pruning apple and pear dwarf tree

[Sarico]

hi to everyone
last year i bought from a garden center a tree collection of 1 red apple 1 golden apple 1 pear tree all dwarf...
the garden center said that they are spur apple tree that they need to be prune all the side branches and leave only the leader... but do you think i can leave 2 3 branch on the side? i think they are m27 rootstock or something like that. this is the collection that i bought:
Midget Fruit Tree Collection - J Parker Dutch Bulbs

thanks for help

[orangepippin]

Spur-type apple varieties (i.e. most apple varieties) fruit on the ends of short stubs, and over time they do benefit from thinning out if they get congested. However that doesn't mean you should prune all the side branches off. I expect these trees are only 1-2 years old when supplied so I would be inclined to avoid pruning for another year or so.

[Sarico]

Spur-type apple varieties (i.e. most apple varieties) fruit on the ends of short stubs, and over time they do benefit from thinning out if they get congested. However that doesn't mean you should prune all the side branches off. I expect these trees are only 1-2 years old when supplied so I would be inclined to avoid pruning for another year or so.

thanks for the reply... i will post some pics so you can see... the side branches are only 1 ft long for now...

[Sarico]

anymore suggestion... anyone else bought this tree?

[FB.]

anymore suggestion... anyone else bought this tree?

Yes - while a dwarf tree is still growing up to the size and shape required, don't prune it while i has leaves; prune only in winter in the early years, unless by some miracle it puts on masses of new shoots and is in danger of becoming uncontrollable (in which case I would wonder whether you have the wrong rootstock!).

When the dwarf is mature and up to the size/shape, summer pruning can be used to slow or stop its growth. In some cases, after a few winter prunings to guide its shape, a dwarf tree may not require much pruning at all.

If possible, put up a picture of the tree now, and definitely put up a picture during the winter.

[Sarico]

Yes - while a dwarf tree is still growing up to the size and shape required, don't prune it while i has leaves; prune only in winter in the early years, unless by some miracle it puts on masses of new shoots and is in danger of becoming uncontrollable (in which case I would wonder whether you have the wrong rootstock!).

When the dwarf is mature and up to the size/shape, summer pruning can be used to slow or stop its growth. In some cases, after a few winter prunings to guide its shape, a dwarf tree may not require much pruning at all.

If possible, put up a picture of the tree now, and definitely put up a picture during the winter.

thanks fb... actually are 3 trees in the first picture the tree on the left is the red apple tree and the other one is the pear tree..

in this picture is the golden apple tree that have one apple.


all the tree are about 3 ft tall and the branches are 1 ft. they are in 30cm container in multipurpose compost...
for now i will not pruning and wait for the winter... plus i bought them because i love the idea of small trees for my garden so i have space for the other veg. plus from the pics you can't see but start to form some little branches... i have no much knowledge of pruning but i know i should leave only 3 main branches and clean the bottom from the sucker... thanks again for the help

[FB.]

I would suggest wait until winter and shorten the new shoot growth by about half its length, to a suitable group of about three buds facing in the direction you want them to grow.
I would also suggest not fruiting too much until they are mature as dwarfs will actually shrink their root system to feed the fruits and may impoverish themselves if pushed too hard. I've always found that fruits on young dwarf trees are often of poor quality until the tree is established.

For example: I have a M9 (dwarf) Beauty of Bath and MM106 (medium vigour but can't cope with my usually-dry soil) Fiesta and they often suffer from bitter pit (probably not enough nutrients supplied by weak roots) despite the varieties not generally being regarded as being troublesome for bitter pit.

On the other hand, I have varieties considered to be prone to bitter pit - such as Laxton's Epicure - but they are on very vigorous rootstocks such as M25 and the trees never suffer from bitter pit because the roots are clearly strong enough to supply all the plants needs.
The strong-rooted trees also seem much healthier: less affected by pests and diseases, probably due to the strong roots being able to quickly find whatever nutrient is required to help fight off the attack.

[Sarico]

thanks for the help... i will wait till winter.