Summer "pruning"

[nickdub]

Fruit trees will be making a lot of extension growth at this time of year and often it will be from existing spurs or in directions which you don't want. As long as you do it in time its easy enough to go over trees now and pinch out the tips of growth you don't want with your finger and thumb.

This will have several effects - amongst them it will discourage the extension of the shoot you don't want and encourage the tree to put its energy in to other shoots and in to developing fruit spurs/buds for next year. This sort of training is even more important for those growing espaliers, fans etc

[HoneyChild]

Would you do this with all fruit trees including peach and fig?
Thanks.

[nickdub]

Don't know anything about growing figs I'm afraid to say - certainly OK for peaches, in fact its the safest way to control their growth as they are prone to getting diseases if large cuts are made in the branches.

[Thelma Sanders]

Would you do this with all fruit trees including fig?
Thanks.

I think the RHS advice is easy to follow
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=106

[nickdub]

BTW if anyone is checking over their fruit trees for side-shoots they want to stop, don't forget to look over any fruit and also the new leaves. Any curled up leaves and or damaged fruit may be a sign of pest attack - the sooner you spot it and deal with it, the less of an issue it will be .

[BUFFS]

Don't know anything about growing figs I'm afraid to say - certainly OK for peaches, in fact its the safest way to control their growth as they are prone to getting diseases if large cuts are made in the branches.

with figs you snap off the growing tips in feb and that encourages figs to grow from further down the stem, not just the tip

[HoneyChild]

This video about pinching figs at this time of year might be useful...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U91zOriWOfc