Summer 2024 NEWSLETTER

Before and After

This is a new column created to showcase APA members’ before and after photos. If you have a photo set that you would like to share in the newsletter, please email apa@aestheticprunersassociation.org with the subject line “Before and after photos.” 

This first set of photos was provided by Dennis Makishima. He took a Japanese maple that had been sheared for years and transformed it over time back into a more natural-looking tree.

Pruning Wisdom from Members

“What are your tricks for beating the heat while pruning?”

My favorite ways to beat the heat, in order of preference:

1) Reschedule. Postpone to another day, or swap with another job in a location that isn't going to be so hot. Or start earlier so I'm done working by the hottest time of day. 

2) Figure out the path of the sun in relation to the trees I'm working on. Stay in the shade as much as possible, especially in the afternoon. 

3) Cover up, take breaks and hydrate like crazy. Make sure you have access to a bathroom! 

Our heat in the northeast is difficult to deal with in that it typically involves a high level of humidity. Nintey degrees Fahrenheit doesn’t seem that extreme, until combined with high humidity. Then the air becomes heavy, sticky, and difficult for one to perspire and benefit from the cooling effect of evaporation.

My first defense against the oppressive heat is to plan my work calendar accordingly. Over the years, I’ve noticed that there are certain weeks of the summer that bring weather in somewhat predictable patterns in specific areas: temperature drops right before Memorial Day; oppressive heat at the beginning of July; high humidity, heat, and thunderstorms at the end of July; hot and dry periods in mid-August; cool temps in late August followed by oppressive heat returning just as school resumes and everyone needs to pack back indoors at the beginning of September.

So my first suggestion is to take very specific notes about your own work microclimate(s). Try to schedule duties to optimize both plant response and your experience of local weather patterns. Sometimes this can’t be negotiated, but if you know there are certain weeks of the summer that tend to be oppressive, you can plan for a few days of wiggle room. Then, once you’re within a few days of work commencing, you can schedule your work on optimal days.

Secondly, I have invested considerable time in researching good work gear: clothing, hats, gloves, glasses, etc. I don’t like to use sunscreen if I can help it, but prefer to wear long sleeve shirts and pants. The difference between being covered in a thick layer of pore-clogging sunscreen and a tank top and wearing breathable, high-SPF, complete-coverage clothing is like comparing night and day! I can talk your ear off about gear, but I’d suggest we have an exchange in the APA Forum. I enjoy learning what works for others, too, so it’d be a great conversation.

One final thought about beating the heat: track the sun/shadows as they move around the property you’re working on. I visit some homes where I can be in the shade most of the day if I start on the right plant and hop from shady spot to shady spot. If I have multiple homes to visit in a day, I consider this same factor on the larger scale of which home has shade at what hour of the day. One thing to note: I ultimately consider the trees’ needs; I will not sacrifice their need to be shaded post-pruning to serve my short-term quest for comfort.

I hope everyone has a safe summer and these considerations help. One last tip: limit caffeine intake and stay hydrated to help your system self-regulate internal temperature.

First off: Ugh! The heat! 

I have plenty of friends who loooove being out in hot weather soaking up those rays, but that is definitely not me. Add any kind of humidity to the mix and not only does my body shut down but my brain turns into a grumpy slush and makes me want to glare at anything and everyone. Especially if they look like they are having fun. In the heat. Inconceivable! 

To avoid the grumpy factor, I start as early as possible. Sunrise is my friend. In Portland it usually doesn’t heat up until early afternoon. So I can get in at least 5 to 6 hours before I start cursing. In the morning, I start in the warmest part of the garden and save any shady areas for later in the day. I fill my water with ice and make sure I am drinking it constantly. I bring a small wash cloth to wipe my face and wear handy arm sleeves that runners wear for uv protection but also has a fabric that is meant to feel cool. I’m not sure what it is but I do feel a cooling effect. Maybe it’s all mental but that works for me. I wear a really wide brim hat to keep the sun away and I have a few pairs of “summer” hiking pants that are a thinner fabric with side vent zippers I can open when I am on a break.

Unlike the rain, the extreme heat doesn’t last very long so I have more success pushing pruning work off until average summer temps return. I think the plants appreciate it, too. 

