Orchard People

[00:00:00] Introduction and Welcome
The following program does not necessarily represent the views and opinions of Reality Radio 101, its advertisers and sponsors, or its listening audience. Listener discretion is advised.
Welcome to the Urban Forestry Radio Show here on Reality Radio 101. In this radio show and podcast, we learn about fruit trees, permaculture, aboriculture, and so much more. So if you love trees, and especially fruit trees, or if you're interested in living a more sustainable life, then this is the place for you.
I'm your host, Susan Poizner, of the fruit tree care training website, OrchardPeople. com. Thanks for tuning in! And enjoy the show.
Welcome to the urban forestry radio show with your host, Susan Poizner. To contact Susan live right now, send her an email instudio101@gmail.com. And now your host of the urban forestry radio show, Susan Poizner. Hi everyone.
[00:01:37] The Importance of Pruning
Spring is in the air and orchardists across North America have spent months pruning their fruit trees.
Pruning in the late winter or early spring, while your tree is dormant, is so important when you're growing fruit trees, and that's for a lot of reasons. First of all, winter pruning and spring pruning encourages vigorous growth and a good harvest. It increases air circulation and helps protect your fruit tree from pest and disease problems.
And it helps you create a really strong fruit bearing structure for your tree. But here's the problem. If you prune your tree incorrectly, you can do more harm than good. That's why I always advise new growers to sign up for a course to learn fruit tree care pruning skills. I teach pruning and fruit tree care skills online at orchardpeople.
com slash workshops. And I also can't say enough how important it is to have the right tools for the job and to maintain them well. So in this episode of the Urban Forestry Radio Show, we'll be talking about pruning tools, how to choose them and how to care for them.
[00:02:45] Guest Introduction: Ben Cullen
And my special guest is garden writer, Ben Cullen.
Now, Ben is a fourth generation gardener. His dad is gardening guru, Mark Cullen, and Mark was one of the first sponsors for this radio show with his Mark's Choice line of gardening products. They're sold at Home Hardware. We're going to talk about all sorts of tool stuff in today's show. So let's talk about tools. Ben Cullen, thank you so much for coming on the show today.
Thank you, Susan.
[00:03:14] Family History of Gardening
Now, tell me a little bit, before we dig into all the details about your family history, I understand you are fourth generation gardener. how does that work? Okay. So we say, we say fourth ish generation gardener because, it's true. Dad, dad is a gardener. Grandpa was a gardener. my great grandpa was a milkman.
So that sort of stops. Okay. But my grandpa had a mentor named John wheel. John wheel came to Canada in the 1910s. 1920s after World War One and he started a landscaping business in Toronto called John Wheel Landscaping. My grandfather was his paper boy at Mount Pleasant in Eglinton and they became very close friends.
So in 1947, after a few years of mentorship under John Wheel, Grandpa bought out John. John went on to the University of Guelph and then he spent a few years at Macdonald College in McGill University where he taught horticulture. and Grandpa Transformed John Wheel landscaping into Wheel and Cullen, which became, chain of garden centers around the greater Toronto area for people who've lived here a while.
It was also a nursery farm, and it spawned also a place called Cullen Gardens in Whitby, which was a large show garden. and so that was how dad got into the business. Dad grew up in Wheel and Cullen, which grandpa had forged of what he'd bought from John Wheel and what he'd learned from John Wheel.
And dad ran Wheel and Cullen until 2003. And he sold to Sheridan Nurseries, which is the largest nursery grower in Canada, and also a very strong independent, retail. Garden chain as well in southern Ontario. so it's a long history. It's a long history. Yeah, that's four generations You're heavy on your shoulders there.
I gotta tell you something I wonder I have this image of you growing up and being in a family of gardeners Was there a thing around tools like don't touch that? Tool don't you'll ruin It's funny that you say that. Dad has a digging spade, which you don't touch. But I think it was a cutting tool, and it wasn't even Dad's, it was Mom's sewing scissors, where the thing, I'll never forget, none of us will forget the day my sister used the sewing scissors for paper mache.
And you can imagine. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. Oh, that sounds a little scary. That was pretty scary. scary. there was hell to pay. Oh my goodness. Yeah. Yeah.
[00:05:37] The Significance of Proper Tools
tools are a really personal thing and we're going to talk about them today and you know how to choose them. But the first thing I wanted to ask you, so I'm holding up, one of my pruners that I have and I, Lord knows I have lots because we're from in the Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard.
We had some donated tools. We have all different types, but tools are important. It's important that you choose the right one and it's important that you take care of it properly. So what I want to ask you Ben is what is the worst that can happen if you choose the wrong tool or if you don't keep it
sharp and clean and stuff like that. there's two ways of looking at it. The worst that can happen is you're out a few bucks because you didn't get the right thing in the first place and you're going to have to buy something new. But worse, you can damage your plants, right? And that's what we really want to avoid.
If it doesn't hold an edge, if it's not been maintained, and it's not cutting clean, that, that cut's not going to heal over properly. you're going to invite all sorts of disease and you're really not doing your plants any favors, by running. poor equipment. So that is the absolute worst thing that could happen.
