I am caring for a very small orchard (8 apple, 2 pear) for my mother-in-law and need some advice. When i prune the trees in winter/spring i just drop all the branches on the floor of the orchard. I bought a used chipper two seasons ago but it takes many hours to chip all the branches as it's just not big enough. Last winters' cuttings are still in the orchard and I need to clean it out soon! It's an eye-sore, plus i've been told leaving them there will encourage disease (?).
For those of you with small orchards, what do you do with all the cuttings? I could rent a large chipper but unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to get it into the orchard and would need to haul all of the cuttings to the chipper parked in the driveway about 50 yrds away. Should i just bite the bullet and do this? Should i hire someone... like a tree service to take care of the cuttings? If so, do you khow what is a fair price to pay? Can the cuttings be burned?
I'm getting a little desperate and need to take care of this soon. Any help would be GREATLY appreciated!!
~carlos
Carlos,
Good question, and a common, if yearly problem. Personally, I have an ‘agricultural burn permit’ on file with my local fire department. I only need to call and find out if it’s a “burn day,†before lighting it up; usually some time in April. I burn the pile yearly, so anything on the bottom or in the ‘middle’ is plenty dry and ready to ignite.
Also, I’ve begun spreading fruit tree prunings into my surrounding forest; as far from the original trees as I care to pack, drag or wheel them. I was long ago told that whatever organisms that eventually break down a dead twig will also, if left in proximity, attack a living one. I don’t know how true that is… but it keeps me packing.
I’ve heard of folks in town hauling their pruning debris to ‘free’ yard debris dump stations where it's allowed to rot into compost – and you can eventually buy it back - in bags. I once considered a chipper, but the one that would attach to my ‘Troy-built’ tiller sounded a bit too small for what I’d come up with.
The last couple of years I’ve begun dumping one-year old pruned watershoots around the base of a fig tree on a hot clay hillside; as a way to mulch around it and eventually build the soil. It appears to be working, and can take at least 6 heaping wheel-borrow loads of prunings per year.
I try to get my prunings picked up before grass grows up and through them… And for friends, I’ve got a nice ‘hollow area’ near the road across the place where I can dump for years, as they simply compact and rot. But if you designate such a site in an open to the sun area the pruning debris pile can become the structure for Himalayan black berries and an entirely new problem…
Hi Carlos,
I do a combo of chop and drop and composting. If your prunings aren't diseased, you can just drop them. If they are diseased, you can just put them under a different type of plant. I like to keep the area under my fruit trees free of grass and if I lay down newspapers, the prunings keep them from flying away. Prunings turn into old wood, which permaculturists call hugulkultur, and it is an established and proven way of amending soil.
The leaves are great for the compost pile, especially if, like me, you have a diverse garden/orchard.
JOhn S
PDX OR
I either burn mine or haul them to the limb dump, which is about 3 miles away.
I'd love to have a chipper, but my understanding is that the homeowner size ones are merely useless toys and the big ones that can really chip are quite expensive.
I never get any leaves. I think the neighbor 5 miles away gets all my leaves.
I guess the neighbors 5 miles up wind from me don't have any deciduous trees because I don't get anybody's leaves, just their tumbleweeds.
I do keep a couple of large brush piles as quail cover.
Hey folks, thanks for the replies. The front page of the forum shows zero replies but i just happened to click on it anyway and surprised to see your responses.
I forgot to mention that these trees were neglected for many years and pruned badly. They were very tall and the fruit nearly impossible to harvest. Over the last few years i've systematically brought them down lower. The problem is my cuttings are more than just slender water sprouts. There are some sizeable branches mixed in. So, i can't really leave them on the floor of the orchard... too much stuff and in the way.
I think i'm probably going to rent a big chipper unless i can find someone to haul it all away... unfortunately, i don't have a truck 
Does anyone know a good place to rent a chipper (SW Portland area) or can recommend a good tree service?
I am going to investigate burning the cuttings this winter after my next pruning. I think that would be a lot easier.
