What if everything collapsed tomorrow? What if the shelves on the supermarket were empty? What if you've never even planted a garden in your life... and your life depended on growing your own food? Don't panic! Check out my book Grow or Die and learn what you need to survive a crash: amzn.to/3jwPvUP Get my free composting booklet: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/simple-composting/ "Compost Your Enemies" T-shirts: www.aardvarktees.com/collections/vendors?q=The%20Survival%20Gardener
Pruning them at this stage seems like you're going to lose sooo much time to get to fruiting, no?! Now they have to produce more leaves before they can get to blooms and fruit. Idk, my knowledge is limited with fruit trees. I have a few but they're all babies.
He was a nice sort of neighbor...polite and quiet, sorta kept to himself. It did seem a little extreme, the way he pruned his saplings...and he even called them names before hacking them to bits!
I inherited 12 very short fruit trees from the original owner...she must have read both the "Grow a Little Fruit Tree" and the Japanese pruning method. They are 3-5 feet tall and about 20 feet wide...very productive and so easy to pick. I have been trying to replicate that in my new trees!
I did this very thing 3 days ago: Stella Cherry, Royal Blenheim Apricot, Damson Plum, Muir Peach, all trimmed according to the instructions by Ann Ralph.
Hey David! I second that pruning technique! I've been hacking back trees all winter preventing them from becoming monsters--yes, I top trees! I have to cram yet more fruit trees into a limited space because I'm a plant addict. And I always mow down my heritage raspberries to the ground--just mow right over them. And they come back like crazy. And the blackberries get 12 feet tall, so they are not wimpy plants. We prune them in mid-summer and the next year the cut canes put out side branches and fruit. After fruiting, the cane dies and we cut them out. They are always pushing up new canes. They love getting cut cut cut cut.....
I brought one of those long tree saws this year because some of my trees are just out of control and I don't want to climb that high to take things down. Going to let them be coppiced and use their young shoots for cutting and planting new trees. Thanks for the video.
How tall are the trees now & what height do you want them? In my experience it's really hard to kill most fruit trees. I've cut over 1/3 off overgrown, old growth apple & plum trees and it didn't even faze them. BTW, I'm one of your followers.
"We have a mess... who bought this tree" Something I ask myself all the time. I have made the mistake of not pruning. But not now. I figure if I "mess" it up I'll just try again on another. Thanks for getting this out there.
When I was pruning my grandpa's blueberries he told me that don't worry about cutting the wrong thing. He said pruning is a good practice in God's Providence. Whatever I cut was supposed to be cut.
Great video David, My dad trimmed his fruit trees last year and I took most of the trimmings and stuck them in the ground over winter, hopefully lots of trees in my future 😁
I use less pruning and instead use legumes like beans and peas that I train onto the branches so they bend horizontally. I am still experimenting with this but it seems to work and the trees like it too.
Please tell me you're bringing out an album? Really hope everyone waited until the end for the pure gold there. Thanks David - awesome video and soundtrack :)
@DavidTheGood Your song is very telling - we're all upside down & back to front due to the ones who believe they're more important than Humanity at large. Taking care of our own garden/backyard/business has to come first (struggling w/maintaining that focus myself these days). Getting out in the garden & pruning (live & learn process from what i gather from your video) may indeed also be therapeutic vs being overwhelmed w/what we can't control but wish we could. God Bless us 1 & all 🙏
OK where's your spotify or soundcloud channel? I think I would listen to "the rabbit and the cherry tree" and "gotta prune your plants" at least weekly.
I did this recently! I decided to go with the little fruit tree method! And it is scary! Lol I got a lot of hate for it too. Never knew people had such strong feelings about how I deal with MY trees. Lolololol
Been having fun pruning the sour cherries in the snow here. Paul from back to eden taught me via video. Lost my new pruners in the snow the other day. Still looking. Dare to prune. Less can equal more. It's a lesson.
Pro tip. When cutting a limb larger than what your shears are rated for, bend what you're cutting away from the blade side of shears as you cut. IE cut with the blade on the outside of the bend. Will slice through like butter. Saves your hand and your cutters.