I got to say I have seen it firsthand because as I said, I'm involved in Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard and we've got these tools that are in our little shed over the winter and we go out in all sorts of enthusiasm ready to prune I'm going to show you how to cut a prune with tools that maybe haven't been sharpened for years, and you can really damage your fruit tree in particular, because if you're cutting surface, and this, by the way, is not a sharp tool, so let's give it, oh, I don't even think it would do that one.
Maybe we got this live. Try that. All right, here we go. You've got your branch in the orchard. Look at this. It's already broken. So you're going to want to prune. And if it doesn't cut well, you'll get this sort of, exactly that. Exactly that. That's exactly what's going to happen. How many times have you seen that?
Unfortunately, too many times. And it's not just that it doesn't look good, but it's also that pest and disease problems can happen. You can rip, right? You can rip down the bark. Now, by the way, for those of you who are listening on Reality Radio 101, which is an awesome radio station, you can also see what we're talking about.
You'll have to go to Facebook and go to the Susan Poizner. P O I Z N E R Facebook page. I tried to put it on the Orchard People Facebook page. This time it did not work. So once this is all recorded, I will put it up on Orchard People. But go to the Susan Poizner Facebook page and you can see what we're talking about.
We are talking about a bad pruning cut where, the bark peels off of the branch and exposes that branch to pest and disease problems. And that's not good. We're trying to keep our fruit trees healthy. So Yeah, so that's why it's important. Now, on this table in front of us, we have lots of different types of pruning tools.
[00:08:21] Choosing the Right Pruners
And so I just wanted to ask you, honestly, what is the difference, Ben, other than different color handles? Yes, do you want to start with types or with brands? Let's start. First of all, we'll focus on hand pruners, because I feel for myself. This is the most important tool that I have.
It's small. It's a one handed tool. Yeah. And I can use it to shorten branches. This is the one I use most of all. Yep. Yep. So let's talk about brands and types and what are these tools even made of? Good questions. Okay, let's start with bypass versus, anvil. Okay? a lot of people, still have an anvil pruner, anvil hand pruner somewhere in their shed.
And, it's funny, I've looked at the best independent garden centers recently. Very few of them in their selection anymore. It used to be 50 50. Now Virtually none. And it's because the Anvil hand pruner is not that useful. why not? What is it designed for and how is it different from this?
So it's functionally different. Okay, I'll explain the functional difference. So I have in my hand, for the people on Facebook Live, I have a bypass pruner in my hand. Which is what comes to mind when you picture a hand pruner. And that's, you've got one sharp blade and then you've got a flat blade that's shaped like a hook.
And the sharp blade shears past, more like a scissor. it shears along the flat side, the flat hook blade, if you will, and, it bypasses it, hence the name bypass pruner. Aha, I always wondered why. So that's why it's called a bypass pruner. It bypasses that blunt blade. Whereas an anvil pruner, and I don't even have a hand one here, but I have a, an anvil lopper.
I'll just grab that quickly. He'll be back in a moment. Let's see what you've got. So this is a ratcheting anvil lopper, and you can see, that the sharp blade, the cutting blade comes down on a flat surface, almost like a knife on a cutting board, and it, works well for something like deadwood, but it doesn't work very well with Greenwood, which is why, the hand pruner, you're mostly cutting Greenwood.
Because it's young, shoots or whatever that you're cutting. whereas dead wood, you're not cutting, you shouldn't be cutting with a hand pruner. And, what else is wrong with it? It'll crush the wood if the cutting blade isn't sharp enough. Wow. Very common problem. It crushes the wood. And the other thing is, a bypass pruner gets up nice and close to where you're cutting.
So it doesn't leave, a long sort of stem sticking out. Yes. Which allows it to heal over really well. Whereas the anvil has got a gap on both sides of that blunt cutting surface, which means it's really hard to get close. And if it's not a perfectly sharp cutting blade, You're not going to cut all the way through, and then you end up with that stripping problem, which you described.
Exactly. basically, for anybody who is looking for the basic fruit tree, care pruning tool, or fruit tree pruning tool, you're looking for a bypass pruner. Yes. And that's what we have here on this table. Now, there are loads of different ones, they look different, but what are they made of, or does that even matter?
It totally matters. It really matters. at the very least, you want to have a high carbon. Yeah, a high carbon steel, which the carbon content in the alloy, basically it gives it hardness is the term for it, but it means that rather than bend, it'll just break. That's the downside of high carbon, but it's a good thing because it means it'll hold its edge.
It's still very, strong, but a mild steel doesn't hold its edge. It gets dull. So you can so that's the technical differences. High carbon holds its edge. And under Ordinary circumstances will never break, but it holds its edge much better because it has a higher carbon content in, in the alloy.
some are coated with different things, some of them are titanium coated, some of them are stainless steel, which prevents rust, which is really, good. But that's what you're looking for in the blade, is something that's going to hold an edge. And then in the handle there's some sort of traditional styles like this one, which I have in my hand.