Fruit is the Essence

Thoughts for Aesthetic Pruners on Pruning Apricot Trees

Mark Mendell, CAP #62

This column explores the overlap between aesthetic pruning and fruit tree pruning. Fruit tree pruning generally focuses on productivity and health of the tree. Aesthetic pruning, in contrast, focuses on appearance and health of the tree. Defining the aesthetic pruning goals for a tree includes identifying the essence of the tree, such as the structure, winter silhouette, leaves, bark, flowers, or fruit. For trees producing edible fruit, the essence of the tree is the production of edible fruit, not just the ornamental appearance of the fruit within the tree. Aesthetic pruning of different kinds of fruit trees would be enhanced by varying the pruning strategies for different kinds of edible fruit production (e.g., peaches fruit mostly on one-year-old wood, but apples and pears fruit mostly on spurs that last up to 10 years).

Traditional fruit tree pruning is utilitarian, aimed at maximizing abundant fruit on healthy trees. Aesthetically, however, this can be a mess. A challenge for an aesthetic pruner is to give each specific type of fruit tree the kind of pruning it needs while still considering aesthetics, both short and long term. Because every kind of fruit tree has its own specific fruiting idiosyncrasies, it is challenging to learn and keep in mind the needs of each, along with its growth and reaction habits, and to figure out how to satisfy these needs within an aesthetic approach.

Apricot trees (Prunus armeniaca), are long-lived, drought-resistant, deciduous trees in the Rose family native to central Asia. They are small trees, 25-40 ft tall, with dense, spreading canopies. These trees prefer full sun and bloom in spring with small white or pink flowers. While many apricot varieties are self-fertile, generally a pollination partner will increase the size and quality of the harvest. Almost all U.S. commercial apricot production is in California.

Pruning apricot trees involves combining attention to multiple pruning goals: for fruit tree success in general, to reduce disease in apricot trees, and to support fruiting in apricot trees. The following information focuses more on the utilitarian aspects than on the aesthetic aspects that readers are probably familiar with. (Note: this information is compiled from multiple sources that don’t always agree.)

Pruning apricot trees, general:
UC IPM (University of California Integrated Pest Management) – Apricot trees are pruned during early development and as they mature. It is important to develop a good structure when your fruit tree is still young. Summer pruning is useful to inhibit growth and is the best time to maintain a tree's shape and to keep the tree to a reasonable size for netting and harvesting.

As with most trees, remove dead, diseased, and damaged branches. Remove crossing branches. Remove narrow-angle branches, the weaker of any crossing or interfering branches, and one branch of forked limbs. Use a combination of removal (thinning) cuts and reduction cuts to open the tree to air and sunlight and to shorten the height and width of the tree. Aim for an open-centered fan shape or modified leader, keeping the branches as evenly spaced as possible. These pruning forms will allow for plenty of sunlight to penetrate the canopy.

Aim for a sturdy framework. Apricot wood is brittle. It is advisable not to let the branches become so long that they break from the weight of the wood and fruit. Also, because lateral branches will sag over time, aim to remove and replace older branches that sag close to the ground.

Pruning apricots to minimize Eutypa:
Apricot trees are susceptible to multiple diseases, including bacterial canker, but perhaps the most relevant for pruning in California is Eutypa dieback (Eutypa lata), a water-borne fungal disease.

In wet winter areas, apricots should be pruned only when rains are unlikely over the ensuing six weeks; so here in California, no later than August, to allow time for the pruning wounds to close. This will help to prevent Eutypa fungus from invading the tree. Allow 6 weeks prior to the beginning of winter rains for wounds to close. Avoid cutting into the branch bark ridge, which is where new tissue that promotes wound closure originates. For existing Eutypa infections with visibly oozing gummosis, Eutypa dieback can be pruned out of trees in summer by removing at least 1 foot of healthy tissue along with the diseased limb. Make sure no discolored, diseased wood remains below the cut. If wood is discolored, make another cut further down the limb. If susceptible trees must be pruned outside of summertime, flaming wounds with a propane torch for 5 to 10 seconds after making the cut can cause the wound to become immune to infection by Eutypa spores. (Advice from: IPM/UCANR: https://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/GARDEN/FRUIT/DISEASE/eutypadieback.html ).

Pruning apricot trees for fruiting:
Do apricots grow on new wood or old wood? Old wood – from flower buds on one-year-old wood and from spurs on older wood. Spurs are productive for three to five years.

Depending upon the variety, flowers form on different portions of one-year-old wood – some at the bottom third, some in the middle third, and some at the upper third of that growth.

The presence of flowering buds on both one-year-old wood and older spurs presents the need to preserve spurs and some portion of the one-year-old wood for maximum fruit production. The relatively short life of the spurs also creates a balancing act between pruning to maintain existing fruit-bearing spurs and pruning that may remove some older spurs for the purpose of encouraging new growth on which new spurs can develop.