Ayyyy!!! 🙌🏾💃🏾😆 You got me with the chorus at the end - same thing I said to my hubby after I supposedly “butchered” his beautiful sage in the November. A lyricist gardener 👌🏾 I’m seriously playing this song next time I prune in the garden 😂🌱💫
This is awesome, I’ve been doing some tip rooting for my blackcap raspberries. Man I will go cut my apples back I planted in the fall. I’m excited now!
Watched your summer pruning video yesterday and put "Grow a LIttle Fruit Tree" on hold at the library. Then watched this one and bought "Pruning and Training" via your affiliate link. I'm on years one, two and three with my various fruit trees and I need to get a handle on this subject stat.
This reminds me I need to get lopping. I just need to find my shears. I kinda want to prune some old established trees (cherry and mulberry) here, but to be honest I’m scared I’ll mess them up.
Hi David, loved the video. Question, would you recommend pruning a moringa tree 3' or less? I bought them from lowes and now have them in a 30 gal fabric pot since November, but the growth fell off. Should I prune to encourage new growth? Thanks.
Elizabeth said, Oh, how I want to get back to pruning, by myself, but hubby says he will do it. I would definitely do this method, even though the orchard is a dozen years old.
I am in North FL I have three year old. Pine apple orange I have never pruned it it leaf out but no flowers yet it's a health tree other wise Jackie I also have two peach tree flowering out good Jackie in North FL
Hello from So Cal grow zone 10b where my Florida Prince peach trees are starting to fruit like crazy!! 🍑 Question: If you choose to do so, could you (successfully) root the cuttings you have made in this video with the hopes of rooting clones of the trees you have planted?? 🤔🌱🍎
Some will root pretty well, like the blackberries. You might be able to air-layer the apples and peaches, but I have not done it. Usually they are propagated via grafting.
@@davidthegood Well, to experiment, i stuck some peach branches in the ground. Based on what you said, they'll all die, but I'll be no worse off than I was before trying, minus the 10 minutes of labor and 1 curse word that I heard someone else say during my moment of anger.
I feel so much better now about doing a really hard prune on my parents' apple trees a couple weeks ago. They haven't ever been pruned properly and not at all in the last couple years.
David you know more about gardening in your little toe than I may ever know. But I can’t bring myself to do that to the fruit trees I’ve planted about the same time you did. I’d rather wallow in ignorance than endure the butt pucker that would make me experience. Which I did do that with the old blueberries that were on the farm when I bought the place and it did revitalize them.
@@davidthegood I completely believe you. I still can’t bring myself to do it so soon after planting them. I’m sure there’s a life lesson in there for me somewhere and a proverb or parable that would apply. Something to do with fear or stubbornness. For now I’m happy to cling to my fear.
@@davidthegood Ok so yesterday I saw a pear tree in someone’s yard that looked almost exactly like mine from the store in shape except several years older. It looked terrible. If I was to man up and prune it and my other new fruit trees severely back, what’s the latest I ought to do it? I’m in 8b north Florida and I planted mine about the time you planted yours. Mine are woke up well now.
Yeah, the glasses add about 20 points to your perceived IQ! :) And since you looked so wise when you commanded, I guess I will get more... stern... with my trees. Off with their heads!
I love tennessee wholesale nursery. Decent prices too sales, can buy quantity. CHEAP sometimes! Really cheap. Ive never had an issue with anyhting. Ive gotten from them. Im in midwest too.
@@theorangetreehomestead6660 Got it. We just opened up the bottom and cleaned up the inside of it. It was not getting any air. We haven't pruned it for a good 8 years and last year we only got 4 oranges. I hope all the flowers is a good sign of a better year. 🙏 We can only hope and pray. Thanks David 😉
Just got back inside from pruning the bajeezus out of my peach tree that's trying to take over my roof, then took some of those peach tree limbs and stuck them in the ground on the off chance that one or two may actually take root! You inspire me sir! Also, my...lemon tree? Something with super sharp thorny splinter growths appears to be potentially dead following the winter...how does one confirm a fruit tree is dead?"