It's all steel the whole way down. it looks, has a classic look to it. Yes. It gets quite heavy in the hand. And it's amazing sort of the repetitive motion and holding your arm out extended. How that will really, over time, you'll start to feel the fatigue of that. And that makes sense, because if you're pruning a bunch, like hundreds of fruit trees, or even 25, or even 7, Yes.
it's a lot of squeezing. I do find in the beginning of the season, my, my pruning hand gets a little tired. Yeah. So with a heavy tool, I can see why that might make it worse. Exactly. Yep. I, before we move on to the handles and the alternative materials, does the blade make sense, a high carbon steel blade?
Yes. That makes sense. Okay. Cause a mild steel rather than, hold its edge, it'll just bend or go dull. so then in the handles, you can have an aluminum handle, which I prefer personally, because it's a good trade off between lightweight and strength, or there's more and more plastic handles on the market all the time, like what you have in your hand.
So what I'm holding is a Fiskars, pruner. Now, I must say the reason, one of the many reasons I think Fiskars is wonderful, they have a nice program that supports community orchards and community gardens and they donated a bunch of tools to our orchard. So yeah, so this is the plastic handle and it's more lightweight.
Yes. This has something else. There is some tricky, turny, rolly thing that happens when you squeeze the pruner. I don't know what that is. So that's for, ergonomics. And this is where you can really get I don't know, lost in the weeds. And this is where the options multiply many, times.
Yeah. That's versus this one, which has no twisted handles, and I'm holding a Felco pruner, and it doesn't twist. Yes. Okay, The handle. It's called the power gear. Oh, power gear. That's what Fiskars calls it. Okay. So you can see the, handle rolls. It rolls in your hand. It's an ergonomic thing. So it should give you fewer blisters.
okay, that makes sense. Now, everybody has their own preference. Mine is that this overcomplicates things. you don't like complications. I understand everybody has their stuff, right? Yes. Everybody has their stuff.
Okay. Let's talk about, different brands for, all sorts of tools, but mostly our hand pruners. Can you group them somehow? there are just so many to choose from.
[00:14:58] High-Quality Pruning Tools
Okay, so there's high, very high quality professional grade tools, and then there's high quality home gardener tool, and then there's crap.
Can I, call it that? You can call it that. That's a technical term. That's a technical term, and it's just not worth your time. Okay, and what is that? The stuff you get from a dollar store or, Or even just the cheapest thing on the rack. even a good hardware store. Some people come in and they don't want to spend more than 10 bucks, right?
And maybe that's because they lose them. Maybe that's because everything gets stolen. and why would that be so bad? As long as it cuts our branch, as long as I wish I had an example of one of those dollar store, but as long, hopefully not in this not very effective way that I'm showing, but yeah, it's going to have a mild steel blade.
It's going to be the first thing. So it's not going to hold an edge. It's going to get dull very quickly. It'll probably rust. oftentimes the springs pop out and the gear mechanism gets gummy. Oh. which can become very difficult to clean. And the best ones you can clean. And, and it's probably going to be heavy.
It's not going to be useful for, repetitive strain. I recommend always go for, it depends on who you're talking to. We can start at the top. The Felco 2. Yeah, it's the granddaddy. Okay. So this is this, is about 90 made in Switzerland. Aha. Yes. They're famous for making knives, and scissors and stuff.
And yeah, they're famous. I actually think Felco is I have a brother in law who's Swiss and sells cutting equipment. And I think Felco made their name on pruning shears. Oh, really? They do. They do nursery men's knives or nursery people's knives, orchard people knives. but this is how they made their name, on the Felco 2, which, professional nursery growers all around the world depend on, it's a signature, and, what's so great about it, you can take it apart and clean it very easily, so it comes with, this key.
Oh. Yep. So this key allows you basically to, we can Let's show them. So this Yeah. You can see, the black mechanism there. Yes. it's got, like a ratchet on it. Oh goodness. And, this allows you to adjust the tension on that. So how easily it opens and closes. And, it also allows you to take it apart.
Wow. Yeah. Yeah. So taking it apart makes it easy to clean, makes it easy to sharpen. Exactly. And Felco, they expect that you're going to use this tool so much that even though it's top quality, Swiss made, blah, blah, blah. they expect you're going to use it so much you can even buy a replacement blade for it.
Wow. So this one I'm holding in my hands is about 90 Canadian dollars. Ooh. That's a lot of money. Yeah. That's a lot. That's an investment. That's a lot of apples. Yeah. That's an investment. Totally. A lot of apples. Yeah. But you can buy a replacement blade for it for 30. So. it could last you a decade.
Oh, good. Easily. I think there are probably people out there who've had them for many decades, actually. I gotta tell you, the other good thing is, it has a bright red handle. Now, for those of us who have accidentally thrown our expensive pruners into the compost pile, into the city compost collection and never to be seen again, or just to be lost in a shrubby garden somewhere, at least the red handle will, help you find it.
The red handle stands out, which minimizes those odds of loss. You're absolutely right about that. And, Felco, has a variety of models. Again, they have some ergonomic ones with the rotating handles, that I don't like as much because they tend to get dirty and loose. and you'll notice the professionals tend to stick to the Felco 2, and for people with small hands, the Felco 6.
