Maya, Apple Junkie, thanks for the advice on the stubs. The artile was very helpful. You are right looking back at the pictures we did leave some. We will go back through and clean those up.
We are kinda learing as we go here. This thread is helping me get up to speed.
So i think i get the...
I took a few pictures of the small orchard that we cut back 4 years ago. Sun still gets to the floor pretty good in this orchard. In early archery season the weeds were so tall we had to cut shooting lanes through the weeds just to see the deer. It is starting to thicken up and i see some dead...
All the different ideas about what we could do with our orchard has me inspired to keep moving. I went up to the farm this weekend with my brother to cut a bit more. When using a chain saw i stop when im tired so a half day is about all i can get in but two people really get things moving...
Everyone, i appreciate all the different perspectives. This is a ton of work and i am not an expert so having others who have been there and done that really helps.
I'll probably end up trying a couple different methods that you have mentioned to see what works for us.
I think the trees were...
Thanks Maya, we pick a few for apple sause but for the most part this is all for the deer... And to make sure the tree are around for our next generation of hunters in the family.
The tops look healthy for the most part. Currently the bottoms get no sun. After i remove the dead Limbs from...
The 300 trees are broken up into a big orchard near the house and a small orchard that is sorrounded by woods on 3 sides. The small orchard has about 100 trees. About 4 years ago I cut that orchard back the same way i am doing now to the big orchard this year. Apple product hasn't been great so...
Chicken little, you are right that 300 trees is alot to manage. Apples are a huge draw on our place and i would like to get them back to health but i dont have the time to prun them every year. If i got them to a managable size and shape i could probably get through 100 or so every year. Taking...
Hey guys, My winter project this year is saving our old apple orchard. This used to be a commercial orchard but the trees havent been pruned for 15-20 years. Over the years the trees have grown to be 25-30 feet tall and shaded out the bottoms to the point that many of the lower limbs have died...