🤣 I knew exactly where you were going to cut those fruit trees. I would have done the same. My wife cringes in the Winter when I'm pruning/cutting with seemingly reckless abandon. She's like "You're killing everything!"...um no, I'm not. I'm making it better. Plus all of those cuttings get tossed into the chipper so I've got more mulch.
Hi David, Thanks for all your videos. You make them very entertaining. I have learned a lot. I had a lichee tree that was huge and gave a lot of fruit. It started looking bad with leaves bitten by who knows what. I pruned it severely and it never recovered, with the bark peeling off from the wood. What did I do wrong?
I took a look at the books on Amazon but can’t tell if any of the books have good info on trees/shrubs that I can grow in zone 10? Looks like mostly northern trees...?
Can you take some of those cuttings and stick them in the ground elsewhere? I would do it to see which ones root and survive. Free plants for everyone!
burning question: ann ralph's book says that if you have a big tree and ya want to make it smaller, you should cut a third at a time. why? and when she says a third of the tree, does she mean the entire tree--including trunk? or does she mean a third of the canopy?
What if everything collapsed tomorrow? What if the shelves on the supermarket were empty? What if you've never even planted a garden in your life... and your life depended on growing your own food? Don't panic! Check out my book Grow or Die and learn what you need to survive a crash: amzn.to/3jwPvUP
Get my free composting booklet: www.thesurvivalgardener.com/simple-composting/
"Compost Your Enemies" T-shirts: www.aardvarktees.com/collections/vendors?q=The%20Survival%20Gardener
I'm reading Grow or Die now. Great book!
Pruning them at this stage seems like you're going to lose sooo much time to get to fruiting, no?! Now they have to produce more leaves before they can get to blooms and fruit. Idk, my knowledge is limited with fruit trees. I have a few but they're all babies.
He was a nice sort of neighbor...polite and quiet, sorta kept to himself. It did seem a little extreme, the way he pruned his saplings...and he even called them names before hacking them to bits!
Next novel.
Good one Jane!
How you are not the most popular RUclipsr is beyond me! You are talented and really freaking funny!!!
David the Good Is always showing people to stop being afraid and just do it!
Yasss and not follow stupid rigid rules
@@introtwerp most defenetly
“There’ll be no whimpy trees in this garden,” as he cuts the young treeling in half. 😂🤣💕
They’ll pick themselves up by the bootstraps.
I gasped. Lol
@@NS-pf2zc lol
Haha! I mean..I’m here for it. I’ve got friends who won’t even prune a tomato 😐
I inherited 12 very short fruit trees from the original owner...she must have read both the "Grow a Little Fruit Tree" and the Japanese pruning method. They are 3-5 feet tall and about 20 feet wide...very productive and so easy to pick. I have been trying to replicate that in my new trees!
I did this very thing 3 days ago: Stella Cherry, Royal Blenheim Apricot, Damson Plum, Muir Peach, all trimmed according to the instructions by Ann Ralph.
😂😂😂 that smile after you said you like us.
Dormant sticks and I go way back. Love those guys
Hey David! I second that pruning technique! I've been hacking back trees all winter preventing them from becoming monsters--yes, I top trees! I have to cram yet more fruit trees into a limited space because I'm a plant addict.
And I always mow down my heritage raspberries to the ground--just mow right over them. And they come back like crazy. And the blackberries get 12 feet tall, so they are not wimpy plants. We prune them in mid-summer and the next year the cut canes put out side branches and fruit. After fruiting, the cane dies and we cut them out. They are always pushing up new canes. They love getting cut cut cut cut.....
I was going to say "Joke's on you! I already do everything like a psychopath!" But you already knew my secret.
I brought one of those long tree saws this year because some of my trees are just out of control and I don't want to climb that high to take things down. Going to let them be coppiced and use their young shoots for cutting and planting new trees. Thanks for the video.
How tall are the trees now & what height do you want them? In my experience it's really hard to kill most fruit trees. I've cut over 1/3 off overgrown, old growth apple & plum trees and it didn't even faze them. BTW, I'm one of your followers.
