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Slated For Feb. 24
Virginia has a long history of growing tree fruit, especially apples, and many homeowners and avid gardeners enjoy inseason fruit from their own trees.
While the temperate climate of Rockbridge is conducive to a diverse mix of fruit trees, certain sites in our hilly terrain are more prone to frost in the late spring and our summer humidity is conducive to many diseases and insects.
Selecting disease resistant varieties, locating the trees on a site with appropriate slope and aspect, followed by good planting, pruning, and cultural practices, can make the difference in the success or failure of a fruit tree.
The Rockbridge Office of Virginia Cooperative Extension (VCE) is offering a seminar on tree fruit variety selection, planting, and pruning on Friday, Feb. 24, from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The program cost is $20 per person or $30 per couple and includes printed materials and a soup and sandwich lunch (one of the soup options will be vegetarian and gluten free). Those wishing to attend must pre-register by noon on Wednesday, Feb. 22. Class size is limited to 40.
Please preregister by calling the Rockbridge Extension Office at (540) 463-4734 or by emailing me at [email protected]. The seminar will be held at the Community Center Building of Timber Ridge Presbyterian Church.
Shawn Jadrnicek, horticulture Extension agent based in Roanoke County, will lead the seminar. Shawn has extensive experience in fruit and vegetable production, having managed a commercial certified organic fruit and vegetable operation in South Carolina before joining VCE. He is also a certified arborist.
Shawn will begin the seminar with a series of presentations on variety selection, site selection, and planting. After lunch, the participants are invited to go to a nearby site where Shawn will demonstrate pruning techniques and recovering trees that have not been pruned for some years.
Contact me, Tom Stanley, at the Rockbridge Extension Office for more information on the tree fruit seminar.
