Fruit Tree Pruning Service

SAE:

Description:

Many homeowners have found that a small fruit orchard can be a delight to the eye as well as the palate. Many standard varieties of fruit trees are also being marketed as good shade trees. Dwarf trees that produce full-sized fruit can be used in smaller places. Most fruit trees can be just as lovely as flowering trees and large shrubs if pruned and maintained. Offer your community your knowledge and expertise in pruning their fruit trees.

Market your service by explaining the concept that properly pruning fruit trees will help ensure high quality fruit year after year. Pruning strengthens branching structures, helps prevent limb breakage due to heavy fruit loads, ensures that all fruit-bearing limbs receive sunlight, and helps fruit grow at heights for easy harvesting.

Skills Needed:

There are two types of fruit tree pruning you will need to become proficient in:

Heading Back: means cutting or shortening a branch or shoot, cutting the branch just above a bud. This encourages lateral branching.
Thinning out: removes unwanted or rubbing branches, or those with weak branch angles, by cutting the entire branch or shoot back to a lateral branch or the main trunk.

Note: Don’t prune the short branches know as fruiting spurs. The spurs are the only places where fruit will grow (except for peaches, which fruit on one-year-old wood)

Materials/Tools Needed:

Extension Pruning Saw

Lopping Shears

Hand Bypass Shears

Rope

Gloves

Location to haul limbs to

Writtenby Teri Hamlin

Factors To Consider	Ranking: 1 = lowest 10 = highest
Time required	5
Investment	5
Equipment needed	7
Skills required	10
Facilities required	1
Land required	1
Labor Intensity	4
Potential for income	7
Transportation required	10
Expansion possibilities	7
Expertise needed	7
Advertising needed	10
Susceptible to disease	6
Susceptible to insects	6
Suitable for residential areas	10
	Other (specify)
Length of production cycle	Fall- March
Regional	Location in state will determine optimum pruning time
When to start project	Fall Advertisement and Booking for Winter Pruning

Notes:

Prune for Natural Growth Pattern

Apples, pears and sweet cherries are generally upright growing trees, and should be pruned to encourage vertical growth and a stronger central or main leader. The top portion of the main trunk is cut out after the tree begins to bear fruit.
Peaches, plums, apricots and sour cherries are more spreading in their growth pattern. They may be pruned into what is called "open center" form, with a short main trunk and several large branches carrying most of the leaves and fruit away from the center of the tree.

Marketing

It is very important to plan a marketing and public relations strategy with this enterprise. Think about how you are going to get the word out to your community about your services. Options could include:

Designing an Ad and advertising it in the newspaper
Designing a sign and flyers and posting them in strategic locations throughout the community and school
Local Community television station
Remember that word of mouth is very important, after each job that you finish ask the homeowner if you can add them to your client referral list.

Develop a portfolio of your work and price list of your services to use when talking to customers.

Sources of Additional Information:

Books:

Gardening in the South: Vegetables and Fruits-- Don Hastings

The Backyard Orchardist : A Complete Guide to Growing

Fruit Trees in the Home Garden -- Stella Otto

Growing Family Fruit and Nut Trees -- Marian Van Atta

Maintaining Your Dwarf Fruit Orchard – Lawrence Southwick

Video:

Easy Steps to Fruit Tree Pruning by Gary Moulton: Video covers tools, techniques and training systems plus gives advice about how to deal with old trees that haven’t been maintained for a few years. Order Video: Cedardale Orchards, 360-445-5483 or e-mail johnson@pruning.com

Websites: