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This episode originally aired April 15, 2016. Proper fruit tree pruning Russ Metge from http://www.simplytreesut.blogspot.com/ (Simply Trees) is here to share his journey as a business owner where he does’t just prune trees but also educates his clients on the importance of proper fruit tree pruning in Salt Lake City, UT. Russ Metge is a professional Horticulturist with a Bachelor of Science in Horticulture from Brigham Young U-Idaho. He is a husband and father of four. He owns and operates http://www.simplytreesut.blogspot.com/ (Simply Trees), a pruning business in Salt Lake City that specializes in fruit tree pruning and horticultural pruning of other specialty trees, vines, and shrubs like Japanese Maples, grapes, roses, raspberries etc. He loves working outdoors, and the only thing he likes more than pruning fruit trees is teaching others how to prune fruit trees with his on-site, one-on-one fruit tree pruning workshops where clients learn how to prune fruit trees with there very own trees as examples. When Russ is not pruning trees he enjoys connecting with like minded gardeners online via Twitter, Facebook and his blog which can be found at http://www.simplytreesut.blogspot.com/ (www.simplytreesut.blogspot.com) https://www.facebook.com/simplytreesut/ () I was listening to our https://organicgardenerpodcast.com/?p=1462 (first) https://organicgardenerpodcast.com/?p=1462 (episode) and it’s funny cause you can hear my daughter playing in the background. It’s a great https://organicgardenerpodcast.com/?p=1462 (episode) it’s been in the top most downloaded https://organicgardenerpodcast.com/?p=1462 (episodes) since I first started. Tell us a little about yourself. So last time, I was father of 3 daughters expecting a fourth and now I’m a father of 4 daughters. probably the biggest change since last year. I own an operate a business in Salt Lake City where I pruned and care for people with fruit trees, mostly with a backyard orchard, a list of clients that I pruned for year after year after. I love my job! Not many people can say they love their job but I’m definitely one of them. Tell us about your first gardening experience? I don’t have a first experience. I’ve been around gardens since I was  little kid. I do remember as a child, spending a lot of time in trees, just climbing trees. I have 4 brothers, and a sister, too  both sides of me, one that’s al little bit older and brother a little bit younger, spent  a lot of time climbing trees, lots of mature apple trees as a kid, catch honey bees in jars… see how many fit in a jar… Really? Yeah, just doing the typical boy thing. Weren’t worried they’re gonna sting ya? I just heard people worrying about that the other day. I got out by our honey bees and never worry about getting stung. I got stung several times throughout the summer, running around bare foot, stepping on a dandelion in the grass that had a bee on it, getting stung by a honeybee, just part of growing up for me. We were careful, we would just turn the jar upside down and the  bees would fly upward. What’s interesting. I just remember when the trees were in bloom they were just humming with bees, every single blossom had a bee on it. We have a few apricots trees starting to bloom here in SLC, and I seldomly see a honeybee… it’s kind of sad how it’s changed over the years. Now adays with all the pesticides and everything it’s definitely affected the bee population. I have seen that and experienced it first hand! Maybe we can talk about what we can do to help the bees, you were saying that it’s raining is not a good time to prune. There’s a lot of pest control, even organic gardeners have to do, it’s just different. Good Cultural Practices for Fruit Tree Pruning Care The first and most important part of making sure your trees is making sure your tree is not susceptible to pests is to have good cultural... Support this podcast