Bamboomer, I think John's idea of hugelkultur is an interesting one. I haven't tried it myself but what I've read makes it sound worth trying. There are a couple of videos up at youtube on it as well.
John, I'm growing mushrooms in my back yard. Everything I've read and been told is that the wood from fruit trees is not too useful for this. For most mushrooms you want a hardwood though a few grow on conifers. The wood does need to be in the shade, but you don't bury it. I got my spawn from Fungi Perfecti (very good service and the pricing seemed good) but it seems like spawn are available at farmer's markets and garden shops.
I also got mine at fungi perfecti. You might contact them and ask about the right edible fungi to deal with fruit trees. They'd probably have a response!
John, contact me off-list if you're going to make an order. I'm interested in getting some oyster mushroom spawn or plugs. Or if anyone on the list has any, let me know.
I have used the small to middling sized branches instead of or with charcoal for grilling. Be careful when you first get the fire burning as you can generate sufficient heat to blister the coating/paint on the cooker. Keep some twigs for kindling ! ! !
Fruitwood (apple, pear, cherry, etc) pieces can be soaked in water and added to the fire if you want smoked flavorings.
Spread the ash back in the orchard as it is the mineral (inorganic) content of the wood absorbed by the roots from the minerals in the soils.
I second the idea of using some for smoking meat. I use all my cherry and apple prunings for smoking pork and chicken and the occasional brisket. I brought some extra to work and gave them to some fellow grillers. Now they all have "dibs" on cuttings from upcoming February pruning. When green you don't even need to soak in water.
If you like wildlife and have the space, use the prunings to build brush piles for wildlife (sometimes called "rabbitat" - http://www.dgif.virginia.gov/habitat/br ... rabbit.pdf). Note that there is some structure to the pile - first logs layed in a crisscross pattern, then large branches, then small branches.
I volunteer at a nearby wildlife refuge and we build lots of brush piles there, so I take most of my prunings there. However I have to be sure the branches have no fruit or seeds on them.
We had a biology student do a study of bird usage of the brush piles vs. a similar natural brushy area nearby (control). The brush piles were used by birds 52% more than the control.
I have several brush piles in my yard, and I would say they are used mostly by small birds, followed by garter snakes, rabbits, mice, and newts/salamanders. Attracting rabbits is probably not a good idea for a new orchard but I have never had rabbits bother trees that are over 3" diameter. I like to place brush piles around trees so that they get leaves in them from the tree. As someone mentioned it is a good idea to keep an eye out for invasive vines growing around the edges of the pile. But that is not difficult. In fact the wildlife seems to prefer piles that have vines & plants growing up through them - just make sure they are not invasive.
You might be concerned about attracting wildlife, however all of the creatures I listed can be very beneficial:
Birds - eat lots of insects and caterpillars
Garter snakes - eat slugs
Rabbits - mow and fertilize the grass for you
Mice - eat weed seeds and fertilize; attract raptors
Newts/salamanders - eat insects and slugs
So did my town in NJ 30-some years ago. Not so around here (Portland). We do have places you can haul stuff of excess size or excess quantity beyond what one's garbage hauler will take. You pay to dump, and you pay to pick up various kinds of compost. Most of it will contain chewed up plastic bags, bits of mesh from sod, and other accidental trash. Still better than not, but...
Where are you located that this is still free?
mh
I have an 8 HP (B & S) Bearcat Chipper Shredder. They are probably running about about $1,500 these days.
The shredder takes material up to about the size as a fan rake handle. The chipper maxes out about the size of a shovel handle.
The chipper is the most efficient, even for small branches which you can bundle together and feed through the chipper.
I quickly process the prunings with a large lopper, remove sharp angles and large material.
I can process the debris from a heavy dormant pruning of a semi dwarf tree in about half an hour.
The chips are much finer than arborist chips and make a fantastic mulch. Even better, they are great to added (along with split larger pieces) to your smoker for pulled pork.
It was a little pricey, but I had heard that Bearcat was the best and I have not been disappointed.
It runs perfectly and starts on the second pull in it's 4th year. Maybe 15 uses for an hour each every year.
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