What I do
Formative pruning of young trees
The first years decide the shape for decades. A well-trained tree needs far less intervention later.
Maintenance pruning
The regular pruning that keeps yield, fruit quality and health up.
Rejuvenation pruning of old and neglected trees
Trees that have not been pruned for many years can usually be rebuilt — but that takes several rounds over years, not one radical intervention.
Orchard meadows
I also do whole meadows, not just single trees — for private owners as well as for municipalities and associations. With a larger stand I start with a site visit: how many trees, what age, how long since the last pruning. Only then can I say what can be done in one winter and what takes several years. A meadow that has stood for a long time can't be brought back in one season — it needs a plan over several rounds, and I agree that with you beforehand.
What it costs
The price depends on the size of the tree, not on the number of trees. A young half-standard is pruned in half an hour; an old standard that has stood for twenty years keeps me busy for half a day. Hence this scale:
- Young tree up to 3 m, planting and formative pruning — from €40
- Tree up to 5 m — €50 to €80
- Tree up to 7 m — €100 to €150
- Over 7 m or not pruned for many years — from €170, after inspection
From five trees at the same place I deduct 10 % — travel, setup and securing only happen once.
Travel: the first 5 kilometres from Lichtenfels are free, after that €0.50 per kilometre driven (there and back).
Cuttings: for single trees I take them away on request — €35 per trailer trip to the recycling centre. On orchard meadows they stay where they are: so much accumulates there that hauling it away would cost more than the pruning itself. It should be chipped or left as a deadwood pile on the meadow.
Minimum order €80. For a single small tree the trip is otherwise not worthwhile for you or for me — it is often cheaper to team up with a neighbour and have both gardens done in one visit.
As a small business owner under § 19 UStG (German VAT Act), I do not charge VAT.
When pruning is done
The main season is winter, January to March. The tree stands without leaves, the crown is readable, and the tree is at rest. What is taken away now grows back vigorously in spring — winter pruning is therefore the pruning that builds up.
In summer you slow down, you don't build up. A tree that goes too strongly into shoots gets its pruning in summer: it then lacks leaf mass in the middle of the growing season, and that is exactly what takes speed out. Pruned in winter, the same tree would shoot even more strongly — the opposite of what it needs.
Which of the two is right for your tree, I see at the tree.
Area covered
Within about 25 kilometres of Lichtenfels. Among others:
In the district of Lichtenfels: Lichtenfels, Michelau, Bad Staffelstein, Hochstadt am Main, Marktzeuln, Marktgraitz, Redwitz an der Rodach, Ebensfeld, Altenkunstadt, Burgkunstadt, Weismain.
Around it: Coburg, Kronach, Kulmbach and Bamberg - please ask. Whether the trip is worthwhile depends more on the number of trees than on the distance.
Certification
Certified fruit tree carer
2022 training course at the Bezirksverband Oberfranken für Gartenbau und Landespflege e. V., completed on 19 November 2022 in Gesees.
The course comprised six training units: fundamentals of fruit growing, formative pruning of young and middle-aged fruit trees, care of old fruit trees, grafting, summer care and running a business.
This is not a weekend course and not a self-given title — the training runs through the district association and the district advisers for horticulture and landscape care in Upper Franconia.
