Polk County Itemizer-Observer • January 21, 2015 9A
Polk County Living
Correct fruit tree pruning is key
Anyone who buys or in-
herits a fruit tree faces the
intimidating crossroads of
how, when and if they
should prune.
“It’s one of the most diffi-
cult things for people to un-
derstand,” said Ross Penhal-
legon, horticulturist with
Oregon State University’s Ex-
tension Service. “Ultimately,
they make a few cuts and
think, ‘Oh, I’m going to hurt
the tree,’ and run back into
the house to watch TV.”
But without the proper
maintenance, production of
fruit falls off, diseases in-
crease and frustration goes
off the chart. The key at that
point is to clear out the center
of the tree to let sunlight in, or
cut the tree down and plant
four dwarf varieties that get to
be 10 feet rather than 40 feet.
“I call the big ones man-
killer trees,” Penhallegon said.
“You have to climb up to the
top and spend hours and
hours pruning out suckers.
You can do that every year or
take a lot less time to prune
smaller trees. After all, how
K YM
P OKORNY
Your
Garden
much fruit do you eat? If a tree
produces 20, 40, 50 pounds,
most of it hits the ground and
you don’t pick it up.”
For 25 years Penhallegon
has taught hands-on classes
on pruning fruit trees to hun-
dreds of people annually,
handing out more than
15,000 of Extension’s Training
and Pruning Your Home Or-
chard. Several workshops are
coming up later this month
and February in nearby Ben-
ton, Linn and Lane counties.
It’s important to read up
on pruning, but it can be
confusing.
“The key is coming to the
class,” Penhallegon said.
“Read about pruning, do
some pruning and then read
about it again. The lights come
on, and that’s so liberating.”
Unless you’ve got an emo-
tional connection to the tree,
he recommends cutting
down out-of-control trees.
But if you want to keep it,
he’ll teach you to rejuvenate
one, too.
Anytime December
through February is a good
time for pruning.
“We let people know that
they can prune their trees
fairly hard and still get fruit
and not hurt their tree,” he
said. “The answer is that
every time you prune a
branch ask what happens
“I call the big ones man-killer trees. You
have to climb up to the top and spend
hours and hours pruning out suckers.”
—Ross Penhallegon, OSU Extension Service horticulturalist
where you’ve pruned. It grows
back. Even if you cut it back
to six inches, 99.99 percent of
the time it grows back, espe-
cially apples and pears.”
Before cutting down a
tree, check with your city for
local regulations.
Penhallegon offers a num-
ber of tips for pruning fruit
trees.
• Start with the right
equipment and don’t stint
on price. You’ll want good-
quality 18-inch loppers,
pruners and a handsaw. If
you need to use a ladder, be
sure it’s in good condition.
• The best time to prune is
February, but any time leaves
are off from December
through February will work.
• Remove dead, dying and
diseased limbs first.
• Take out crossing limbs
and remove limbs that grow
down or straight up.
• Clear out the center of
the tree, and prune the top
of the tree more heavily than
the lower portion.
• Only take out one-third
of the limbs at once.
MI TOWN
The Polk County Board of
Commissioners is present-
ing a public hearing regard-
ing the proposed county
public safety levy Wednes-
day (today) at 6 p.m. at the
Monmouth Public Library.
The library is located at
168 Ecols St. S., and there is
plenty of parking available.
If you didn’t attend the
hearing in Dallas last week,
try to make every effort to at-
tend this meeting. The pro-
posed cost of the five-year
levy is 45 cents per $1,000 of
assessed value — about $90
per year on a property as-
sessed at $200,000, less than
$10 per month. That’s basi-
cally a trip through a fast
food drive-thru for one per-
son.
If this proposal is placed
on the ballot and were to
pass, we’ll receive funding to
help with jail expenses, com-
P ATTY
T AYLOR
D UTCHER
Columnist
munity corrections, juvenile
department, district attor-
ney’s office and restoration
of sheriff’s patrols that have
been drastically cut the last
several months.
