Pruning and training stone fruit | Fan training | UFO training

In this video I begin the formative pruning and tying in of our newly planted stone fruit - two dessert plums, a gage, a mirabelle, two sour cherries, a duke cherry, and five sweet cherries. We have been waiting to start this until after bud break, when the risk of infection from the various diseases to which the stone fruits are susceptible is lower.

We are training these in two different forms: fans for those planted around the fence and UFOs (Upright Fruiting Offshoots) for the sweet cherries in the fruit cage.

The UFO method is new to us, but we hope it might be a suitable approach to controlling vigour when pressed for space, as we are in the fruit cage. The sweet cherries are grafted onto the dwarfing rootstock Gisela 5, which should help.