PHOTO BY WANDA OGDEN
This Yard's Always In Bloom
Informal beds of annuals and perennials provide a continuous display of color throughout most of the
year in the corner yard of Don and Barbara Errickson, 3 Midiron Court, Calabash, the Carolina
Shores Garden Club Yard of the Month. In bloom now are masses of daffodils and crocuses. Cacti and
flo wering trees and shrubs round out the attractive landscape.
Now Best Time To Prune Fruit Trees
In order to obtain maximum yield
and quality, most fruit bearing
woody plants must be pruned annu
ally. The most frequent questions I
get asked about arc concerned with
when and how.
The answer to "when to prune?"
is relatively straight forward. Fruit
trees can be pruned anytime during
the year widiout killing them. How
ever, the best time of the year to
prune most fruit or nut trees (apples,
pears, pecans, plums, peaches and
the like) is in the spring or late win
ter several weeks prior to bud break.
I recommend this because the prun
ing wound is exposed to the envi
ronment for the least amount of time
before healing begins and you can
easily judge and remove winter
killed stems. I prune my peach and
apple trees during February and con
tinue into early March. I have even
pruned right up until flowering and
seen no detrimental effects (some
experts even recommend waiting
until flowering).
In many commercial orchards,
fruit trees will be lightly pruned im
mediately following fruit harvest. I
prune out suckers and water sprouts
from my peach trees in late July or
early August. This generally cleans
up the lower quarter of the tree and
allows better insecticide spray pene
tration into the tree canopy and onto
the trunk for the August pcach borer
invasion.
The "how to prune" a fruit tree is
much more complicated. How a tree
is pruned will depend upon the
species, variety, rootstock, plant age,
and cultivation intensity. Correctly
pruning fruit trees involves about 50
percent knowledge and 50 percent
technique (art).
I will briefly cover several princi
ples to remember when pruning
your pcach or apple trees.
Peach trees require heavy prun
ing. Pcach fruit develop only on the
previous season's growth. There
fore, older wood is no good for fruit.
Older wood should be used to devel
op a limb architecture that can hold
the fruit crop (if you arc bracing
your limbs, then you arc pruning in
correctly). The limbs of a pcach
should form a canopy that resembles
an upside-down umbrella. No limb
should exceed eye level. The center
of the tree should be open and free
of growth. A well-pruned 5-year-old
pcach tree will have four or five
major limbs that branch out from the
main trunk. These limbs should start
branching out from the main trunk
18 inches to 24 inches from the
ground. The main trunk should be 6
inches to 10 inches in diameter. Stop
by a commercial pcach orchard and
closely observer a well-pruned tree.
Apples do not require as much
THE
PLANT
DOCTOR
a
C. BRUCE ? > f*
WILLIAMS
Extension Area
Turf Specialist
J
pruning as peaches. Large amounts
of stem and leaf growth coupled
with light fruit harvest indicate ex
cessive pruning. Little shoot growth
and large numbers of small fruit in
dicate the need for heavier pruning.
Optimum shoot growth for an estab
lished tree should be about 8 inchcs
to 12 inches a season.
Apples (or pear) trees arc grafted
to many different kinds of root
stocks. It is important to know if
your tree is a dwarf, semi dwarf, or
standard sire tree because this will
determine pruning technique. In ad
dition, some apples are spur-types
and others arc non-spur types. Spur
typc apples varieties require sub
stantially less pruning than other
types.
Semi-dwarf rootstocks arc most
commonly used for residential fruit
trees. For maximum fruit yields
from semi-dwarf trees, the overall
plant shape should resemble a tall
triangle. A central leader or main
trunk should be developed. The pri
mary scaffold branches should form
a 90-degree angle with the trunk and
be well spaced all the way up the
tree. Prune out branches that cross
or crowd the primary scaffold
branches. Prune out any suckcrs,
water sprouts or low branches with
in two feet of the ground.
There are a number of excellent
N.C. State Extension bulletins that
describe the process and show ex
cellent diagrams. These bulletins
March 31,1333
<c^2> Retirees
Get them now-before
their prices increase!
Alpha ? Ben, Bonnie, Button, Cardinal,
Chip, Doug, Happy, Johnny, Julias,
Madre, Par, N.O. Evils, Rebecca, Sammyt
Brother, Sis & Dad, Willie & Son
We have new '93 releases too!
Suptr Chief, Ty (Cobb), Sacajawt & Son
CARDS
(SOFTS,
754-9968
Twin Crook (Food Lion) Pkaaao, Shollott*
FREE GIFT WRAPPING ? UPS S?rvfc*t
can be obtained from your local Co
operative Extension Office.
Send your gardening questions to
the Plant Doctor, Post Office Box
109, Bolivia. NC 28422.