Okay. So it's a classic design, and I wouldn't veer from that in their line. I think there's better ergonomic options out there if you're looking for one. Now, Something that, these all sorts of things like this, you can order anything online, but there is nothing like trying it in your hand because you can order something and it's supposed to be good and I'm going to hold this big, wow, it is quite heavy, this heavy old hand pruner here, traditional bypass pruner.
I'm holding it in my hand and I'm feeling tired after squeezing it twice. Yeah. but I could order this online and not know, I could have read reviews about it and that it's wonderful, but I could not know that, oh boy, I'm going to get really tired using this. I think you're right. And I'm going to make a plug, not for any banner in particular, but for your local independent retailer.
This is where you go into a bricks and mortar store. Yeah. and you ask them. we work with Home Hardware. It's a cooperative of independent dealers. these Felcos came from Sheridan. Sheridan Nurseries is a very good independent garden center. And when you go in, this is really interesting.
They have all of the Felcos, at a bin. That's full of, wood like this. And you can test drive. That's perfect. Every model. And when you're making an investment like this, Yeah. You want to test drive it. Yeah. And similarly, if you go to a home hardware or a good independent retailer and say, Do you mind if I take these out of the package?
Just give them a squeeze. Yep. Because I'm going to spend, even for a decent pair, 30 bucks, 40 bucks. And you want to make sure they work. You want to make sure they work. Yeah. So you want to test it in your hand. So we talked about Felco. You talked about, so give us another, few options or where we would go on the spectrum there.
Okay. So Felco is like the creme de la creme and they have an outstanding, reputation. And then, One that's nipping at their heels is, it's Okatsune, okay? Oh, yes, I heard about them, they're Japanese. Okatsune, yes. Okatsune, a Japanese brand that makes tools and pruners. I heard that they are very exciting and popular for the people in the know.
For the people in the know. Which, of course, that's us. Yeah, that's us. We know about this stuff. It's our job to know about this stuff. And you guys. And you guys. I will, full disclosure, I've brought home, their hoes and their cutting tools, like the, a scythe for harvesting cabbage and things like that.
And I can attest to the quality of their blades, which are very well reviewed online. There's a cult following for their blades online. and their pruners. And from people that I've talked to about the pruners, it's people, they do a really good model for smaller hands. Okay. and I think when it comes down to it, there's people with big hands, and there's people with small hands.
Yeah. Those are your two groups. And then there's people with arthritis. And we can get to that. And, that, they might need a ratcheting pruner, which we can talk about. but for people who want a quality pruner that's a little better priced than a Felco, but From what I, from everything I've heard, and from my direct experience with the blades, probably comparable quality.
Check them out, but they're not very well distributed. So they might not have it. You may have to order them online, in which case you don't get to try it. Exactly. So that's your kind of catch 22. Yes, and they are apparently aren't as cushioned either. So when you're, using them, there's a bit of, it's a harder cut.
Yes, we have an email from Brandt. Okay. Hello from Jetto, Michigan. Susan, which company in the U. S. would you recommend buying your pruners from? I have to get your live Facebook, your live feed on Facebook. So yes, there is a live feed on Facebook right now you guys can tune into but it's on the Susan Poizner Facebook page.
P O I Z N E R and I hope You can see it. Hopefully you can see it. But anyways, so where would you suggest? you mentioned local garden centers. Yes. Yes. Always, start with your local garden center. It's a competitive business. If they're still there, it's because they're doing a good job. And, see what they have in stock.
If you're looking for a brand, obviously Mark's Choice isn't distributed in the U. S. but if you're looking for a good quality consumer brand, That, I think, takes us to Fiskars. Okay. Unless you're ready to dole out the money for Felcos, which, if you're going to take care of them, I haven't had a long time.
So Fiskars, where will Fiskars be in the price range? Premium consumer. I've never seen a professional nursery person. I spent a long time at commercial nurseries. Never seen a commercial nursery person using Fiskars. And that's because the plastic doesn't hold up that well, and the mechanism here can get a little gummed up.
But they're comfortable. And they've got great quality blades. Okay. But are they Now you showed us with the Felco that you can take it apart. Yes. Now that one, I don't know if, I don't think you can take that one apart. We're not sure. Yes. So we're not sure with the Fiskars if you can take it apart.
Doesn't mean you can't sharpen it and take care of it. But, yes. Yes. and taking it apart isn't absolutely necessary. We're talking really heavy users. like a few thousand cuts per season. Okay.
[00:23:40] Mid-Range and Budget Options
another really good, distributed brand is Corona. Yes. So Corona and Fiskars are of a league with one another.
Now Corona tends to follow Felco's design lead a little more. So if you look, Corona does the Mark's Choice bypass. Now we have one of those open there. Yeah, we have one open. Okay, so let's show that. It looks like a Felco. It feels like a Felco. It smells like a Felco.
I'm not so sure about that. It smells like steel and oil. Yes. but it's a much more attractive price point. So how much does that go for here in Canada? About 30, I think it's 32. 32 in Canada? Oh gosh, for you Americans, that's a bargain. That's a bargain. It's what, it was about 15 cents U. S.? But sorry guys, in the U.
S., I don't think you can order them there. You can order Mark's Choice, but you can order Corona. And so we, when we launched our line of pruners, we did it in partnership with Corona because we agreed with their standards. Mark's Choice is a premium gardening brand, for home gardeners.
