How to properly prune fruit bearing trees such as Apple, Nectarine, Plum, Cherry or Pear.
If you have a new fruit producing tree or have an older tree that has never been pruned this week we will touch on the basic principles of pruning fruit bearing trees. Pruning will help promote a healthy productive tree that is better able to fight diseases.
Late summer is a great time to prune your trees. Usually the best time is August or September after harvest.
The general goal of pruning an apple tree is to promote good sun penetration and air flow.
It is time to prune your apple tree the day after you plant it. If you wait too long you may not be able to achieve the desired effect.
You will need a few tools including sharp and clean pruners ranging from smaller to larger and if need be a sharp saw. If you are worried about disease and infection spreading you should sterilize your equipment with hydrogen peroxide before starting and between trees.
Before beginning I spend some time looking at the tree visualizing the cuts I am going to make. After all once you have cut it there is no going back.
Cross Over and Damaged
Start by removing any branches that cross back through the center of the tree. Imagine if the tree were a straight pole from the trunk all the way up. If any branches are growing towards the center pole remove it. This helps to prevent the branches from rubbing against each other ultimately causing damage.
If you do have damaged or broken branches remove them back to the trunk or main branch. This will help prevent disease issues and odd growth patterns.
After removing the cross over and damaged branches you can work towards the other cuts without these being in the way.
Leader Establishment
A leader is what will become the central trunk. In my case I have two that are competing for that right. You can will select the leader that looks the healthiest. You can either remove the competing branch or like what I am going to do work to train it to occupy another space.
As I am happy with the lateral or side growth happening on my leader I wont top it today. If yours is simply a long stick pointing at the sky you may want to reduce its height cutting just above a bud reducing its height by about 30 percent. That will spur side growth to help the tree fill out. Don’t do this until the second year.
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