trunk.

You can see the raised area around the branch where
it comes out from the trunk - that's called the collar. 

Always cut off the branch first further down so that the weight of the branch isn't a problem with making the important cut close to the trunk. If you want the branch to return then encourage it with a Cocks Spur cut - slant the cut downwards from 2mm at the top to approx 1 cm out from the collar at the bottom of the cut. This extra wood will wake up latent buds and create new branch growth.

If you want to instead encourage a branch somewhere else on the trunk then simply cut a small slit in the trunk and this should stimulate a new bud and over time a new branch.

The Line - 
Avoid favouring a branch that is going towards another tree or jutting out into the working isle in your orchard.  The X pattern is the ideal shape to work to. Stefan recommends 1 metre between sets of branches.

3. The Finish

It's important to maintain the integrity of the tree - don't cut out the top or trim off the end of branches. Think of the top of the main trunk as the head and the end of the branches as the fingers. 

Stefan's last job is to put on gloves and run hand under each branch knocking off the fruiting spurs on the underside of the branch.  This is to encourage larger fruit and to ensure all the fruit is ripened as one time as any fruit on the underside wouldn't get the sun to ripen.  This may not bother you if you are not wanting to harvest all at one time, but there is also a danger once you pick the fruit from the top of the branch then the underside fruit will be exposed to sun all at once and could get sunburnt.

Stefan's orchard design

Stefan has used the French principles of tree training and pruning but his orchard design is more like a Permaculture Food Forest with plant tiers - but still looks like an orchard.

He has designed the layout so no apple tree is beside another apple and has a pattern with this combination of trees:  NAP

Nitrogen Fixing tree

Apple

Pear or Plum

To further complicate things he has each orchard row fruiting at the same time so that his customers can go down that row and pick their own and have the choice of variety.  If all he had were apple trees then this would be a demand on the soil fertility, but with a nitrogen fixing tree nearby and a plum or pear that may have different soil biology needs it's all in balance.   And a big plus is that pests may hit one apple but will not easily find the next apple tree.

Under each three he plants 4-6 shrubs especially fruits like gooseberry, raspberries, currants that don't need full sun.  (We need to note that Stefan mentioned that our plants seem to be on steroids the size they grow so some of our shrugging plants would be too big for an understory - he says for example that sage bushes in his orchard are about half the size of what grows here.)

Then he adds another 16 perennials and these are often perennial vegetables like NZ Spinach, seakale, sorrel, garlic chives, Egyptian onions, lovage, mint and herbs.

He uses plastic over the ground around this area, cutting holes for the planted shrubs and perennials.

This suits his situation and he says he explains why in his film.

On the Good, better or best scale - this half day workshop was BEST.  I now feel I can have a try at growing fruit trees.  Thank you Stefan.

Under the nitrogen fixing tree (he uses Honey Locusts) he plants a grapevine.