We have 2 apple trees at the end of our garden, as you can see the one on the right of the pic has produced far more than I can give away! Parents, inlaws, neighbours and tradesmen have had their fill and I'd already filled a few bags ready for food waste before taking this.
As you can see some of the branches have been weighed down so much they touch the floor. I was planning to deal with with it once all the fruit has been lost but I'm a bit nervous how much to cut back etc.Any advice would be appreciated.
by welshmatt
9 Comments
Cut it back no more than 20% per year in January. Cut the horizontal branches and leave the vertical ones. Plenty of guides online.
Here is a good guide for you
[How to prune an apple tree](https://www.rhs.org.uk/fruit/apples/winter-pruning)
The answer to this problem isn’t what you do in winter, it’s what you do in early summer.
Fruit trees need thinning, sometimes heavily. In June, you should thin apples to one fruit per cluster, and one cluster per 6 inches. In a year like this one, that may require removing some three-quarters of the fruitlets.
Make cider with the apples. Just need a juicer, then it’s simple to do.
I’ve also heard apple butter is quite nice, and uses a lot of apples up.
As for cutting the tree back, I’d maybe trim back up to a third at most, and do it when the leaves are gone too. More than that may damage too much. Thin out the number of branches, or reduce the length of the branches, up to you.
Apple wood is also good to use green in a smoker or bbq (the smoke adds flavour), or dry out for a year or two and use in a log burner. Or if you aren’t bothered about that, offer it for free on Facebook marketplace and I’m sure someone will come get it.
You want a goblet with space enough that a wood pigeon can fly through it.
Find a local riding stable and bring them a big box or bag of them! They’ll appreciate it!
Get a cider press.
Take some to a local food bank or community lader
Have an apple throwing competition at the local halloween party!
Trees need a prune.