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February 1, I happened to see Jim Birkholz at a local coffee shop. He stated that he just started pruning his 2,300 apple trees. One might think that he started pruning because the winter has been so mild. Regardless of the weather, this is the time to prune fruit trees.

In past years, pruning too early in the winter increases the risk of winter injury. The amount of injury is directly related to the length of time between pruning and temperature drop. Late winter pruning reduces the likelihood of extreme temperature drop, thereby reducing the risk of winter injury.

Dormant pruning of fruit trees minimizes the possibility of fire blight in crab apples, apples and pecans. It also reduces the risk of Nectria canker and black knot of cherry and plum trees. February through March is the safest and best time to prune, which is just before the buds swell. When pruning the home orchard, the key is to start spring pruning early enough so you have finished before the leaves appear.

When pruning any tree, start by cutting out broken, dead or diseased branches. Next, focus on the tree's structure, size and shape. Focus on removing competing branches, or co-dominant leaders. Those are the branches in the center of the tree fighting to be the tallest. Two competing leaders can easily serve as a breaking point as the tree matures.

Renovating old, neglected apple trees is hard work. One should stop and ask why they are doing it before they start. There is usually one of three reasons why you take on this task first; you may want to improve the appearance of the landscape. The second reason is to restore an old tree that has some sentimental value. The third and main reason is to once again get fruit and or better quality fruit from an old tree. If this is your only goal, you may want to reconsider whether you want to renovate or replant.

It will take about three years to complete the renovation process and in that amount of time, you could be harvesting fruit from a healthy, young, semi-dwarf tree. If you still want to renovate an old tree, clear away any competing trees and brush. Apple trees don't like shade. Then consider the shade the tree casts upon itself. Neglected trees become overgrown to the point where the center of the tree is shaded out. Pruning opens the canopy up. Old trees often produce too many small, poor quality fruit. Pruning removes many competing fruit buds and will boost fruit size and quality.

The first year, remove branches that go straight up or hang down. Branches that have a slight upward angle are the best ones to leave. When you have finished, the canopy should appear thinned out, with no dense clusters of branches anywhere in the canopy.

Remove about a third of the excess limbs each year for the next three years. It took the tree more than one year to become overgrown. It will take more than one year to correct. Don't get discouraged that each year you will need to prune the branches that grow straight up inside the canopy. These are called water shoots. They are fast growing branches that appear because you have allowed the sun to appear in the inside of the tree. These branches will not produce fruit and need to be removed each year.

Many of our readers have taken fruit pruning classes at past Bonanzas. Jim Birkholz always conducted those classes and the feedback was always great about his presentations. Since we are offering different classes at Bonanza this year, Jim will not be speaking there. That's the bad news. The good news is that he will be giving a hands on class and demonstration before our next Master Gardener meeting. Jim will speak on how to prune young fruit trees to get the production from them and also, how to renovate old trees back into production. The class is free to the public Tuesday, February 28, at 6:30 p.m. Come join us at the Senior Center in North Branch.

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Registration brochures for the 8th annual Chisago County Master Gardener Spring Gardening Bonanza, "Get the Dirt," Saturday, March 4, were mailed Monday, Feb. 6. If you did not receive one, you can call or stop by the office. You can also find it on our web page in the 'Hot Topics' box: http://www.extension.umn.edu/county/chisago.

The order form for bare root blueberry, strawberry, raspberry, grape and asparagus plants was mailed along with the Bonanza brochure. It is also on the web page and available from the office.

We will not be doing classes at Bonanza on growing these fruit plants but classes will be offered as part of a separate weekly series this spring, which will also include some vegetable gardening topics.

The first of these classes will be on pruning apple trees Feb. 28, at 6:30 p.m., at the Senior Center in North Branch, as mentioned in the article above. The schedule for the rest of the 'Spring Gardening Series –– Growing Edibles' will be available at Bonanza.

The voicemail is available all year long at 651-674-4417. Maybe you have a houseplant problem or a question about something you saw in a gardening catalog. During office hours ask for the Master Gardener voicemail, after hours, select ext. 18.

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