Last month I talked about designing an edible landscape. Many gardeners started this process years ago by planting fruit trees and are wondering what to do next.

Peaches and apples head the list of desirable fruit crops, but many are not aware of the care and maintenance of these crops. Pruning and dormant oil application are on the top of the list of tasks for this time of year. Completing these two fruit tree maintenance tasks will result in reasonably productive trees. A conscientious gardener can follow up with additional seasonable tasks such as thinnng, scouting for pests, soil teating and summer pruning.

The goals of pruning are to remove dead and diseased branches, keep the height of the tree manageable, allow light and air to penetrate to reduce insect and disease problems, and to reduce the number of fruit to a manageable quantity for the tree to support. Pruning can be done through February.

Whenever you decide to prune, remember, two approaches should be taken: thinning and heading back. Thinning means the removal of an entire branch back to the main truck or a large branch. This reduces the overall density of branches. Heading back is simply shortening the length of a branch. A branch cut back to a side bud or branch will stimulate the development of several lateral buds on the same branch. Proper pruning should involve a combination of these techniques to keep a tree a chosen size, shape or density.

Fruit trees can be trained to a central leader or to an open center. Apple, cherry, pear, pecan and plum are usually trained to the central leader model and is characterized by one main upright trunk referred to as the leader. Branching should begin 24 to 36 inches above the soil surface. At this point three or four branches should be spaced evenly around the tree, not directly across from or above one another. his is called a scaffold whorl. The second whorl should start 18 to 24 inches above the previous one. The shape of a properly trained central leader tree is like that of a Christmas tree. The lowest scaffold whorl branches will be the longest and the higher branches will be progressively shorter to allow maximum light penetration into the entire tree.

With the open-center system, the leader is removed, leaving an open center. Instead of a central leader, the open center tree has three to five major limbs coming out from the trunk like an open, up-side-down umbrella. This system allows for maximum light penetration and is recommended for peaches and nectarines.

You should begin training a fruit tree to a particular form early in the life of a tree. Do not wait for several years before starting this process. Also, a well cared for fruit tree should be pruned in summer after fruit is harvested as well as the dormant season. Summer pruning results in reduced tree growth and is usually limited to the removal of vigorous "water sprouts" which tend to grow straight up causing shade and inhibits proper tree development.

The master gardeners in Orange County are available to provide information about gardening at 245-2061. They are in the office at 306 Revere Road, Hilsborough, Monday to Friday from 10 a.m. to noon. Call or stop in.

(Contact Orange County extension agent Carl A. Matyac, Ph.D., at 245-2062 or carl_matyac@ncsu.edu)