With pruning shears, that’s what the fruit tree brigade from Stuifzand regularly does. From Landschapbeheer Drenthe, local residents are taught the tricks of pruning through practical courses. Today it was also time to brush up on knowledge. The Stuifzanders do this, among other things, to ease the work of Landschapsbeheer Drenthe.
“Pruning makes growth, so it must be done professionally. That is why we come together with a small group to learn more about this,” says Anneke de Lange, from the fruit tree brigade.
‘Pruning a tree won’t be that difficult’, that is what people often think, according to Landschapsbeheer Drenthe. But the fruit tree brigade knows all about it these days, and pruning is not that easy. “I have learned that different trees need different techniques, for example, an apple tree has a different shape than a pear tree. That is why you have to prune both trees in a different way,” says De Lange.
Mart Siebering of Landschapsbeheer Drenthe has been training the brigade for a number of months. “I notice that we haven’t seen each other for a while, so it always takes some time to get back into it. But they are doing very well and can actually do it without my help,” says Siebering.
The fruit tree brigade in Stuifzand currently consists of five people. Not only in this village are the residents trained, Landschapsbeheer Drenthe ensures that people from the entire province of Drenthe master pruning. Practicing often takes place in the participants’ backyard, so that knowledge is acquired in an accessible way.
“The point is that the brigade dares to go out alone. We have also experienced that participants handled everything well in the backyard, but still found it a bit scary without guidance,” says Siebering. That is why Landschapsbeheer Drenthe gives people plenty of time to learn pruning.
If many people from the province know how to prune fruit trees, this will ease the work for Landschapsbeheer Drenthe. “Eventually the brigade can do so much that you can no longer manage it with one person. And then they make a major impact on the landscape,” Siebering explains. Ultimately, the brigade can be deployed to prune private fruit trees. This is for a small payment, so that the brigade can purchase materials. But fruit trees from the municipality can also be pruned by the group.
If it were up to Siebering, the group from Stuifzand would soon be able to take to the streets alone. But the brigade still finds that exciting: “Not yet, I’m glad we have someone there to help us remember everything,” laughs De Lange. Siebering jokes: “Once they are in a good place, they can fly around freely.”