Skip to content
Click here to shop potted plants shipping now for fall!
Click here to shop potted plants shipping now for fall!

Raintree Fruit Growing Blog

  • Espalier and Other Intensive Pruning and Training
    May 4, 2021

    Espalier and Other Intensive Pruning and Training

    Intensive training and pruning strategies can produces trees that grow smaller and more densely, resulting in more fruit on a per area basis. For the backyard (or front or side yard) urban orchardist espalier can be a great fit. Commercially, fruit trees are increasingly grown in an intensive, high-density fashion. More inputs and maintenance are required to grow trees this densely, but the reward can be an artful fruiting sculpture!
    Read now
  • Two Tried and True Pruning Strategies for Fruit Trees
    May 4, 2021

    Two Tried and True Pruning Strategies for Fruit Trees

    Fruit trees on dwarfing or semi-dwarfing can be easily pruned into productive open center (also known as open vase) or central leader forms. Learning these two pruning strategies will help the home orchardist establish healthy and fruitful trees. I discuss how open center versus central leader pruning styles differ and which fruit tree species are suited to them.
    Read now