Bark Ringing – To induce fruiting

We have a number of trees that have never produced fruit or even any flowers. This can be due to a number of factors.

1 – Weather conditions the preceding summer, as well as during the winter. Be it too hot or too cold.

2 – Tree might not be old enough to start fruiting.

3 – Incorrect pruning regime, ie cutting the flowering buds off.

4 – Soil conditions and nutrients

Assuming none of the above fit our problem, we are left with 3 options.

1 – Dig it out

2 – Root prune

3 – Bark ringing or scoring.

Digging it out is the very last resort, and root pruning just sounds too much like hard work. This could be an option for a dwarfing rootstock tree, but not on a large standard tree. So we are left with Bark Ringing or Scoring. You need a very sharp knife or even a saw. Only cut half way round the trunk, otherwise you will kill it. The knife must go through the bark and into the wood. The general idea is to upset the cambium layer, this is the slippery bit between the bark and the wood. Its what sends all the nutrients and water up and down the tree. The cut will callus over during the next year. If you need to do it again the following year, choose an area higher or lower than this years, but cut on the opposite half.