"We have a mess... who bought this tree" Something I ask myself all the time. I have made the mistake of not pruning. But not now. I figure if I "mess" it up I'll just try again on another. Thanks for getting this out there.
When I was pruning my grandpa's blueberries he told me that don't worry about cutting the wrong thing. He said pruning is a good practice in God's Providence. Whatever I cut was supposed to be cut.
What amazing timing! My copy of Grow a Little Fruit Tree just arrived today!
As a bonsai enthusiast, I know “pruning promotes growth”.
10:50 confirms David is actually Superman!
Great video David, My dad trimmed his fruit trees last year and I took most of the trimmings and stuck them in the ground over winter, hopefully lots of trees in my future 😁
This is my jam from now on
I use less pruning and instead use legumes like beans and peas that I train onto the branches so they bend horizontally. I am still experimenting with this but it seems to work and the trees like it too.
Please tell me you're bringing out an album? Really hope everyone waited until the end for the pure gold there. Thanks David - awesome video and soundtrack :)
That was the most cringe thing I ever seen in my life
Hey David, little quick tip for pruning thick stems: Push the stem *away* from the blade and cutting is a breeze. Greetings from Germany.
Thank you
@@davidthegood Glad if I can help, hope it works for you as well as for me.
Someone call Ferris Bueller cuz Cameron has lost it again
@DavidTheGood Your song is very telling - we're all upside down & back to front due to the ones who believe they're more important than Humanity at large. Taking care of our own garden/backyard/business has to come first (struggling w/maintaining that focus myself these days). Getting out in the garden & pruning (live & learn process from what i gather from your video) may indeed also be therapeutic vs being overwhelmed w/what we can't control but wish we could. God Bless us 1 & all 🙏
Thank you.
@@davidthegood God Bless you & your family David - we're going to be fine - keep on trucking, looking up & keeping the Faith Sir.💜🙏
OK where's your spotify or soundcloud channel?
I think I would listen to "the rabbit and the cherry tree" and "gotta prune your plants" at least weekly.
Those and, "Saving Seeds" and the "Pink Floyd - Breathe" bossanova cover!
Dave's gonna go platinum.....the psycho gardener MC
David I about spewed my coffee when you lopped that first tree!!
Me too 🤣 That was so funny
I love watching you so I can learn and and laugh till my face hurts. Thanks
I did this recently! I decided to go with the little fruit tree method! And it is scary! Lol I got a lot of hate for it too. Never knew people had such strong feelings about how I deal with MY trees. Lolololol
Awesome 👌 pruning tutorial video
Been having fun pruning the sour cherries in the snow here. Paul from back to eden taught me via video. Lost my new pruners in the snow the other day. Still looking. Dare to prune. Less can equal more. It's a lesson.
Amazing style of Pruning.
I'm glad you like us. We do not want to be clipped or cut.
great video as always and I am getting many trees this eek t plant in south ga so great timing to watch thank you very much love your humor too
Thank you so much !!!!! Today I pruned my apple tree like a psychopath.😊
This was awesome! Like all your videos! Your one of our favorite channels...we all watch as a family and laugh!
Thank you.
Pro tip. When cutting a limb larger than what your shears are rated for, bend what you're cutting away from the blade side of shears as you cut. IE cut with the blade on the outside of the bend. Will slice through like butter. Saves your hand and your cutters.
Ayyyy!!! 🙌🏾💃🏾😆 You got me with the chorus at the end - same thing I said to my hubby after I supposedly “butchered” his beautiful sage in the November. A lyricist gardener 👌🏾 I’m seriously playing this song next time I prune in the garden 😂🌱💫
Best tree and pruning training comes from binge watching bonsai channels.
Interresting way of prunning a tree :) , cut the whole top down... I think he enjoys cutting as well
Have you tried putting weights on branches to force more horizontal growth?
Yes. And tying branches to stakes.
Yes that’s what I say pruning brings happy trees this was nice to see
The arbor day people would faint. They would air ads to "never top a tree" :)
Unless you like ladders.. chop the top.
I’m so happy to be in good Company.
Love watching your videos. I'm in L.A. too.
