Paul explained that as branches are carefully coaxed away from the vertical into 45 degrees or the horizontal, the tree’s growth is turned from juvenility into its reproductive stage, hence slowing down growth and producing more fruit. What a beautiful thing! Only a few snips of a secateur are required to form this impressive shape, and the rest is done with timely manipulation of the tree stems into different directions to control all growth and fruiting.Ībove is another pear tree trained into the 12 Apostles form. It’s a vast topic and I hope I can fully reflect how exciting and thought-provoking the day was. Above in both pics is a fruit tree (pear I think), trained into a Quincunx form.

Mind blowing, but totally making sense at the same time. By mid morning tea break, brains were whirring as different training methods were described which could replace the overuse of secateurs, encourage fruiting and restrict growth on trees and shrubs. Through scientific explanations and a series of botanical slides, Paul Templeton introduced the whys and wherefores of training trees. Thought I’d booked myself on to a pruning course, but in fact the ‘Training trees and shrubs’ course encouraged only a minimal use of secateurs when working in the garden.

Last weekend, armed with my trusty secateurs, I braved the icy winds and ventured out of the big city to West Dean Gardens near Chichester in W.Sussex.

Pruning pear trees download