Use tipping (heading) cuts in a manner consistent with the location of flowering buds on the particular tree variety. For example, if the flowering buds tend to form on the bottom third of that wood, a tipping cut can remove up to two-thirds of the one year-old growth without loss of productivity. If the flowering buds tend to form further up such growth, correspondingly shorter tipping cuts will be necessary.

Because apricots fruit best on two- and three-year old wood, you need to prune up to half of the shoots that bore fruit last season down to about 3cm, close to a bud – this will encourage fresh new growth which will bear fruit in the next two or three years.

It is necessary to prune apricot trees at least once every year. Pruning your tree not only helps it look better, but also encourages new growth and helps the tree produce more fruit each year.

Apricot trees are extremely prolific and often grow more fruit than their branches can support. It is important to thin the fruit from your tree to allow for plenty of space between each apricot. This will also lighten the fruit load on each branch. If you don't aggressively thin your apricot tree, you might still have branches break under the heavy load.

Book Review

C. Brant

The Light Eaters  by Zoe Schlanger

The Light Eaters by Zoe Schlanger is the exciting new book about plants that will revolutionize everything we were taught in school. In fact, this is a book recommendation specific to APA members, not another glowing review of which there are already many. Reading The Light Eaters should actually be mandatory for continuing education points and career development for all who have plants as clients. And plants are the clients!

The author carefully lays out the amazing abilities of plants in chapters which review the science and explain the controversial findings. Some people who have only heard the author interviewed can recite a list of these mind-blowing plant abilities. They are missing the joy of discovery in reading (or listening to) the book in its entirety and applying it to the plants and gardens or natural areas that they know. Again, people who are really plant lovers—people who notice small details and contemplate plant problems and solutions—benefit tremendously from tapping into the extraordinary abilities of plants. They also benefit by reaching a new level in their relationships with plants. How is this so?

The best example might be in the social life of plants at the end of the book after the chemical, electrical and mechanical signaling is explained. You might gasp at gender fluidity being discussed, but the interaction of inter- and intra-plant species communication when a threat is perceived provides information that can be directly applied in professional work. There are still questions to consider, like how do certain plants get scale (or other pests) and don’t manage to rid themselves of it considering all their super abilities mentioned in the book? Is it possibly a situation we have created?

Finally, there were times when I was concerned that elevating plants to potentially intelligent beings with memory, social lives, etc. was going to devolve the book into The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan’s animal equivalent. The book addresses that issue with person-ness and whole world interconnected-ness and greater philosophical meanings intertwined in a thought-provoking way. The book is truly a fantastic, life-altering trip!

Welcome New APA Members

Associate Members

Chris Denn - Oakland, CA
Tan Gleason - Burien, WA
Cody Hoff - Elkhart, IN
Sandra Morgans - Los Altos, CA
Justin Ono - Monterey, CA

Affiliate Members

Vicky Cederquist - Fresno, CA

Student Members

Vivian Bobka - Vallejo, CA
Josias Harder - Soquel, CA
Lauren Mena - Fairfield, CA

Organizational Members

Trees & Me, LLC (Chad P. Giblin) - MN

Committee Chair Reports

CRAFT STANDARDS COMMITTEE
Co-chairs: Allison Levin, CAP #34 and Walt Fujii, CAP #10

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Grant Foerster, Randall Lee, Maryann Lewis, Lara Miranda, Judy Thomas.

As reported in the Spring APA Newsletter, the Craft Standards Committee (CSC) is working on refining the virtual Certified Aesthetic Pruner ® (CAP) testing process and updating all of the documents required to facilitate the test.

Due to the difficulties that interested pruners had encountered when completing the CAP application package, its update was made a priority. Allison reformatted the entire application package to make it readable and more understandable. Walt worked with the committee on streamlining the written exam for ease of administering the test.

The APA Certified Aesthetic Pruner ® (CAP) designation recognizes those professional pruners who demonstrate a high level of proficiency when applying the art and science of aesthetic pruning. For this reason the Craft Standards Committee continues to seek members whose knowledge and experience will maintain the well-earned reputation of the CAP designation.

So much depends on getting enough volunteer support from our members! Please contact Allison or Walt. craftstandards@aestheticprunersassociation.org

To all aspiring CAPs, in order to be considered for testing this fall, your completed application package must be received by September 1, 2024. Visit the APA website for more information and attend the CAP mentoring sessions to stay informed.

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EDUCATION COMMITTEE
Chair: Lara Miranda, CAP #65

Committee members: Jane Chua-Couzens, Judy Thomas, Evelyn Borchert, Nicole LaPlante, Allison Levin, Greg Kitajima, Ben Redmond.

