EarthWorks Orchard Curriculum

Fruit Tree Buds

The following diagrams should give you an idea of what to look for and should help with making predictions about what will happen to the buds.

Terminal Bud: The fat bud at the branch tip grows the fastest. Remove it and several buds will breakdormancy behind it.

Leaf Bud: Flat triangular buds on the sides of a branch will formleaves. Cut off the stem above it and it will grow.

Flower Bud: Plump, flower-formingbuds, the first to swell in the spring.On fruits with stone pits, they growAlone or beside leaf buds. OnApples and pears, they contain a few leaves.

Spurs: Squat twiglets tipped with fatflower buds. They grow on older branchesof apples, pears, plums and apricots. Don’t remove them; they produce flowers, then fruit.

Bud Scar: Ring on a branch marking wherethe terminal bud began growing after the dormant season. Marks the beginning of the present season’s growth.

Created by EarthWorks Projects Inc.This background information and any accompanying lesson plans and worksheets may be reproduced or

shared for educational purposes.

EarthWorks Orchard Curriculum

Befriend a BudObserving eyes can quickly find buds, large and small, on bushes and trees in all shapes, sizes and colors. In order to identify the kind of tree a bud is growing on, it is important to notice the arrangement of buds on the twig. Are they in pairs or opposite each other? Most fruit and nut buds are alternate, appearing first on one side of the twig, then the other. Look for a leaf scar below the bud, left when the leaf fell off in autumn. Each type of tree will be slightly different. In the leaf scar are tiny dots of bundle scars which are the ends of veins that transport food and water between leaf and twig. Sometimes these dots make a pattern, and on walnut and butternut twigs, they even look like a face.

Can you find the terminal bud of a twig when it has one? It is the largest bud at the very end of the twig. Buds along the sides of the twig are called lateral buds. Usually the larger buds contain flowers, or leaves and flowers, while the small ones are simply leaf buds. Open a large bud and see what you find inside.

Once the terminal bud is formed, growth ends for the season. Some trees do not have terminal buds at all. In these cases the twig keeps growing until its food supply dies off. Then the twig dies back to the last lateral bud, which becomes a psuedo (false) terminal bud with a small round scar (different from leaf scars) at its base where the branch died back and fell off. These buds are usually at an angle.

Are these little raised dots here and there along your twig? These are lenticels that allow oxygen into the branch. A few inches from the tip of your twig you may discover several lines or rings close together. These are growth rings left when the bud scales of last year’s terminal bud fell off. They show last year’s growth; how much the twig grewin one year. Now look for the next ring further down. Starting at the tip of the twig, count the growth rings to get the age of the twig. Now you are ready to be a twig detective.

Adapted from Massachusetts Audubon’s How To Be A Twig Detective.

Created by EarthWorks Projects Inc.This background information and any accompanying lesson plans and worksheets may be reproduced or

shared for educational purposes.

EarthWorks Orchard Curriculum

Bud Identification Chart

Created by EarthWorks Projects Inc.This background information and any accompanying lesson plans and worksheets may be reproduced or

shared for educational purposes.

EarthWorks Orchard Curriculum

Buds and Branches Care: PruningPruning is removing some of the branches of a tree as a way of guiding the tree’s growth and fruit production. We cut the branches while the tree is dormant (a sleep-like state in which the tree is not actively growing) in late winter or early spring (March or early April) because it is less harmful than pruning when it is in full growth and sap is flowing. We don’t prune earlier than is because pruning stimulates plant growth and a tree can be damaged by growing too early in the season.

In nature, insects, herbivores and weather prune trees. However, dead wood and ripped branches invite decay and disease. Also, shaded, wet interior branches bring fungus to rot the fruit. In the wild, trees produce smaller, less tasty fruit. By pruning we encourage a tree to produce bigger and better-tasting fruit.

Why Prune?1. To improve/maintain the health of the tree.

a. Control disease and insect invasion.b. Make it easier for trees to heal after branches diec. Maximize the air and sun exposure to tall branches.d. Improve branch strength.

2. Encourage trees to produce “better” and “bigger” fruit.

Pruning Skills:1. Cut with flat side of pruners, close to branch.2. Cut side branches right above branch collar (the swelled and folded joint

between the branch and the trunk).3. Vertical branches (terminal buds) cut ¼” above the bud/branch heading in

the direction you want the branch to grow. (There is no branch collar to protect the remaining branch; drying and dieback can occur so you need to leave the ¼”allow for this.)

Pruning Side Branches Pruning Vertical Branches Pruning above buds

Cut right above the branch collar. Cut ¼” above branch to be kept. Cut ¼” above bud. Topbud will grow out.

Created by EarthWorks Projects Inc.This background information and any accompanying lesson plans and worksheets may be reproduced or

shared for educational purposes.

EarthWorks Orchard Curriculum

What to Prune

1. Remove damaged, diseased and dead wood, suckers, and branches growing at an angle too close to the trunk (less than 17 degrees). Effect: Energy to good branches, avoid disease.

2. Removed crossed and inward growing branches. Effect: Light and air circulate to all branches.

3. Develop shape. Point out differently shaped orchard trees. Effect: aesthetics, fruit production.

a. Central Leader: Strong vertical dominant trunk with “scaffolding” of lateral branches. Example: Apple

b. Modified Leader: Multiple trunks lower down opening into “open vase” at the down. Example: European plum, cherry.

c. Open Vase: Whorl of branches starting from low on the tree opening into a vase shape. Example: Peach, nectarine, Japanese/American plum.

Central Leader: One Modified Central Leader: Vase: allows light and main trunk. This shape has both strength and a sunny air into tree’s interior,can hold a heavy crop center, a compromise between encourages fruit of fruit and resist storm central leader and vase shape. production on lower damage. branches.

Created by EarthWorks Projects Inc.This background information and any accompanying lesson plans and worksheets may be reproduced or

shared for educational purposes.