Not necessarily commercial, but people have used them commercial. so Corona is at that league, where it's, got an aluminum handle, it's got the high carbon blade, and, it'll be widely available to us. Perfect. Okay, so that's your mid range. Mid range. Now, did you want to talk about the lowest range?
you mentioned that the brand title was called Crap, according to you. I don't want to call anyone out. And I think it's really, that's the kind of thing that you get from, dollar stores, Or is there brands? I don't even know if there are brands. I don't, I always look and I don't recognize the brands.
And guys, by the way, there will be other brands that we haven't, talked about in all different levels. Like for instance, I know these are loppers. We may talk about them later. So these are bigger. They're Dramm. Dramm does, really beautiful products that are mostly for watering, I think. Yeah, they're mostly, commercial watering wands.
And yet, what I love, I don't know if they do hand pruners, Dramm. I do, I love this pair of loppers. So a lopper is a two handed tool that can do thicker branches. And this is a very nice tool. I like it a lot. I love the fact that it comes in different colors. It's a bright blue metallic color and if you are a fashionable gardener you're going to go for something like this probably.
But I don't know if they do hand tools. So there are other brands, there's, what is the other, Bahco? Bahco is big, they're made in France. And Bahco is a funny hybrid between Felco and Fisker. They have a plastic handle so they're lighter feeling, but they have felco quality and almost felco, price point.
[00:26:22] Tool Maintenance Essentials
So Ben, we were talking about how important it is to maintain your tools properly. So in order for them to really continue to cut sharply and cleanly the branches that you're cutting. And, I have at the table, there's a bunch of really badly, I just, these badly pruned, no, but they're unsharpened tools that really aren't doing a good job at cutting the branch.
And so you get these shaggy little ends on the branches that can, cause pest and disease problems are peeling bark and that kind of problem. So what's involved in maintaining a tool properly.
[00:26:58] Cleaning and Sterilizing Tools
Okay, first and foremost, it's probably about keeping it clean and sterile, right? historically people have used bleach.
We don't. I've heard it's not good that it can corrode the tool. It can corrode the tool, yeah. Especially the aluminum handles, apparently. but it's not good for the metal. you really have to watch the concentration of bleach that you're using. Okay. I noticed that you've got some alcohol here.
Handy. How did I know to bring my alcohol? How did you know to bring your alcohol? Yes. Wow. Yes, you're prepared now. So you paid 1. 25 for this. Yes, I paid 1. 25 and you can get rubbing alcohol for cleaning your tools in a little spray thing like this from, your pharmacy or whatever. Super convenient.
So when you're pruning your fruit tree and you're going from tree to tree, let's say you finished one beautiful tree, an apple tree, and you want to make sure not to spread any disease to the next tree. I personally just spray some of this on the blade and then use a clean rag to wipe it off. That's exactly what you should be doing to sterilize.
Okay. That's perfect. Now, sometimes depending on the type of pruning that you're doing, probably not too much with your fruit trees, but often you'll get sap on there. It's like a gunk, which attracts dirt. orange oil is pretty good, like a citrus oil. Oh. There's some orange cleaners out there like that.
Oh really? And are they specifically tool cleaners or where do you get that? No, they're like an all purpose cleaner. You can also use Lysol or Simple Green. Simple green's a good one. Okay. Because it's relatively innocuous. just to get the sap off. Okay. And then, that'll prevent it from working its way into the, gear mechanism.
Or the, yeah. Yes. And I can see that here in this much neglected tool that I have. Yeah. Yeah. Yes. So you've got that. And then, you want to protect it from corrosion as well, right? So you can oil them preventatively to do that. now, I have a three in one household look how old that can is. See howsee you later.
Yes, okay. So here is a three This is the French side. We are in Canada. Three in one household oil. Where would you get this? Where did you get this in 1920? Because it looks like a really old can. the hardware store. Okay. And the reason why we have such an old can is because you use so little of it, really.
You just use a drop. And, you don't want any residue on the blade. Now, I know from speaking to people that there's been a movement away from this household oil Because why? It's petroleum based. and now I've never seen any direct evidence that having oil residue on a pruner could harm your tree.
But, In the interest of the environment and, cleaning up your shop and keeping this stuff out, there's alternatives. You can use like a mineral oil. Mineral oil? Okay, so we have mineral oil around. We've been, we do use it. what about vegetable oil? I don't like veggie or olive oil because in the cold it gets glommy.
And like when you store your tools and it can break down. But people have been using boiled linseed oil, which I think is a little finer. Okay, it might hold up a little better. No, I don't know if I'm allowed to expose a family secret. Go for it. But it's safe in this room. Guess what? It's your family.
Oh, no. So I heard that you guys sometimes recycle oil in order to clean your tools. is that true? We totally do. If you, if you change the oil in the lawnmower or whatever. Yes. What do you do? what do you're not going to go pour that in a ditch or something, right? So we keep it around for lubricant.
I, we oil our bikes with it. We, this has probably been refilled with old lawnmower oil at some point. now we're trying our best to get away from the gas implements, but, Why not? But you know what? If you have to use that stuff, you might as well reuse the oil for productive purposes.
