The Operation known as Pruning

For years I carried a non-clasping knife in a sheath on my belt because I found it steadier. After a number of years the knife with a closing blade is apt to get loose at the rivets, and then it wobbles. The blade should have an overall length in either case of 7 or 8 inches.

Narrow blades are provided for getting in between V-shaped crotches formed by two branches growing out of the main trunk close together. It is also possible to buy a saw with a slightly curved blade which acts chiefly with a downward pull. For renovating neglected orchards, these curved blades are often fitted to a long handle, so that a pruner can use them when standing on the ground, and thus saw off a branch some way up.

All saws must be kept sharpened, and the teeth must be properly set. There are hand tooth-setting tools which can be bought for this purpose, while the edges of the teeth can be filed to keep them sharp. It always helps if a little oil is applied to the blade, so as to enable the saw to slide through the wood swiftly.

There are two main kinds of long-handled pruners. The first consists of a pair of Rolcut secateurs fixed to the end of a long, light, smooth pole, with a suitable wire operating one of the handles. A movable wooden handle is then fixed near the base of the pole, with the result that it is possible to cut off a shoot quite high up while the pruner is standing on terra firma. It is often used for pruning half- standard trees.

When big branches have to be removed it is necessary to use a sharp saw. This should have a blade 8 to 10 inches long, and the teeth should be set wide so that they cut through the green wood readily. I often use a double-edged saw, with U teeth on one blade and finer V-shaped teeth on the other blade.

At the same time the laterals growing on the main stem should be cut back to within an inch of their base, again to just above a bud. The following year such growths should be cut out altogether. If the pruning has been properly done, and the weather is kind, each of these three pruned-back branches should produce two more strong growths, and so at the beginning of the third year there should be at least six branches instead of three. Once again these should be well spaced around the tree.