A FRUIT tree or two can easily be found in many yards across Guyana. They are oftentimes multipurpose- a playground for young children, shade from the scorching sun heat and of course the hunger and thirst quencher.

Fruit trees age more quickly than most other non-fruit species. They rapidly accumulate the ‘veteran’ features associated with over-mature trees: large volumes of standing dead wood in the form of ‘stag’s heads,’ whole limbs, breakage of limbs at fruiting and harvesting, and rotting heartwood. These result in diminished fruit production and lifespan of the trees.

The life of these trees could be resuscitated by pruning and shaping. Pruning is essential for producing better quality fruit, containing tree sizes and removing disease and damage. It may be time-consuming and difficult to teach to others. But, pruning is not a large task for a dedicated gardener.

Some fruit trees like mango, rambutan, golden apple, and cashew nut are tip-bearers. This means that flowering occurs at the apical tips or terminals of the branches. Therefore, it is important to have a high number of healthy, new, vegetative tips, which will be where flowers and fruits are produced from the following year (one-year-old timber). On the other hand, fruit trees like guava need to be pruned to encourage fruit outgrowths. This is where the fruit is produced and the age of the wood is not important.

Renovating old and overgrown fruit trees is best carried out gradually over a few years. The restoration process could begin immediately after harvest. Simply remove crossing, rubbing, broken parts of branches, or dead stubs and branches. Use removal and reduction cuts where practical and heading cuts where necessary.

The structure of the tree should be intact, without any visible cracks or large wounds on the main trunk, limbs, or main roots. Trees can recover from complete leaf loss or significant damage to the canopy, including several broken limbs, but major trunk damage is often irreparable. The prime objective is to increase air and sunlight penetration by removing some of the surplus wood. The idea is to create a basic structure of a clean stem supporting large limbs with fruiting branches.

PRUNING TECHNIQUES
Heading cuts: stimulate the growth of buds closest to the cut. The direction in which the top remaining lateral bud is pointing will determine the direction of the new growth. Don’t use heading cuts (also called topping) on branches over one year old, to avid stimulating unwanted water sprouts and suckers. Heading or topping also disfigures older trees and exposes large areas if bare wood to disease and insects.

Thinning cuts: remove branches to their points of origin or attachment. When you prune a branch back to another branch or prune a branch from the trunk, you are thinning. Thinning cuts stimulate growth throughout the tree, rather than in single branches, as do heading cuts.