Category Archives: Uncategorized

Pruning Apple Trees in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard

Stacey, Susan and Giselle after pruning apple trees in Ben Nobleman Park

Pruning apple trees can be very similar to pruning any type of fruit tree in terms of fruit tree structure – but when it comes to timing, apple trees may have their own needs.

And so, when three key volunteers of The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard spent time in the park this weekend, our apple trees were high up in our list of priorities.

As I teach in my online fruit tree pruning workshop, timing make a big difference when you’re pruning.

While winter pruning gives slow-growing trees like apple trees a burst of energy so that they will grow quicker and produce more fruit, summer pruning works best with vigorous trees like cherries and plums that quickly grow too big and become hard to handle. Continue reading →

Emerald Ash Borer In Our Park

Arborists from the City of Toronto set up to take down part of an Ash Tree in Ben Nobleman Park that has been attacked by Emerald Ash Borer beetles.

Death of a Native Tree

This year, sadly, Ben Nobleman Park became a statistic as the notorious Emerald Ash Borer killed of one of our native ash trees. During the growing season the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard volunteers spend hours each month caring for our fruit trees and pollinator garden. But an event like this reminds us not to take our park’s beautiful native trees for granted. Continue reading →

Black Knot Battles

The Volunteers of the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard posing in front of their pollinator garden.

The perennials are leaping out of the ground, our fruit trees have blossomed and are leafing out and the volunteers of the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard are busy weeding, pruning and hunting for Black Knot and other problems in our fruit trees!

That’s because when you grow fruit trees one of your most important jobs is inspecting them for pest and disease problems. Our goal is to catch those problems early on and to nip them in the bud before they can spread to the rest of the orchard. Continue reading →