Yeah. Okay. So you're going to oil. Now we have the oil. We have a tool. I have brought a clean rag. Oh, good for you. Okay. Okay. So again, if you're watching on Facebook, you can see this. but if you are just listening on reality radio, one on one. com, you can yeah. Imagine this in your mind's eye. hang on.
I don't want to get ahead of ourselves.
[00:30:57] Sharpening Techniques
You know what you might want to do before you oil it? Sharpen it. Now, you would sharpen it first. I would sharpen it first. Why is that? Because when you sharpen the blade, you're going to expose raw metal. And so you want to condition that metal before it has the opportunity to oxidize and start corroding.
Okay. So show us, you have a little sharpening tool. I have a little sharpening tool here. So this is a carbide sharpener. So it's basically a metal that's just that much tougher than the metal that's in your blade. And, it's very light, handheld. Easy to use. And this is what you would use, what we would use for 90 percent of our sharpening.
Because, to use a stone, such as this, which is the traditional way of sharpening blades, you have to disassemble the whole thing and take the blade off. Which, you don't always have time to do, and, It can be quite a mess. Okay. So I have two things right now in my hand, and I'm going to put them up.
So you've got your little carbide, tool, little plastic tool with a tiny blade versus the sharpening stone, which is bigger than my hand and really best if you can take apart your tool into pieces. So Ben, you're going to demonstrate the carbide tool, okay, on your Corona Maid. hand pruner. So let's see, what, where do you, what do you do?
Do you, sharpen both parts? You definitely do not sharpen both parts. Okay. You really put the emphasis on the outside of the cutting blade. Okay. So the, I'm going to cut that cord on this mic. so the emphasis is on the outside of the cutting blade because the inside needs to stay tight with the blunt hook blade.
Okay. See what I mean? Okay, so you're sharpening the outside. That makes sense. And if you look closely, you'll see the angle. that the blade was forged into or tempered into and, so you want to, hit the blade at that angle with the carbide and just pull it across, basically, and, holding it at that, angle, and then on the other side you're going to get a little bit of barb.
Okay. So you can just do one pass to clean it up. Wow, and you're really not pressing that hard. No, you don't want to put too much pressure on it, because if you go at too much of an angle there is a danger that you'll make the blade even more blunt. Okay, so just to summarize, you're holding your blade, you're holding your pruners in front of you, he, Ben has not taken apart this particular pair.
Nope. Okay? And you're finding the angle of the sharp blade only because a bypass pruner has one sharp blade and the other part is blunt. You never touch the blunt part. Never even touch it. There's, yep. So he's pointing the tool at his very own nose. Okay, he's pointing it at his nose and pulling the carbide tool along that angle towards his nose.
Yep, and I do it that way because, I can see it better that way. Now also, this tool came with this pair of pruners. the plastic, actually, is set such that you don't have to guess the angle because the plastic creates that angle for you. I couldn't use that tool, for instance, on this Fiskars pruner.
you could, actually. Could I? Let's see if that works. Why don't you try that? we're going to try it. Yep. Because I know you can buy those carbide tools separately, I think. Yep. You can. Okay, so show everybody what you're doing, that's great. And you're just going, you're going along the length of the blade, and then there's a tiny bit of barb on the inside, and very lightly, because you don't actually want to create any angle on the inside blade, just very lightly, just, you're essentially just wiping off any barb that might have, come over to the inside of the blade.
So very lightly on the inside, and then at that angle on the outside. So when we say outside and inside, the inside is the part that's going to, Nah, they're both going to touch the tree. the inside is the part that's closer to the bottom prong of your hand pruner. Does that make sense?
Yeah, or the inside of the cutting blade is what makes contact with the, lower part. Stationary, blunt book. The blunt part. Yep. Okay.
[00:35:16] Listener Questions and Comments: Optimal times to prune fruit trees
we have an email from Tate. Yep. Okay. and Tate says, Hi folks listening from Toronto. Yay, Toronto. Love your topic today. Whoever really talks about gardening tools, thanks for the advice.
And that's a really great comment because we talk about gardening all the time and hardly ever really, especially how to care for your tools. No, it's true. Now we've got an email as well from John. Hi Susan, enjoying the show as usual. Thank you. No question this time, other than to say, I have always used Felco pruners with good results.
And John is from London. John, you're not alone. A lot of people love Felcos. It's, yeah, people are very committed to their Felcos. We've got an email from Andy. Hi folks. Finally, spring is here. Andy says, I live in Belleville, Ontario. Is it good, a good time to prune now? And I would say to you, yes. Now here's what I would say, Andy, in a word, and when I'm talking about pruning specifically fruit trees.
If your fruit tree is a young fruit tree, or if it is a slow growing fruit tree, like an apple tree, dormant is the best time to prune because it spurs vigorous growth. It makes your tree grow really fast. If you've got a huge cherry tree, something like that, that you really don't want to get any bigger, Then you can do summer pruning.
and Andy, if you go to my website, orchardpeople. com, and there is an article, you can just go in the search bar and go, when to prune, and it will talk about the different times that you prune and the strategies behind it. So you can check that out, Andy. Great. Okay. Yeah. Do we have time to talk about oil or do we Let's then talk about oil and Okay.
