Training Branches To Go Where You Want To
Altering the structure of the tree is known as “Tree Training” and has not been around for very long. Through tying down branches or propping them up from the ground, one can direct the growth of a tree to take whatever shape you want.
This method is usually used in the early days of the tree to encourage it to develop fully. If you direct the tree and get it started off on the right foot, you’ll save yourself a lot of pruning later.
Many people associate pruning with changing the structure of a tree to have a different shape or style. However, this is not always the case.
Training a tree is a much better way to develop an alternate the form of a tree. Pruning should be used to prevent diseases, prevent lopsidedness and encourage healthier fruit growth.
Pruning is also used to maintain the proper shape for the tree. For example, if you have an abundance of branches on one particular side of it, then you will use pruning to get rid of the larger branches which pull down the tree to one side.
Think about it more in terms of maintaining rather than altering. While pruning is useful occasionally, most of the time you can use training as a healthier and more efficient alternative.
Usually, training occurs during the summer. Rather than just cut off all the branches that aren’t going in the right way, try to redirect them. The mechanisms to use can be thought of as orthodontic braces for your the tree.
They pull or push the branches, like teeth, in whatever direction you want them to go. Eventually they naturally grow that way due to your training.
It can be hard to decide how exactly to train your tree. There are many different forms and shapes to choose from. Some are meant to allow a high density of trees in an orchard, and some are meant to provide maximum fruit bearing per tree.
Depending on where your tree is and how you want it to function, you will have to look for different forms that will fit your situation.
Training can also be applied even if you are growing a tree in the traditional (natural) form. Sometimes branches will grow too close together and block each other out, so training them to grow away from each other can prevent the need to prune them later.
This is highly beneficial even if you are just growing a tree in your backyard in a non professional environment.
To train a tree, you will need some sort of outside brace to push or pull a branch. Alternately, if you want to push branches closer together or further apart, you can place something in between them or lash them together with rope.
Successfully training your branches just takes a little imagination in deciding what to tie them to or what to push them with. I have found that stakes, fences or simply an upright two by four leaning away can work wonders.
There is no tree grower that couldn’t benefit from using a little training in their tree growing escapades. Whether you have decided to give your trees a completely new form, or just optimize the branch placement for healthier fruit, there is surely some way that training can benefit you.