No matter what our eco-
nomic and status or political
beliefs may be, the good
health of MI Town and all of
our communities depends
upon the services provided
for our citizens. We all need
to do whatever we can to see
that good law enforcement
and related services are
there, for our local business-
es, families and children.
Think about all the good
things that will be provided
with funding from this levy.
—
By press time, I will be
closing in on another birth-
day, which puts me at the
three-quarter century mark.
It is hard to believe that I’ve
been hanging around this
big, blue marble so many
years, but that’s what the cal-
endar says. Instead of facing
the facts, I’d rather focus on
what Satchel Paige, who was
a famous baseball pitcher in
the Negro Leagues before he
played for the St. Louis
Browns, had to say about
aging. When a newspaper re-
porter asked him why he
was still playing ball at his
age, he asked the reporter,
“How old do you think you’d
be, if you didn’t know how
old you were?” I like that
statement and the attitude
BIRTHS
Hampton
Josephine Louise Hampton was born to Matt and Holly
Hampton of Boise, Idaho, at 2:49 a.m. on Nov. 25 at St.
Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Boise.
She weighed 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 19¾ inches
long.
Josephine is the couple’s first child.
Grandparents are Dave and Mary Jo Hampton of Dallas
and Dave and Diana Myers of Redding, Calif.
Great-grandparents are JoAnn Myers of Napa, Calif., and
Tom and Wilma Doyle of Hamilton, Mont.
Cogswell
Jocelyn Ann Cogswell was born to Gabriel Cogswell and
Peggy Sue Archer of Corvallis at 8:04 a.m. on Jan. 8 at
Salem Hospital Family Birth Center.
She weighed 6 pounds, 5 ounces, and was 19¼ inches
long.
Jocelyn is the couple’s first child.
Grandparents are Doug and Bobbie Cogswell of Dallas
and Sharon Archer of Keizer.
Great-grandparents are Ernest and Marilyn Cogswell of
Dallas and Janice Jacobsen of Dallas.
Bunnell
Kayetan Malik Joseph Bunnell was born to Thomas
Bunnell and Amber Reese of Dallas at 7:29 p.m. on Jan. 9 at
Salem Hospital Family Birth Center.
He weighed 8 pounds, 1 ounce, and was 21 inches long.
Kayetan joins Kolton, 1.
Grandparents are Felix Avila and Jeanetta Reese of Inde-
pendence, Aaron and Jennifer Reese of Brockport, N.Y.,
and Levi and Kate Brunnell of Dallas.
Great-grandparents are Chuck and Lori Holbrook of
Dallas and Thomas and Peggy Ainsworth of Florence.
Olivares Cortes
that went with it.
Reaching a certain age
doesn’t necessarily bring
wisdom, but simply having
“been there and done that”
can bring perspective and to
give advice when asked
(whether it is listened to or
not is another story), and to
try to be silent if you can’t
say something good about
somebody else.
Aging also brings maturity
as well as the time to spend
participating in lots of vol-
unteer activities and finding
positive things to do. It also
brings time to sit by the
kitchen window and watch
the birds in the backyard, or
to read a good book while
sitting in a comfy chair be-
side a cozy fire.
—
Flu season is upon us. Be
sure your family is immu-
nized and protected.
Adelyn Olivares Cortes was born to Jorge Olivares and
Leonor Bedolla Cortes of Salem at 8:05 p.m. on Jan. 9 at
Salem Hospital Family Birth Center.
She weighed 7 pounds, 13 ounces, and was 20 inches long.
Adelyn is the couple’s first child.
Grandparents are Jorge and Maria Olivares of Independ-
ence and Laura Cortes of Salem.
Hickman
Abby Lynn Hickman was born to Jeffrey and Kayla Hick-
man of Dallas at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 13 at Salem Hospital
Family Birth Center.
She weighed 8 pounds, 3 ounces, and was 20 inches long.
Abby joins Tucker, 1.
Grandparents are Karen Jonk of Veneta, Steve and Hope
Gregory of Dallas, Lyn Hickman of Lebanon, and Ralph
and Debbi Hickman of Independence.
Great-grandmother is Phyllis Gregory of Dallas.
Itemizer-Observer
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