SWTU hosted our second annual round of restorative pruning in the Neperud Orchard on Sunday, March 31.

The orchard was a pride and joy of the Neperud family but needs pruning to regain health and vigor. SWTU coordinates this effort to help Dane County restore the Neperud lands and waters and to offer our members and volunteers from the Master Gardener program the chance to learn how to prune fruit trees.

Lisa Johnson, Dane County’s horticulturist and director of the Master Gardener program, provided an excellent introduction to fruit tree pruning at Landmark Creamery (thanks to Anna Thomas Bates and Anna Landmark for providing the space). Ten TU and Master Gardener volunteers then spent two hours pruning the apple, pear and cherry trees. In our second year of the project, we’ve pruned 40% of the trees in the orchard. We’ll work the next couple of years to attend to the rest of the trees. Lisa guided our pruning on site. Thanks to her instruction and supervision, all of us learned the basics of pruning.

Thanks to all our volunteers and to Sara Rigelman, who leads the County’s efforts at Neperud and joined us. Remember that the orchard is open to the public. It will soon be in its lovely spring bloom and  the apples, pears and cherries are yours for the picking this fall. And stop by Landmark Creamery. Their grilled cheese sandwiches, cheeses, and other Wisconsin foods are fabulous.