gardening – Page 3 – Extension Master Gardener Volunteers of Durham County

By Jeff Kanters, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

“The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.”

–Socrates

(Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

When counseling visitors on managing fruit trees at Briggs Avenue Community Gardens Teaching Orchard, I was occasionally asked about how to prune an older neglected fruit tree to a more manageable size. Typically, a homeowner had inherited a large, gnarly, tangled tree left from the previous homeowner or may have left a tree unmanaged over years.

Late fall of 2024 I had the opportunity to provide onsite consultation to a PTA volunteer crew at Hope Valley Elementary School seeking to renovate an older, 25-foot tall, neglected, unsightly Kieffer pear (Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’) tree in a courtyard being re-landscaped.

Image of a Kieffer pear tree (Pyrus communis ‘Kieffer’) in bloom and closeup of its late-spring flowers. (Image credit: Gary Owens CC BY 2.0)

Researching the Tree

So what is a Kieffer pear? Kieffer pears are the result of an accidental cross between the Sand pear (Pyrus pyrifolia) native to Asia, and the common American Bartlett pear (Pyrus communis) during the 1860s. While it is often recommended to have two pear trees to produce the most fruit per cross-pollination, Kieffer pears, with their Asian ancestry, are self-fertile, meaning they are not as dependent on another pear nearby to cross-pollinate and set fruit. Kieffer pears are also very disease resistant.

Evaluating the Tree

To get started we inspected the tree, and observed the following:

Overall, the core trunk bark appeared intact and healthy.
The tree bore many pears during the past season and many large overripe pears were still hanging from the top upper most canopy as unreachable to harvest.
Numerous dead and broken, large, jagged limbs protruded at the base of the tree and from along the lower trunk opening the tree up to disease.
Rather than one central leader trunk, three competing leaders were all growing up close together and the crotch angles where the leaders grew from the core lower trunk were very narrow, and therefore weak and prone to splitting off from the tree during high winds.
Many of the older limbs had tall branches or whips growing directly upward, inward toward the trunk, downward to the ground, and crossing over each other. Pears are one of the more unruly fruit trees to manage with their tendency to wildly send new growth upward in columnar fashion and scaffold branching to grow out every which way. When the tree was leafed out, this would result in shading the interior of the tree reducing air circulation and inviting diseases.

Kieffer pear before start of first pruning. (Image credit: Debra Pilkington)

Developing a Plan

To complete the tree rehabilitation, we set up the following phased three-year corrective pruning plan:

To begin, prune out about one third of the tree growth this first season. Since the tree was old, taking too much would shock the tree and force unwanted, uncontrolled, excessive new branch growth the next season, making the canopy prone to sunburn and diseases. The team would follow this same method for the next three seasons to gradually reduce the tree height and shape.
Prune out all dead, diseased, and broken limbs and branches.
Prune out the branches growing upward, downward, inward, and crossing over into each other.
Select the largest central leader from the multiple leaders and remove the other smaller competitive leaders, thus leaving only one. This would also open the center of the tree to more air and sunlight.
After several years of corrective pruning, and bringing the top canopy down further, the rejuvenated tree should only require more manageable pruning, maintenance, and harvesting each year thereafter.

Identifying the Tools for the Job

Undertaking a project of this size required a team and key tools that included:

Ladder
Small battery powered hand chainsaw or small and large pruning saw, rather than a chain saw (Note of caution: No one should be alone and use any chain saw without the proper training, supervision, and use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Telescopic saw and loppers
Hand loppers
Standard hand pruning shears
Safety helmet or head covering
Safety goggles
Gloves
Non-snag clothing
Heavy duty canvas pants
Heavy work boots or chainsaw boots with protective guarding at front instep

Kieffer pear during first pruning. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Phase one pruning was successfully completed. One experienced volunteer opted to use his handheld battery-operated chain saw for removal of a few of the larger limbs. A large pruning saw would also have sufficed.

Kieffer pear at completion of first phase of pruning. (Image credit: Jeff Kanters)

Considering This Type of Project in the Home Landscape

If you are considering undertaking a renewal project of this type in your home landscape, keep the following in mind. Depending on the size of the tree, what limbs or branches need to be removed, and your skill at pruning, it may be safest and best to hire a trained, reputable, experienced arborist to make initial key cuts on the tree. You can supervise, but let professionals handle the most heavy-duty work. If you choose to do it yourself, you should have a few helpers on hand. Projects of this size should not be left to one person to perform alone.

If you use a ladder, as the ground is typically never flat around a tree, no one should be alone on the ladder, but rather have another spotter below holding the ladder for that person.

A last thought. While it may be a worthwhile project, before you consider rescue-pruning a large overgrown fruit tree, ask yourself a few questions:

Is the tree viable, free of disease overall, and producing good fruit yet?
Is tree worth the expense, effort, time, and risk to prune back?
Would it be better to have the tree completely removed and replaced with a small young tree you can manage better from the outset?

Whatever your decision, rehabilitating an old fruit tree is something that can be done successfully.

Resources and Additional Information

Training and Pruning Fruit Trees in North Carolina:

https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/training-and-pruning-fruit-trees-in-north-carolina

How to Prune Neglected Apple Trees, Iowa State University Extension:

https://yardandgarden.extension.iastate.edu/how-to/how-prune-neglected-apple-trees#:~:text=Prune%20out%20all%20dead%2C%20diseased,over%202%20or%203%20years.

