Rob, I don't use a method per se, instead I use some rough principles that I adapt to each tree. I do start with low scaffolds but I may end up with only 2 or even 1 scaffold as the tree matures. 1 scaffold is only in super narrow spacing areas, most of my trees are Vs at the 3' spacing thats the most common. I don't have super low scaffolds heading out from the main trunk, due to deer and easy mowing I have moved things a bit higher up. Many of my rows are only 10' apart and if the scaffolds are all heading out at 2' from the trunk you will not have a row to walk in after things have filled in. 10' was probably too close but I adapted my pruning method to account for that. Anyway the above is very much based on my planting the trees in a 3'x10' arrangement; if the spacing was different I would be pruning a lot differently and if your trees are not 3'x10' its probably not super relevant for you. Re: the above article, I agree its intended for commercial growers and isn't super relevant to home growers. But it does help elucidate some principles of pruning: every different approach and results from it are useful information. Fruitnut, Re: brix I notice he mentioned they are always irrigating near harvest time: pump water into the fruit! Thats the exact opposite of what a home grower wants and its a reason why grocery store fruit is so mediocre. Scott

Any time after you have positively identified a grub problem in your lawn. There's no benefit to applying grubicide to a lawn that has no grubs. You check for grubs that by digging up 1 square foot of turf that seems to be damaged and counting the grubs you find. If you find fewer than a dozen grubs, then grubs did not cause the problem. If you find a slimy mess of grubs too many to count before you throw up, then you have a grub problem.

That's such great news Ken because I have one on Fort that got hit by some sort of weed killer that my lawn guy put down and it was stunted for an entire year. It is now shaking it off and finally starting to grow strong. I worry that I put it in a place that doesn't get enough sun, but its hard to tell since it had that problem with the weed killer. I'm leaving it alone for now because I fear a move right now would do it in. If it doesnt recover by the fall however, I will consider moving it to a better location. Right now I have 3 Austins in a sunnier spot that are performing admirably. Particularly Pat Austin that blooms its head off and has gotten to be about 7 feet tall.

Yeah I can imagine making it more narrow would be quite a change... but at the current width, the two sides are maybe too far apart for ease of going back and forth from the sink/cooktop... you wouldn't need to go as narrow as 48" between the sides.... Since you have the room, maybe you could have extra deep counters on each side (like +6"/side) - this is a nice, esp when you have ~things~ kept on the counter, like food processor, coffee machine, etc - they don't have to encroach into the workspace of the countertop. Doing this would still leave you with an aisle that's close to 5' wide and at least the cooktop and sink would be on the same side (in my head, needing to take boiling water from the cooktop to sink is much easier when they're in a run together, vs trying to turn and cross the kitchen as it is currently drawn)