Well into winter, most gardenerB次元官网网址檚 thoughts may not be on tree-trimming potential. But the experts at Welland Community Orchard in View Royal are ready to lead those who do.
Welland is run by the Victoria LifeCycles Project which aims to build a resilient food system in Greater Victoria B次元官网网址� growing, harvesting and sharing food gleaned from both the orchard and volunteer private properties. LifeCycles also offers frequent educational opportunities, among them, hands-on Prune-Along sessions and a winter pruning workshop at Welland.
Prune-Along includes a 90-minute session to teach the basic skills of pruning and fruit tree care. During a session, a tree specialist will assess a treeB次元官网网址檚 health and condition, instruct on care and maintenance, introduce proper pruning techniques and suggest a tailored pruning plan to meet individual goals. Cost is $175, for the hands-on, interactive instruction, and open to groups.
Open to those who live in Victoria, Oak Bay, Esquimalt, View Royal and Saanich south of Royal Oak, the service does not include debris removal and is not a full-service tree pruning. They recommend avoiding pruning stone fruit trees in winter, due to disease issues they are susceptible to that can be made worse through winter pruning. Anyone looking for help with a plum, cherry, apricot or peach tree can email welland@lifecyclesproject.ca to discuss options.
Visit to book.
A workshop at Welland also covers the basics of pruning with a live demonstration on one of the many fruit trees in the orchard. The session covers how to select the proper tools; use and care for those tools; as well as how and when to prune your trees and vines.
The goal is for backyard gardeners to be confident enough to tackle their home pruning.
A winter pruning workshop runs Jan. 26 from 10 a.m. to noon. Get tickets through online. Learn more about LifeCycles and ongoing winter work parties at Welland online at .