Yeah, let's talk about oil and let's talk about, yeah, let's go for oil. So oil, this, now this carbide sharpener has in its handle a sponge with mineral oil on it. Oh. it's really easy to just dab on about as much as you need on the inside of the blade. And then some on the outside as well, just for conditioning and protection.
And I had one of these and I had no idea that you had this sponge at the end of the sharpening tool. Yes. That's great. So it's sealed, it's got just a few drops of mineral oil in it.
And, And now you're only doing the blade, you don't do any other mechanism. like for instance, here, in my poor Felco's, I'm so embarrassed to show all you guys the state of my Felco's. But there is room in there to oil, I don't know, around where the lock is. Yeah. And the lock. Now it's going to be really hard to do that with a sponge.
The sponge is designed for the edge. Okay. So we could do some rehab on that and I would use this 3 in 1 oil. Use motor oil. Yeah, use anything for this poor thing to save it. Because you're going to need to put some drops in it. So you want to drop it and then that way a few drops of oil is going to allow it to penetrate.
Yes. And then that's when you'd use your rag to just get any, drops off that are running away. Okay. Now somewhere on here, we have a couple of things. I want to talk about the difference. Yes. We've got a file, a sharpening file. I'm showing this on the Facebook feed, which hopefully you guys have found on the Susan Poizner Facebook page.
Oh, we've got smaller files. Yes. We've got files of all different sizes. Oh, this is a nice one with a wooden handle. Yes. So when would we use a file? Can you guys see that? Hopefully, when would we use a file rather than the carbide tool? so the files you have in your hand are for sharpening sauce.
Ah-huh. So this, is a alco pruning sauce. Okay. So this is an orchard saw and the files that you have in your hand are for sharpening something such as this. Wow. Yep. So you'd want to get in there. It takes a few minutes. Oh boy, I can imagine. So you put it, you would put this in a vise in your, shop if you have one.
Of course, we all have shops. in your shed. Okay, maybe not. Yes, in my shed. At your kitchen counter. Yes, If you keep a vise there. Yes. So if you've got a vise, you would put the blade in the vise. Yes. And then you would use the small file there. Let's see, which is, oh, I saw this one, this tiny one. It depends.
This one's round. Okay. do we have one here with a, yeah, this one would work. So you have, you use a small file, and then you go backwards first. Even this one's too big, actually. Wow. this is the one I want. you'd go backwards first, and then you would get So that's the draw, which is when you pull back.
That's the cutting. And then you would do, the frontward motion. And you have to look very closely. But you'd go across and you'd sharpen each individual time. Okay, this is a hand saw and I don't think I would attempt this myself. You get it done professionally? I would get it done professionally, but there must be people out there who can sharpen handsaws.
You bet there is. Yep. There is. your local hardware store. My local hardware store. Often has a sharpening it in there. Yeah. So basically even this larger file, would I never use that on my hand tools? you would use that on a shovel. huh. You would use that to sharpen your shovel or your lawnmower blade.
That's what that's designed for. Now I don't know if you've ever seen this. Guys, this is gorgeous. Okay, I am showing an oval piece of metal on the Facebook feed. You can see it. And, Guys, it has diamonds in it. Wow. I know, pretty, for 25 I got a diamond studded file. I would think you use this, and it is specifically made by Felco.
Here's the packaging. Made by Felco Sharpening Tool. I'm assuming this is okay for, and this is not Felco Pruners, but Yep. I am assuming this is okay. So let's see if I learned anything at all from what you did. I'm pointing the tool at me, so the tool is pointing at my nose. I'm doing the outside of the top sharper blade.
Of the cutting blade. Of the cutting blade, and I'm bringing this towards me. Perfect. On an angle. On an angle. Okay. That's the way to do it. And so I'm using the diamond studded one because that's the kind of person I am. you just have a little more glamour. Exactly.
Okay.
[00:41:26] Loppers and Their Uses
So Ben, we've got a bunch of different loppers here. How is a lopper different from a hand pruner? loppers give you, Predominantly two things. Okay. They give you leverage and they give you reach.
Okay. for example, this one's got extendable aluminum handles. Oh my god, that's great. Which is really great. Yeah, so So it allows me to reach If I wanted to take a chunk out of that ceiling tile, I could. Oh, I don't think Gary in the studio would like it if you did that. Do you mind not? I won't. Okay, But that's only to illustrate the reach that provides you, so So let's see what that looks like.
So you see it's a two handed tool. I love the fact that it's extendable if you've got a really tall tree. Yes. Okay, so And they come much like hand pruners, they also come in either bypass or, anvil. Okay. you'd be more likely to get an anvil lopper because you're more likely to be reaching for dead branches and dead wood.
So the mechanism works for that. And, the other thing you're more likely to get with a lopper is a ratcheting mechanism because you're probably going to be going for thicker branches as well. So what does ratcheting mean? What does that mean? And you're showing something here in the video part.
Yes. So this is, you hear that clicking? Yeah. Let's show them. Let's show these guys. So the, there's a, you can see, At the bottom, where, underneath where the joint is, there's that, gear. And basically, it allows the cutting blade to grasp at different diameters, and it gives you different amounts of leverage.