Was on the fence until the song. Now i will lop that trunk
Great tutorial. Thanks
I discovered that several of my crabapple logs, that I'd inoculated with mushroom spores, rooted....
can you put a root hormone on the apple and regrow it?
When should we prune?
This is awesome, I’ve been doing some tip rooting for my blackcap raspberries. Man I will go cut my apples back I planted in the fall. I’m excited now!
Watched your summer pruning video yesterday and put "Grow a LIttle Fruit Tree" on hold at the library. Then watched this one and bought "Pruning and Training" via your affiliate link. I'm on years one, two and three with my various fruit trees and I need to get a handle on this subject stat.
This reminds me I need to get lopping. I just need to find my shears. I kinda want to prune some old established trees (cherry and mulberry) here, but to be honest I’m scared I’ll mess them up.
Great music video at the end. Some of those tree training things are amazing. Going to go pick those up from your links.
I read grow a little fruit tree last year and cut my backyard trees down to almost half they already are almost as tall as when I cut them
Thank you.
I loved this video. I’m about to plant 2 apple trees and wanted to steel my nerves about Ralph’s type of pruning. Your video was a lot of fun.
Rock on!
Hi David, loved the video. Question, would you recommend pruning a moringa tree 3' or less? I bought them from lowes and now have them in a 30 gal fabric pot since November, but the growth fell off. Should I prune to encourage new growth? Thanks.
"and bam, just like that, no more trees"
another winner tune, rock on.
Elizabeth said, Oh, how I want to get back to pruning, by myself, but hubby says he will do it. I would definitely do this method, even though the orchard is a dozen years old.
You’re awesome XD you’re like if House was a gardener lol. Subbed.
Welcome, Daniel.
I am in North FL I have three year old. Pine apple orange I have never pruned it it leaf out but no flowers yet it's a health tree other wise Jackie I also have two peach tree flowering out good Jackie in North FL
It's often best to just leave the citrus alone, except for a little clean up of crossing or diseased branches. Pineapple Orange is a cool variety.
I've had my feloc since 1996. Best there is.
TY DTG
Hello from So Cal grow zone 10b where my Florida Prince peach trees are starting to fruit like crazy!! 🍑
Question: If you choose to do so, could you (successfully) root the cuttings you have made in this video with the hopes of rooting clones of the trees you have planted?? 🤔🌱🍎
Some will root pretty well, like the blackberries. You might be able to air-layer the apples and peaches, but I have not done it. Usually they are propagated via grafting.
@@davidthegood Well, to experiment, i stuck some peach branches in the ground. Based on what you said, they'll all die, but I'll be no worse off than I was before trying, minus the 10 minutes of labor and 1 curse word that I heard someone else say during my moment of anger.
Wow you’re good! Love the lyrics!!!
I feel so much better now about doing a really hard prune on my parents' apple trees a couple weeks ago. They haven't ever been pruned properly and not at all in the last couple years.
David you know more about gardening in your little toe than I may ever know. But I can’t bring myself to do that to the fruit trees I’ve planted about the same time you did. I’d rather wallow in ignorance than endure the butt pucker that would make me experience. Which I did do that with the old blueberries that were on the farm when I bought the place and it did revitalize them.
It makes them stronger - it is amazing.
@@davidthegood I completely believe you. I still can’t bring myself to do it so soon after planting them. I’m sure there’s a life lesson in there for me somewhere and a proverb or parable that would apply. Something to do with fear or stubbornness. For now I’m happy to cling to my fear.
@@davidthegood Ok so yesterday I saw a pear tree in someone’s yard that looked almost exactly like mine from the store in shape except several years older. It looked terrible. If I was to man up and prune it and my other new fruit trees severely back, what’s the latest I ought to do it? I’m in 8b north Florida and I planted mine about the time you planted yours. Mine are woke up well now.
Yeah, the glasses add about 20 points to your perceived IQ! :)
And since you looked so wise when you commanded, I guess I will get more... stern... with my trees. Off with their heads!
I love tennessee wholesale nursery. Decent prices too sales, can buy quantity. CHEAP sometimes! Really cheap. Ive never had an issue with anyhting. Ive gotten from them. Im in midwest too.