Pruning to Renovate Old Fruit Trees, Penn State Extension:

https://extension.psu.edu/home-gardening-pruning-to-renovate-old-fruit-trees

Operating a Chainsaw:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/treework/safety-topics/chainppe.htm

North Carolina Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox:

https://plants.ces.ncsu.edu/plants/pyrus-communis-kieffer

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-5EE

By Gary Crispell, NC State Extension Master Gardener^SM volunteer of Durham County

BOLO (be on the lookout) for early spring bloomers including star magnolia (Magnolia stellata), daffodils (Narsisus spp.) perhaps covered in late snow or bathed in warm sunshine, and the Eastern redbud (Cercis canadensis). (Image credit: Melinda Heigel)

March: noun, the third month of the Julian calendar, verb from middle French meaning to trample. It appears that boots (not jack) might be in order.

By the time Y’all read this winter may be gone—or not. The weather pattern may have changed to a drier more user-friendly one—or not. We might be able to get out and work in our gardens—or not. It might snow another 3 or 6″ to complement the already prodigious amount we’ve received. Welcome to piedmont North Carolina in the spring where we beg for more/less rain, sunshine, wind, whatever we don’t currently have and decry perceived excesses of anything. Gardeners can be a needy lot, but there is always hope. We are nothing if not hopeful and optimistic. We KNOW it (whatever “it” is) will get better and things will be just fine.

So, here are the things that can/should be done in the garden in March depending on all the things in the earlier paragraph. Happy gardening!

Lawn Care

(Image credit: NC State Extension)

Cool season grasses (tall fescue, bluegrass, perennial rye) can be fertilized with a slow release high nitrogen (the first number) fertilizer.

Apply preemergent weed control after the forsythia (Forsythia intermedia) blooms and before the native dogwoods (Cornus florida) bloom. (That there is real science.)

Commence mowing activities when needed (or when the mower no longer mires in the mud). Cool season grasses should be kept mown at 3” to 4.” Warm season grasses (zoysia, Bermuda, centipede) are still dormant. You get to play with them next month.

Remember, grass clippings should either be left on the lawn, composted, or used for mulch. They don’t belong in the landfill.

Fertilizing

Feed your shrubbery this month. Established plants do not need heavy fertilizing. Let “moderation in all things” be your mantra. Shade trees can be fertilized now, but only if your SOIL TEST (free again beginning April 1 through November) indicates a need.

Emerging bulbs can be fertilized this month. Fertilize asparagus beds early in March, before the new spears emerge.

Planting

As usual, everything in this section is dependent upon soil conditions.

Trees and shrubs may be planted now as well as fruit trees and grape vines up to bud break. Plants planted now will require more intentional water management through our oft droughty summer.

March is a good time to plant perennials.

Start annuals and warm season vegetables inside now if you haven’t already done so. These can be transplanted outside after the threat of frost has gone. (No bets on that date anymore.)

Rose bushes can be planted now.

The same veggies that can be planted in the fall can also be planted now (unless, of course, you are sick to death of broccoli and beets). These include the aforementioned broccoli, beets, carrots, cabbages, cauliflower, potatoes and turnips. Then there are the salad greens, lettuces, spinach, chard, etc. So, in May it’ll be salad and roasted root vegetables for supper?

Pruning

Prune any fruit trees that didn’t get done in February.

Deadhead any early spring annuals such as pansies (Viola x hybrids) as the blooms fade in order to prolong bloom time.

Roses can be pruned in the latter half of the month.

Overgrown broadleaf shrubs can still be severely whacked. (No, it won’t kill them, and they be much more manageable—for a while.)¹

Spraying

The following miscreant pests will be out and about this time of the year: euonymus scale, spider mites on evergreens, hybrid rhododendron borers, and lace bugs on azaleas. Spray only as necessary with an appropriate product and always read and follow label directions.

Apply a dormant oil to fruit trees to control several insects. This is especially important if you have just pruned the trees.

When in bloom, spray apple and pear trees with streptomycin to prevent fire blight.

Other Swell Stuff You Can Do in March

Get ready for prime time. Check all your gardening equipment and make sure it will be ready to go when you need it. Nothing is more frustrating than being all psyched up to mow the grass (I have heard there really are people for whom this is a reality) only to discover that the starter battery is dead, the blades need to be sharpened, all the tires are flat, the belt that broke last fall didn’t fix itself over the winter, all the things. Check all the garden gizmos now and prevent a possible psychotic break later.

Try experimenting with a new annual, perennial or veggie this season. Experimenting can be fun, and you might just discover a new BFF plant. Also, experimenting has been shown to have very few side effects.

North Carolina Arbor Day (not to be confused with National Arbor Day) is this month. It is always the first Friday after the 15^th, ergo on the 21st this year. Plant a tree or seven.

Get a few of your summer clothes out of the attic but keep your heavy winter jacket close by. You could need both in the same day.

Mellow March, Y’all.

Notes

1–Keep in mind, many woody ornamentals are pruned according to their flowering date. Spring bloomers like dogwood or forsythia are usually pruned after they bloom. Summer-flowering plants are generally best pruned when dormant before new growth begins in the spring.

Resources and Additional Information

Learn more about organic lawn care: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/organic-lawn-care-a-guide-to-organic-lawn-maintenance-and-pest-management

How to read a fertilizing label like a pro: https://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheet/reading-a-fertilizer-label

Spring vegetable gardening: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/home-vegetable-gardening-a-quick-reference-guide

Read our blog article on year round vegetable gardening for early springtime tips: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-2F1

Pruning techniques for trees and shrubs: https://content.ces.ncsu.edu/general-pruning-techniques

Guide to cleaning and sharpening garden tools: https://bookstore.ksre.ksu.edu/download/how-to-clean-and-sharpen-garden-tools_MF3288

Article Short Link: https://wp.me/p2nIr1-5Eg