The Overton County UT Extension Office will teach residents about upkeep of their trees during Fruit Tree Maintenance Field Day on Friday.
Overton County UT Extension Agent Jason Garrett said Overton County has a lot of property owners who have fruit trees in their yard.
“We have it on-site, we have all kinds of fruit trees at this property, and we are gonna go around and look at them, and the professor will show you know, how to get these trees pruned for better production, and how to prevent disease, and any other of the questions that the attendees might have.”
Garrett said his office gets a lot of calls about fruit tree maintenance. Garrett said it is very difficult to maintain fruit trees in the Upper Cumberland due to the climate.
“Let’s say you know how much it rained this past spring,” Garrett said. “That is going to limit production because when moist weather, no sunshine brings on a lot of funguses and theres many, to many here to explain, but a lot of diseases are caused by fungus.”
Garrett said UT Specialists Dr. Annie Vogel will be doing the demonstrations.
Garrett said the event will talk about a yearly spray schedule from pre-bloom to production to prevent insects and fungi from harming the trees. Garrett said he hopes the event will be very educational.
“We want to provide education to attendees, where they can take it back home and implement it on their property, whatever it may be, anywhere from fruit trees to cattle that will improve their production.”
Garrett said he wants people to know that the Overton UT extension office offers various programs to help people with agricultural needs.
The event will take place at the Livingston Farm in Rickman from 9am-12pm. Garrett said attendees will need to register for the event ahead of time.