"But you cant just take part of me"...... but he could, and he did.
Is Robinson going to have anything left to grow from?
How far apart are your fruit trees?
Well butchered our naval orange tree and this is the first year we have had so many flowers. 👍
Still waiting on you album. 😉
You don’t wanna prune citrus like you would stone fruit or apples. The need a full canopy.
@@theorangetreehomestead6660 Got it. We just opened up the bottom and cleaned up the inside of it. It was not getting any air. We haven't pruned it for a good 8 years and last year we only got 4 oranges. I hope all the flowers is a good sign of a better year. 🙏 We can only hope and pray. Thanks David 😉
"Grow a Little Fruit Tree" by Ann Ralph. Great book suggestion from David the Good.
Any on line tree nurseries youd recommend
Just got back inside from pruning the bajeezus out of my peach tree that's trying to take over my roof, then took some of those peach tree limbs and stuck them in the ground on the off chance that one or two may actually take root! You inspire me sir!
Also, my...lemon tree? Something with super sharp thorny splinter growths appears to be potentially dead following the winter...how does one confirm a fruit tree is dead?"
Scratch Test
🤣 I knew exactly where you were going to cut those fruit trees. I would have done the same. My wife cringes in the Winter when I'm pruning/cutting with seemingly reckless abandon. She's like "You're killing everything!"...um no, I'm not. I'm making it better. Plus all of those cuttings get tossed into the chipper so I've got more mulch.
I went and got a wood chipper this weekend for the exact same reason. Plus: mushrooms in the garden!
Hi David, Thanks for all your videos. You make them very entertaining. I have learned a lot. I had a lichee tree that was huge and gave a lot of fruit. It started looking bad with leaves bitten by who knows what. I pruned it severely and it never recovered, with the bark peeling off from the wood. What did I do wrong?
It may have been too much at the wrong time. Tropical trees are rather different than temperate. I'm sorry to hear that - they are great fruit trees.
I took a look at the books on Amazon but can’t tell if any of the books have good info on trees/shrubs that I can grow in zone 10? Looks like mostly northern trees...?
More northern species.
@@davidthegood 😕
This is great.
I have already cut some off at knee high. One was and 8' apple.
Love your channel I find it very educational. Do you ever transplant your cuttings?
No, not usually. Sometimes I root them if I need some.
Lol the first frame of this video and I thought “I feel like I’ve said things before” hahahaha
heees baaack! Missed you man
Thanks, Patrick.
I usually do it as i put the trees in the car, as the other customers look at me in horror. When we were allowed out the house that is.
This is awesome. My friend just got lambasted for posting a video of her hella pruning her fruit trees.
I need to do this to my apple trees but I'm terrified.
My dad cut the aborvietea way down almost to the ground...
It came back over the years to even greater size than before...
Haha except for the pruning part I like that rapping. Amazing!!
Where do you purchase these young trees all I can find is the expensive grown ones , there's no stores that sale these size
Was there an update to this? I want to see the results. Never mind it is new. Provide an update when possible
You'll see them grow.
I predict that you will get your update but first we must travel through... THE FOURTH DIMENSION!!!
Can you take some of those cuttings and stick them in the ground elsewhere? I would do it to see which ones root and survive. Free plants for everyone!
Never mind, i just saw that you did stick some in the ground 👍
Looks at peach tree. Says, “I don’t like you”. Went from 3.5’ foot to 6” inches. CRACKED me up! 🤣 But yah, YAY pruning!!
Gardening Gangsta!
burning question: ann ralph's book says that if you have a big tree and ya want to make it smaller, you should cut a third at a time. why? and when she says a third of the tree, does she mean the entire tree--including trunk? or does she mean a third of the canopy?
Did you try? What happened?
Would you have any qualms about pruning like this with dwarf rootstock?
Yo yo yo you gotta prune your plants....Dave your a riot yo !!
I never find the links below.
🤣 Best entertainment I've had all day! Yoyoyo😄
I have a Robinson! Gorgeous tree. Out of all the fruit trees I got that one was pruned the best. The rest I can’t say the same lol