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Category: Community News Community News
Published: 22 February 2017 22 February 2017

Photos Courtesy of Judy O'Loughlin

From left are community orchard organizer Kendra Milligan, Denise Smith of the Office of Sustainability, Sandra Rotherham, John Benedictson, and Mika prepare to work with arborist Cheyenne Thomas, not pictured.

 

 

 

 

Thomas checks out a tree for where best to start pruning it.

About 20 other residents met last Saturday, Februrary 18, to prune the orchard off Pope Street. The orchard was planted last year on Earth Day and will be dedicated this year.

The orchard was a collaborative effort with many community partners, including Grant County Extension, Master Gardeners, Community Orchard Project, Office of Sustainability, and also Stream Dynamics, who designed the street runoff to capture water.

Aldo Leopold School students planted many native plants in the area and Gary Stailey's JPO groups have planted and helped with maintenance.

"It's a delightful space. Even the ladybugs were moving around today," Judy O'Loughlin, extension agent, said that morning.

NMSU publications on fruit tree pruning can be found here... http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H333.pdf .
http://aces.nmsu.edu/pubs/_h/H327.pdf