Pruning

[greenjelly]

Back October I started a thread asking for advice about planting some new apple trees - I received so many wonderful replies with some interesting and excellent advice.

Las weekend we finally took delivery of our new trees and they are now planted in their new home.

They are bush type on M26 root stock and I'd appeciate some advice on pruning - they all have quite long branches and we did take off one or to straggly ones and a couple from quit low down on the trunk that had become broken in the packaging. Do we prune down the length of the branches now or leave them until spring?

[sugar]

Apple trees should not be pruned in november-december, because you increase the risk of canker (the spores of Neonectria are very active during this period).

Best period to prune back is february-March, during a dry period, before the plant is leafing out.

[FB.]

Need a picture, the varieties, the rootstocks, and a brief summary of what size/shape you want them to become.

Otherwise the usual advice for winter pruning is cut back the new growth by half, to suitably-placed buds which should form the branches you want.

I'd be inclined to wait until after this freezing weather, before pruning (or planting).

Mine tend to get pruned a few at a time during milder spells in winter. This varies considerably with the season - I've done very little pruning this year so far, but will start getting some done probably at the weekend if the milder weather arrives as promised.

Canker in wounds can be a problem for some people, in some areas, and on certain varieties.
I have lost some common varieties of apple to canker (e.g. James Grieve and Egremont Russet early in 2012) but most of my old and/or less common varieties don't seem to be particularly susceptible so I don't fret about them.
If canker does appear next year on the wounds, you can always prune it out as soon as you see it.

If in doubt or concerned, or with canker-prone varieties, you can leave the pruning for a couple of months, as sugar has suggested.

I would be much more careful with plums and cherries as they are generally very easily infected by canker and silverleaf. Plums and cherries are best pruned just as the buds are beginning to swell as the flowing of their sap after winter dormancy seems to activate their defenses against canker/silverleaf and the wounds are exposed for much less time before the plant starts to grow and heal them.