SOUTH BRUNSWICK
MEDICAL GROUP
Gary D. Ross, M.D. (Internal Medicine)
Samuel W. Kirtley, M.D. (Family Practice)
For Complete Outpatient Medical Care
Routine Health Maintenance
Adult Medical Concerns/Pediatrics
Women's Concerns
(Pap Smears/Contraception)
Laboratory & X-Ray Facilities
For Complete Minor Emergency Care
CARE
Located off Hwy. 17 at Union School Road
Open Mon.-Fri., 9 A.M. to 6 P.M., Sat. 10 A.M. to 2 P.M.
579-9955 or 579-0800
C19W TH? BRUNSWICK BEACON
W/M^n^mnl/Arr ^I? il^ CU^vwf
? IV/I I IWI I IVIIWI O V^IUU f T IV/I I IUWI O sj>l IV/VV
Skills In Cultural Arts
'Competition
Fourteen members of local Homcmakers Extension
clubs showed their crafts at the recently cultural arts
crafts competition at the Brunswick County Home
Economics Food Lab in Bolivia.
Blue ribbon winners include Jean Green, Calabash,
for painting on a canvas bag; Reva Ferguson, Calabash,
knitted sweater; Dorothy Volinic, Calabash, U.S. Navy
emblem in cross stitch; Julia Bailey, Boiling Spring
Lakes, chair caning; Lena Bcachum, Town Creek, black
and white ceramic mime.
Also Eleanor Hoff, Beachcombers, machine quilt
ing; Dcralinc McAllister, Supply, handcrafted toy from
plastic mesh stitchcry. Barbie RV; and Lena Beacham,
Town Creek, miscellaneous creations, an E-H mascot, a
stuffed dog with the Extension Homcmakers emblem on
its thigh.
Other entries included a rainbow rag rug in crochet
by Julia Bailey, cross stitch pictures by Eleanor Hoff,
and wide-brimmed straw hat with cross-stitch band by
Pat Nash, ceramic Indian chief by Edith Ogden, Guys
and Dolls Club; ceramic Oriental jar by Pat Collins,
Beachcombers; and doll clothes by Nell Mayberry, Boil
ing Spring Lakes.
Judging was by Karen Stanley and Jerri Piazza.
Twenty-one club members were on hand for the
viewing and luncheon. Each of the county's seven clubs
was responsible for bringing one item for the buffet
lunch.
Blue ribbon entries will be entered in the cultural
arts craft competition at the South Central District meet
ing at Sea Trail March 25
Members may attend the District Heritage Skills
workshop held each spring, or learn from workshops held
locally by those who have attended the district workshop.
The next workshop will be in Fayetteville April 28
and 29. Club members and non-club members are wel
come. For more information, contact the Homcmakcrs
Extension Office, 253-4425.
We appreciate
your business!
!stJcaiS?g Strawberry
We Do Alterations \ \ "Dl otifc
Curtains ? Drapes I 1 IfllitD
Repairs on Suede >
And Leather s I 2" pots... 15<t each
Roy's Nursery
(919) 287-4980 $ 1 L Hwy. 179 at entrance to BentTree Plantation ? One mile east ot Ocean Isle Beach _
FOOD LION
Prices in this ad good Wednesday. March 17
thru Tuesday. March 23. 1993. We reserve
the right to limit quantities.
USDA Choice
Beef Bottom
Roun
oast
USDA J Tyson/Holly Farms Tyson/
Choice M "" w Grade A Holly
Beef ^ Jumbo & Small Pack Farms
T-Bone/Porterhouse 1 Chicken Thighs r Grade a Family Pack
& Drumsticks I Split chicken
, Breasts
$148
Lb. MUM A Ih gf HKT JL ^ Lb.
All Varieties
Jimmy Dean Red Rjpe
Sausage u>. 1*63 I Strawberries
USDA Choice Beef Untrimmed
Whole
Bottom
Rounds u>. 1.68
V?1 Baby Peeled
18-22 Lbs. Average ParrAfc
Sliced FREE! ^ ^aiTOlS
We Sell Postage Stamps:
Diet Coke, Caffeine Free Diet
Coke. Sprite, Diet Sprite
Coke Classic
1 Lb. Bag
Quart
Smooth, Creamy
Green-Skinned
Avocadoes
2 Liter Each
Bonus Buys! Bonus Buys! Bo]ius Buys! Bonus Buys!
Simply Nutritious! TldC
Ultra
With
Bleach
46 Oz. V
16 Oz. Reg. \ Food
? - 2/95? m
7.75 Oz.
2/79< \3/99?
f \ Reg. a i rt 7k r\.. j
Lion
Tomato Soup
Reg. Mm -- * ? ? ? Reg.
?Qc March is National Red Cross Month. \ 2/79<
rk .. y J The American Red Cross Needs Your Support. ^
$1 Donation Coupons Available at Food Lion
Check-Out Counters.