Fruit Tree Pruning Clinics – Twenty Years of Programming
Horticulture & Turfgrass
Eric Barrett
Associate Professor
Ohio State University Extension
Canfield
Abstract
Fruit tree pruning is one of the most consistent programming topics for new and beginning farmers as well as backyard gardeners. After conducting and teaching fruit tree pruning clinics for 23 years in two counties, much has been learned about interest in fruit production at many levels. The two counties are 180 miles apart, one being a rural county in Southeast Ohio with a population of around 60,000 and the other is an urban county in Northeast Ohio with a population of more than 226,000. The clinics continue to be successful and expand each year. Over 1,000 participants completing these clinics and offerings have expanded to urban audiences as urban orchards and food forests become viable options for food production. Each presentation begins with an overview of tools and pruning of a new tree. Participants are welcomed into the orchard to watch experts prune and to try pruning with their own hands. Partnerships have been made with orchard owners to co-teach the clinics, and with organizations in the urban center to start urban orchards as part of community revitalization and engagement programming. Evaluation data has been collected for nearly every pruning clinic, including before and after ratings by participants on their confidence in their pruning abilities. The 2022 evaluations show an overall improvement of 3.66, based on a 10-point scale. This presentation will share the success of the program over the past 23 years, including changes made to keep clinics up to date, and the results of evaluation of participants and partners through the years.
Authors: Eric Barrett
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Eric Barrett Associate Professor, Ohio State University Extension, Ohio, 44406