Learn about orchard pruning

Published 4:22 pm Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Local horticulturist Gordon Clark will kick off the 2016 Clallam County WSU Master Gardener Green Thumb Garden Tips series with tips for pruning in the home orchard at noon Thursday, Jan. 28, in the county commissioners meeting room of the Clallam County Courthouse, 223 E. Fourth St., Port Angeles.

Clark will demonstrate pruning cuts to remove dead, diseased and damaged limbs and to manage growth and production of fruit trees.

Clark’s presentation will provide information on basic tree biology and pruning phases. He will describe formative techniques for new trees as well as methods for pruning more mature orchards and explain the best time for pruning.

He also will discuss appropriate and safe use of pruning equipment such as shears, saws and ladders.

Clark is the owner of Clark Horticultural, a local organic landscape management company. The company’s main focus is aesthetic pruning, offering all aspects of weekly, monthly, seasonal and annual landscape maintenance.

Clark has a certificate in environmental horticulture from Lake Washington Institute of Technology and is an ISA certified arborist, WSNLA certified horticulturist and an ecoPRO certified sustainable landscape professional.

He maintains memberships in the International Society of Arboriculture, Olympic Orchard Society, Northwest Coalition for Alternatives to Pesticides, Plant Amnesty, Northwest Horticultural Society and The Maple Society.

The Green Thumb Garden Tips brown bag series, sponsored by the WSU Clallam County Master Gardeners on the second and fourth Thursday of every month in Port Angeles, consists of educational programs designed to help home gardeners establish or improve their gardening practices.Attendees may bring a lunch.

The presentations are free and open to the public. However, donations to help offset copying costs for handouts are accepted. For questions, call 360-565-2679.