Boorowa Landcare are holding a Pruning For Production workshop with Olivier Sofo on Thursday, 2nd July at the Boorowa Ex-Services Club. It will be led by industry expert Olivier Sofo and will be about the pruning and care of your fruit trees from 9:00 am onwards.
They will be covering:
Tree, Branches and Buds, Tools, Pruning goals and growth influences, Main Pruning Cuts, Main Tree fruit crops and their habits, Summer Vs Winter pruning, Training young trees, Steps to approaching a tree
Practical pruning demonstration, Students’ pruning practicum.
Morning Tea and Lunch Provided. After lunch, they will be moving outdoors for a practical pruning session. Location to be provided during the morning session. It will conclude at 2:30 pm.
Olivier spent 15 years working in restaurants as a chef, including 5 years in France, Italy and the UK. After meeting with biological vignerons in Italy, Olivier’s passion for farming led him out of the kitchen and into the field. His first pruning job was at Cascina Degli Ulivi, in the northern Italian region of Piedmont, the wine zone of Gavi.
Over the last 15 years, Olivier has worked extensively in organic and biodynamic agriculture in Canada, Australia and Italy and has managed numerous commercial organic vegetable farms and fruit tree nurseries, including Similkameen Nurseries in British Columbia, Canada. The largest Certified Organic fruit tree Nursery in Western Canada.
Olivier has been involved in fruit orchard and olive grove design and set up, as well as a generous amount of tree work, from commercial orchard pruning to contract grafting.
Olivier is very passionate about trees; pruning is his favourite winter activity! He is also passionate about teaching and learning, and has taught numerous educational courses focused on organic market farming, fruit tree pruning and care.
Olivier currently runs an award-winning Certified Organic Market Farm, Living Earth Farm, with his fantastically talented wife, Falani, in Young, NSW.
Organiser Amber Kelly said, “Landcare thought it might be nice, particularly for our residents, to do a fruit tree pruning workshop, because most people have fruit trees in their garden, if not one, a few.
“We’re certainly in that part of the world. I was recommended, Olivia Sofo, who’s over at Young, and he has a wealth of knowledge, and certainly does do these sorts of workshops, so he’s very kindly offered his time to do a day with us.
“It is primarily going to be on the pruning of trees. We will be covering trees, branches and bugs, sorts of tools that we should be using, pruning bulbs and growth influences, main pruning cuts, main tree fruit crops and their habits, summer versus winter pruning, training your young trees, steps to approach your tree, practical, and all non-practical pruning demonstrations, and students can have a go at pruning as well.
“It is certainly for anyone, if they’re looking to get into growing trees or have already got some and are looking to know how to maintain them better, it will be the right type of workshop for them.
“It’s going to be a really great day. It’s one that will be a really social event. It’s going to be really informative. We couldn’t ask for a better teacher. If you’ve got some fruit trees or you like to look into growing your own fruit, come along.
“There’s a lot of years of experience there, and he’s going to be an absolutely fascinating person to learn from and to meet and get to know.
“Book a ticket and come along. We have put a very small cost on it, just to contribute towards the lunch and that, which is all catered.”
As a general rule, stone fruits (peaches, plums, nectarines) are pruned in late summer to prevent disease, pome fruits (apples, pears) are pruned in winter to stimulate growth, and citrus is trimmed in late winter/early spring to protect from frost.
Getting this timing wrong doesn’t just mean less fruit; it can kill your tree.
In cold European climates, growers prune once in winter and walk away. In NSW—particularly along the coast and in the Northern Rivers region—trees grow fast. Really fast.
According to the NSW Department of Primary Industries (DPI), high growth rates over spring and summer mean that one winter prune isn’t enough. To produce high-quality fruit, growers in NSW often need to adopt a three-season strategy: Winter, Spring, and Summer.
Skipping summer pruning in NSW leads to a “dead zone” in the lower canopy where light can’t penetrate, pushing fruit production higher and higher until you can’t reach it.
You can learn tips like these and much more at the workshop coming up.
Jack Murray
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