Mutant kiwi pruning help

Hey there

I have recently started living on a farm with an abandoned kiwi orchard (prob hasn’t been pruned in about 10 years).   I understand the basics of pruning them but just wanted to know if it’s advisable to use a hedge trimmer or chainsaw to get rid of a few meters of mutant tangle before I can start making it neat and tidy by hand.  Or will this kill the trees?

It should do fine with drastic pruning.  On one winter, mine got killed back to the ground by the cold and it grew back vigorously the following spring.

Alright awesome thanks for that mate.  Someone told me not to prune more than 50% of a plant otherwise you’ll kill it but these things seem hardy as.  If anyone lived around Wollongong and wants some kiwi hit me up.  We have about 30 huge trees that are gonna rot on the tree this year if I can’t get rid of it haha

Two cautions about hacking!


1. There is a very good chance these are grafted plants. If you do hack them off, do so above the graft union. If you can't tell where that is, trim the smaller branches instead
2. Make sure to apply some kind of bactericidal wound dressing. Kiwifruit have some nasty diseases that can enter through pruning wounds.

M Broussard wrote:Two cautions about hacking!


1. There is a very good chance these are grafted plants. If you do hack them off, do so above the graft union. If you can't tell where that is, trim the smaller branches instead
2. Make sure to apply some kind of bactericidal wound dressing. Kiwifruit have some nasty diseases that can enter through pruning wounds.

Thankyou mate I will definitely heed this advice.  As for them being grafted I’m not sure.  We were told they are about 30 years old.  I think I can also find out the type hidden somewhere in the house is a booklet or sheet.  It’s going to be a monstrous job.  Cheers!