The way that this ratcheting mechanism works. But there's others. But what is the point? Does it mean I can do thicker branches? Exactly. So it enhances your leverage. Because as it is, so most of the loppers I use have smaller blades. So they can do like a half an inch, maybe, branch. Yeah. and I can handle that no problem.
As it is now, if I need to do a thicker branch, I will use my handsaw. Yeah. Which I love. Oops, it's all buckled up. Yeah. Okay. So I will use a handsaw. But what you're saying is there is another option and that would be to get a pair of loppers that have this ratcheting device. Yes, and at the very extreme end of that we have what we call the monster lopper.
Oh my gosh. And that's this thing. That's this thing, this torture device. Okay, two handed tool again, very big and with a very, interesting hook at the end. Yes. With a blade that comes in, okay? in this, so it is an anvil, it almost, but to visualize it, it looks more like, wouldn't you say a guillotine, almost?
Yes, it does look like a guillotine. So don't put your finger in there. Don't put your finger anywhere near it. yeah. what this, is a Mark's Choice product, but there are other ones out there. What this one does away with is slippage. So if you're cutting a big branch, often you're cutting, maybe it's wet, whatever, it'll slide out.
this, the, cutting platform of the anvil lopper type. So this is an anvil type lopper. So it's got a blunt cutting platform and then a sharp blade. That cuts against, like a knife on a cutting board. So that blunt side is shaped like a hook. So it hooks around the branch up to an inch and a half.
And I've used this an inch and a half on hardwood. It's got a gear mechanism for additional leverage, and then a high carbon stainless steel blade cuts through like a knife. It just forces through, and it's a tremendous amount of power. But again, it's only for deadwood. This particular anvil type would only be for deadwood.
we've used it on live, and it works okay, but the caveat is you have to keep the blade incredibly sharp. Which goes back to what we were doing. Now, if we wanted to sharpen the blade of our loppers, can we still use the carbide, tiny little carbide tool? Or do we have to use something else? You can still use the carbide cutting tool.
And I wish I brought one. There's also, Mark's Choice, but again, available, from other brands. A carbide sharpener that has, Two pieces that form like a V. Okay. That allow you to sharpen this double sided type blade. Ooh. Yes. you would just pull it directly along there. Or, you can use a basic carbide sharpener, because this blade is not removable.
And you can do The same motion, ooh, okay. And again, it's towards you. You seem to be doing the sharpening towards you. You point the tool at your nose and you're sharpening towards you, don't necessarily have to. I'm just, I'm, quite obsessive about maintaining the angle. And I have, find that I have better visibility doing it that way.
Okay. But, you can also do it away from you. And, because it's an anvil and it doesn't cut against the, like the way a bypass cuts against. The blunt edge, and it bypasses it, because it's an anvil, both sides of the cutting blade are sharpened, because it cuts into the blunt edge. Oh, perfect. Yep, so you just do both sides, and then, that's it, and then you oil it, and yeah, it's just an important, it's ever more important, because crushed wood invites all sorts of problems.
Absolutely, I can't say, I can't agree with you more. Yep. We have a couple of emails, let's see, we've got an email. from, oh, Gary, let's see who our emails are from. John. Hi, fun show from Abbotsford, BC. Great advice about recycling your oil. We do. So you're not the only one. Jerry writes, thanks for the great tips.
Oh, from Trento, Ontario. Super. Yeah.
[00:47:02] Show Wrap-Up and Resources
So guys, what I can't believe this show is over. I hope those of you who are listening on Reality Radio 101 have been able to picture what we are talking about. If you're not watching the feed, those of you who are downloading the podcast, hopefully soon I'll be able to put up the video so you'll see both of them.
that's about it for the show today. Thank you so much for coming to the studio, Ben. Thank you, Susan. It's been really fun. It has been fun. for those of you who are listening, if you enjoyed the show, you may want to go to OrchardPeople. com and check out all the other blogs and videos and archived episodes of this podcast because we've covered really a lot of great topics.
And, yeah, so I hope you'll check out OrchardPeople. com. We've got workshops on OrchardPeople. com. So my friends, that's it for today. You're listening to the Urban Forestry Radio Show on Reality Radio 101. I'm Susan Poizner from OrchardPeople. com. Thanks for tuning in. And I look forward to digging into a new fruit tree care topic with you next month.
Bye everybody. You've been listening to the Urban Forestry Radio Show on Reality Radio
101. To learn more about the show and to download the podcast, where I cover lots more great topics, you can visit orchardpeople. com slash podcast. The show is broadcast live on the last Tuesday of every month, and each time I have great new guests talking to me about fruit trees, food forests, and arboriculture.
If you're interested in learning more about growing your own fruit trees, or just about living a more sustainable life, Go to OrchardPeople. com and sign up for my information packed monthly newsletter. If you like this show, please do like our Orchard People Facebook page.
Thank you so much for tuning in. It's been wonderful to have you as a listener and I hope to see you again next time.
Thank you for listening to the Urban Forestry Radio Show with your host Susan Poizner, right here on Reality Radio 101.