Pruning. Pruning methods and frequencies vary widely on mature trees. Pruning is generally started in April
after harvest. In this study, pruning includes topping, hedging, hand pruning, and shredding. Pruning
operations are done every year: (1) top all trees, stack, shred, (2) hedge every row, stack, shred, (3) hand prune,
stack, shred. Topping maintains tree height to augment adequate spray coverage and facilitate harvest
operations. Hedging tree rows reduces fruit damage from orchard traffic and minimizes disruption of sprays
applied to the orchard. Hand pruning of dead wood and suckering enhances spray deposition which is
particularly important in the case of red scale. Hand pruning can also increase the amount of fruit inside the
tree.