pruning

[Dane End Dolly]

How and when do i prune my apple and cherry tree, I got them last year and they fruited this year.

Help please!!!!

[Capsid]

In the spring.

[WrexTheDragon]

If they are on dwarf root stock I would not prune them for 3 years, other than keeping them in a nice shape.

[FB.]

Don't prune just for the sake of pruning; the best and most skilful pruning is where you look at the tree for a few minutes and then decide how few cuts will achieve what you're trying to do.

Pruning type and time of year depends on what you're trying to achieve and the type of tree.

Cherries and plums are best pruned just as they're about to come out of dormancy (March) to shape them. They are best pruned in the summer to control vigour.

Apples and pears are best pruned for shape after all the leaves have fallen. December-February.
To control vigour, they are best pruned in July.

But remember that skilled winter pruning is not taking a set of shears and giving the tree a haircut! It's just a few precision cuts to remove entire shoots, or clipping branches at half their length to encourage further side branches.

If your pruning is skilful, you might not need to prune too much or too often.

[Capsid]

But, don't apple trees need to be pruned to encourage spurs where the fruits form? This is what my RHS books advise. Although I have a Bramley and they aren't necessarily spur fruiters so I think the haircut method is preferable for them. But I still get a good lot of fruit each year with the spur pruning method.

[FB.]

But, don't apple trees need to be pruned to encourage spurs where the fruits form? This is what my RHS books advise. Although I have a Bramley and they aren't necessarily spur fruiters so I think the haircut method is preferable for them. But I still get a good lot of fruit each year with the spur pruning method.

Bramley is a partial tip-bearer.
If you give it a haircut, you cut off all the tips - which is where the blossom buds are located. The result will be reduced blossom. That will result in reduced fruit load, which will induce vigorous growth (because the tree has no fruits to feed), plus will cause severe bitter pit and knock the tree into biennial bearing.

Branches that get pruned in winter will have reduced fruit bud formation the following season as the tree directs all it's energy into replacing what was lost.
Branches that get pruned in summer (July) have increased fruit bud formation because it gives the tree a nasty shock to suddenly lose all the resources that were invested into those leaves, right at the height of the growing season - so the tree is keen to reproduce because it thinks it might die.

In my experience, if you don't prune a branch during the winter, it is more likely to produce fruit buds along it's entire length for the following season. If you prune it, you will get few fruit buds, but lots of side branches.
Eventually, those side branches will produce fruit buds.

Removing the topmost inch of a shoot during the winter will tend to cause that shoot to continue to grow in it's original direction, with few side branches and few fruit spurs. Useful if you have a "maiden" that you want to elongate the trunk or side branches to allow it to grow as a full standard with 6-7ft trunk.

Basically; tailor your pruning to the needs of the individual tree and the needs of what you're trying to achieve.

Maybe in coming days, I'll take some pictures of the results of my tree branches that were pruned or not pruned - and you can see what happened during the growing season.
But basically, the pruned ones grew side branches and the unpruned ones grew fruit spurs.
But that's not to say that all branches should be left unpruned because the tree will get too large and will become crowded and prone to pests or disease.

[Capsid]

OK that's useful. I watched this video and this one which seem to be saying what you advise. Just prune out dead or crossing branches so that you can throw your hat through it. It looks like he is pruning in the winter early spring.

[Reb Williams]

Just prune out dead or crossing branches so that you can throw your hat through it.

that's one of the neatest, nicest summaries of pruning I've come across. I like it!

Reb
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