Pruning apple tree- have I done it right? Before and after pics :)

[NewbieLucy]

Hello!
We finally got round to pruning one of our apple trees the other day. Took some before and after pics, and wanted to see what you thought, before attacking the other 4!! Never done it before, so got advice from YouTube!!
Hope these load up ok.



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[FB.]

The pictures are a bit small to see the detail of what you've done.

But whether you've done the right thing depends on many factors, including what you want the mature tree to look like, whether you want more growth or more fruit, the variety's fruit-bearing habit and even the rootstock and its suitability for what you want to achieve.

So without knowing all the variables, it's hard to say whether you've done the right thing. From the pictures it doesn't look like a disaster though.

[NewbieLucy]

Thanks for the reply FB. Unfortunately I don't know many of the variables either! No idea what sort of apple it is, all I knew was that it obviously needed pruning, as it was very congested. My only plan was not to kill it!


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[FB.]

My only plan was not to kill it!

You are most likely to kill a tree (or weaken it so much that it dies a year or two later) if you prune it while it has leaves on.
Very old and very large trees in particular need careful consideration. Recently planted trees can also be a bit delicate because they're not fully established.

Your tree looks about medium size and not more than middle aged.