Community orchard pruning workshop

Did you know that Mangere Bridge has a community orchard?  Tucked away in a quiet corner of Ambury Farm off Wallace Rd, the orchard has been home to a grove of feijoa trees for many years, and was extended by community volunteers last year to include a range of other fruit trees for all to enjoy.  This year, the trees were well overdue for a prune, so Friends of the Farm organised a workshop to get the job done, while building our local pruning skills. 

The 12 participants included neighbours of the orchard, Friends of the Farm members and a handful of other locals, keen to hone their pruning skills.  All had fruit trees of their own at home and wanted to learn how to increase their harvest and look after their trees better.

After a bout of heavy rain, the weather cleared just in time for the start of the workshop.  The group got straight into it in dramatic fashion, removing ten feijoa trees with a chainsaw to create more space for air flow and light and to help with pollination.  Local arborist Peter Bruce and Matt from Tree Botanics came along with a chipper and pruning expertise, and guided the group through some basic principles.

“It was a great opportunity to learn and then pitch in together to prune all the remaining feijoa trees, many hands making light work”, said FOF member and Ambury Park Ranger Janine Nillesen. Rose said the workshop helped to demystify pruning.  Rebecca, who’d been too scared to touch her own trees, felt she now had the confidence to prune them, and to teach her husband how to as well.

The group are keen to get together and prune again, and ended the day with coffee and cake and talk of starting up a pruning club in Mangere Bridge.  As one participant expressed it, “it’s exciting to be part of a community orchard”, and a great opportunity to learn and help each other out as well.