Tree Crops Canterbury

Don’t forget- This Weekend!

Huge thanks to Southern Woods Production Manager Lydia O’Dowd who will be hosting us and showing us around their propagation facilities- Followed by our branch AGM onsite.

We are lucky to have had a great relationship with Southern Woods Nursery for decades and they have been very supportive of Tree Crops activities.

Our next event in March is at the BHU Future Farming Centre, Lincoln University campus, to discuss their Apple Cultivar collection and Organic Production with Dr Charles Merfield, another one not to miss!t

High-five to Em Carlton who did a successful graft at our most recent Apple Grafting event!

Hopefully many of you who attended are seeing some positive results too! 🌱 🌱

I always love bumping into people that have attended these and they are excited to tell me how big their tree is now. Grafting is such a thrill!

Keep an eye out for our citrus grafting event we are hoping to do early next year 😊

National Zoom Webinar: Grafting Contractor Ian Adams

Ian is a Hawkes Bay based grafting contractor and owner of Scionon Grafting Systems.

Join us 14th May 7:30pm to hear about what he does, interesting grafting techniques, specialised tools he’s developed, and of course plenty of time for questions!
Note: This is not a ‘how to’ grafting lesson, but technical questions for our expert are welcomed.

The zoom link will be emailed out to all Tree Crops members before the meeting.

Upcoming events:

- Tram Road Fruit Farm field trip
Sunday April 27th

Paul Tapper runs a Pick Your Own fruit orchard with Cherries, Nectarines, Plums, Raspberries, Boysenberries, Strawberries and much more, including a huge area being grown under nets. Paul will share about his journey growing fruit and show us around the orchard. Look forward to seeing you there! Bring suitable footwear and keep an eye on the weather... jackets may be required!
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- Grafting Expert Webinar, via Zoom
Wednesday 14th May

Ian Adams, grafting expert from Scionon, in the Hawkes Bay, will share about some of the jobs he's done with interesting techniques, the different species he works with and the line of innovative tools he's developing...and of course lots of time for questions at the end. He is an innovative tool designer and his range of products can viewed on his website. https://www.scionon.com/

You can watch Ian practicing different techniques using his tools here: https://youtube.com/?si=VPUU4W8SwkKb1BP_

This Zoom webinar will be open to all Tree Crops members from around the country. The Zoom link will be sent out closer to this date.

🌳 Exciting News. Fruit Rootstock Orders Open! 🍎🍐🍑🍒

NZTCA is now taking orders for high-quality fruit tree rootstocks, supplied by Genesis Nurseries, one of the leading commercial nurseries in NZ.

We have rootstocks suitable for grafting :
Apples
Pears & Quince
Stone Fruit (peaches, plums, apricots, nectarines, plumcots etc)
Cherries

Important Order Details:
Order Deadline: Midnight, Saturday, 27th April 2025.

Delivery: Please note that rootstocks will not be available for delivery until late August 2025.
Payment: Full payment is required at the time of ordering via credit card.
Quantity: No minimum order number, maximum order is 500 rootstocks

Pricing:
Members: $9.20 per rootstock
Non-Members: $12.00 per rootstock
Freight & Handling: A flat rate of $19.00 will be applied to all orders.

Thinking of ordering just a few? To cover the freight and handling costs, consider combining your order with friends or neighbours! Or order a few extra rootstocks, and sell the grafted trees to cover your costs. Grafting your own trees is a rewarding process, and locally grown grafted fruit trees often sell for $30 or more. You could potentially cover the cost of all your own rootstocks (and maybe even more!) by selling a few grafted trees. NZTCA will be holding grafting workshops in many areas around the time these rootstocks will be delivered. These are usually open to members and non-members.

Don't miss out on this opportunity to grow your own fruit trees!

Ready to order? Members can log in and access member pricing here: https://treecrops.org.nz/members-only/rootstock-orders/
Non-members order here: https://treecrops.org.nz/rootstock-orders-non-members/

If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to reach out in the comments below and our helpful members are sure to have the answers.
Happy Grafting! 🌱
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Rootstock Orders Non-Members - New Zealand Tree Crops Association (NZTCA) This form is for non-members to order rootstocks from Genesis Nurseries Ltd via NZTCA. If you are a member, please login to the members area and use the form at https://treecrops.org.nz/members-only/rootstock-orders/ for member prices on rootstocks. Members save $2.80 per rootstock. Membership curre...

Celebrating 50 Years!

Our branch celebrated 50 years back in October 2024, so we shared a cake at our AGM last weekend, cut by one of our longest standing members Cris Martin, (Since 1979!).

To help celebrate we ran a citrus and plum budding workshop, where members could choose a variety of citrus including unusual oranges, mandarins, black finger limes and kumquat hybrids.
And for plums an interesting selection of crowd pleasers and some collectables.

Thanks to the keen group who came and made it a success!

(Apologies, no photos during event! )

Wohoo! Honeyberry orders have arrived in Canterbury!

Thanks to everyone who ordered Honey Berries/ Haskaps a few weeks ago, keep an eye on your email for collection details.

They are big and bushy and look amazing!

These cultivars were some of the best performing selections from our trials, and we are thrilled to finally get some into the hands of passionate local growers.

Now to give them all a good water! 🚿

Reminder to everyone about our exciting visit to Lincoln University this Sunday!
We’re going to discuss:

-New ways of pruning cherries
-Avocado breeding projects
-Interesting approaches to stopping frost damage on trees and fruits
-A whole range of topics relating to the science of growing fruit!

Thanks to Horticultural Scientist Associate Professor Clive Kaiser for hosting us.

Canterbury Members: check your emails for details.