The Education Committee has been working hard to bring new informative talks, and we are very excited to share them! We have another excellent Tree Talk with Chris Roddick, discussing trees and diseases, Matt Hughes will lead another Tree Walk where we will dive deep into the Cupressaceae family, and then of course, our Fall NAJGA/APA Regional Pruning Workshop in October. Do you have a topic you'd like to dive deep into? Let us know! 

We are always looking for new ideas from our members on what you'd like to learn more about and discuss! Share your ideas with us! Send any thoughts or comments to apa@aestheticprunersassociation.org, and we’ll see you at the next New Pros meeting or Tree Talk!

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FINANCE COMMITTEE
Chair: Barbara Eaton, CAP #60

Committee members: Lara Miranda, Dina Blackwell, Melissa Hyams, Nina Rizzo, Mark Mendell, Shivawn Layne (Accountant), Helga Mahlmann (former Accountant).

In the second quarter of 2024, the APA brought in income from membership dues totaling a little over $1,500, about $300 in early registration fees for the July 7 Tree Talk “Bonsai and Aesthetic Pruning,” and just a bit in merchandise sales. In April through June we also earned about $280 in interest from our CD account. Our main second quarter expenses included website and administrative expenses, and expenses related to the upcoming APA and NAJGA Regional Fall Garden Tour and Pruning Workshop.

Anyone interested in joining the Finance Committee is welcome to email Barb at apatreasurer@aestheticprunersassociation.org.

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MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE
Chair: Denise Mason, CAP #61 

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Evelyn Borchert, Maryann Lewis.

April-June 2024: 
170 active members, including 11 new members

New members consist of:
5 Associates
1 Affiliate
3 Students
2 Organizational members

Geographical distribution of new members:
7 from California (Bay Area and Fresno)
1 from Indiana
1 from Washington
2 from Minnesota

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NEWSLETTER COMMITTEE
Chair: Dina Blackwell, CAP #53 

Committee members: Barbara Eaton, Lara Miranda, Ben Redmond.

We meet virtually to put together content for our quarterly publication. If you have any ideas for stories, or would like to write one yourself, please contact Dina at dinasgardens@gmail.com.

The Newsletter Committee would love to get photos from members for the opening image. It could be a seasonal photo that represents the time of year for that newsletter, or just a photo of a nice tree, someone pruning, or a set of before and after pruning shots.  

Also, we have a column called “Pruning Wisdom” where 2 to 4 pruners answer a question from members. We would love to hear any questions that you would like answered. All of the past newsletters can be viewed on the APA website under the Resources tab, APA Newsletter.

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PROMOTIONS COMMITTEE
Chair: Jeff Becerra

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Jane Chua-Couzens, Barbara Eaton, Melissa Hyams, Nina Rizzo.

The Promotions Committee is organizing a booth at the Solano Stroll, which takes place Sunday, September 8 from 10am to 5pm on Solano Ave. in Albany, CA. We’re looking for volunteers to help staff our booth. It’s a well-attended community event with opportunities to educate people about aesthetic pruning and the benefits of hiring a pro…and give out a few business cards, of course! Reach out to Jeff Becerra at jeffbecerra@sbcglobal.net if you’re interested in learning more and/or volunteering for a shift.

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SACHIKO UMEHARA SCHOLARSHIP COMMITTEE
Chair: Randall Lee, CAP #3

Committee members: Melissa Hyams, Dina Blackwell.

The Sachiko Umehara Scholarship Committee of Dina Blackwell, Melissa Hyams and Randall Lee reviewed the candidates from Merritt College in Oakland, CA, and determined that Laura Londono should receive the Scholarship. She was awarded the scholarship of $500 in May 2024. Laura is majoring in Landscape Architecture, studies native plants, and is involved with local wildlife. The next application period for scholarships in 2025 opens up on October 1, 2024

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WEBSITE COMMITTEE
Chair: Jeff Kowalski

Committee members: Dina Blackwell, Melissa Hyams, Lara Miranda.

We've seen an uptick in activity on the website forum this past quarter: 45 posts, greater than the sum of all prior quarters, covering a variety of topics. Looking for more work? Monitor the Jobs and Referrals section. Have a puzzling pruning question, or pointer to a great resource? Share it with experts and peers in the general Form.

Visit https://www.aestheticprunersassociation.org/member-forum to ensure you're not missing out.

Speaking of missing out, did you miss a Tree Talk? Members can catch up with any of the prior talks, all of which are listed at https://www.aestheticprunersassociation.org/tree-talks. There's some good binge-watching in there!

The website committee meets as needed. If you have questions or would like to help or contribute to the website, please contact Jeff at jeff.kowalski@gmail.com.