Apple tree pruning advice

[Gollum]

Leaving 6 inch stubs are classed as coat hangers not good. if you are replacing, cut just above the collar.

trees that have been spur pruned will live just as long as any other tree.

 

Tip bearers will produce fruit on the tips of one year wood example Bramley and Discovery. although they may not set if strong and upright.

tuck them under to an angle of 30º or less this will help the set.

[Mark Bolam]

Are we pruning for shape or fruit production?

 

Big difference IMO, although the two can meet?

[tommer9]

I have tried to follow this thread, but tonight is not the night after a botle of Malbec. Infuriating, as i have 2 fruit trees to prune , but have always shied away from doing them in case i wreck them........

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Spur pruning is unlikely to do much harm as such, over an extended time period (depends on vigour of the rootstock but could be 50yrs+). It's a very established technique. Observation (e.g. at Wisley and East Malling) does, however, indicate that it does eventually lead to decline, whereas renewal pruning tends to be better for preserving trees indefinitely. I can't remember exactly what the hypothesis is as to why, but suspect it's related to the way in which the growth is removed. There are some really good illustrations in an Ancient Tree Forum article, that show how a renewal pruned tree looks (it's their recommended technique):

 

http://frontpage.woodland-trust.org.uk/ancient-tree-forum/atfscapes/images/RestoringFruitTrees.pdf

 

 

 

Most apple varieties produce fruit buds at the base of a 1yr old shoot. When this grows it produces a cluster of flowers and a wood bud behind that extends the spur year on year. Some varieties don't produce this spur bud - instead they produce their fruit buds further up the 1yr old shoot, nearer the tip. As such, if you trim them back as per spur pruning you cut off all the flower buds. Most tip bearing varieties are actually partial tip bearers and will eventually form spurs as the tree matures, but if you rely on this you wait a very long time for a crop! Partial tip bearers include Bramley, Granny Smith, Blenheim Orange and Worcester Pearmain.

 

Alec

 

The method i described would suit BOTH types, leaving two growth buds the growth is further ramified and budding

[Gollum]

Most apple varieties produce fruit buds at the base of a 1yr old shoot. When this grows it produces a cluster of flowers and a wood bud behind that extends the spur year on year. Some varieties don't produce this spur bud - instead they produce their fruit buds further up the 1yr old shoot, nearer the tip. As such, if you trim them back as per spur pruning you cut off all the flower buds. Most tip bearing varieties are actually partial tip bearers and will eventually form spurs as the tree matures, but if you rely on this you wait a very long time for a crop! Partial tip bearers include Bramley, Granny Smith, Blenheim Orange and Worcester Pearmain.

 

the reason it is thought that a wood bud is produced behind the fruit bud on one year wood on most varieties, is the fact that the blossom rarely sets and then produces new wood.

to prolong the life of spur pruned trees it is necessary to replace the spur clusters periodically.

Tip bearers do produce blossom on the tips

[agg221]

Leaving 6 inch stubs are classed as coat hangers not good. if you are replacing, cut just above the collar.

trees that have been spur pruned will live just as long as any other tree.

 

Specific circumstances where I leave stubs - The trees I prune aren't really commercial, and they're very old (95yrs old on Paradise stock), with several periods of neglect. As such, there are some areas where renewed branch systems are very sparse so I really don't want a particular branch to fail to re-shoot, but there's nothing convenient to cut it back to, and the scaffold is not the right shape to encourage re-shooting. An example might be the only side branch halfway up a rather vertical scaffold branch, so if I take it right back to the collar I'm at risk of apical dominance preventing shooting. As such, I tend to leave the stub, as I'll probably get several shoots from it the following year, and can then choose the one or two I want for renewal and take the coat hanger off the following year as though it was a 3yr old. Also note, I tend to go on a 3yr cycle, removing a third of the shoots back to new wood each year, rather than a 2yr cycle as some people follow. I can't remember where this came from exactly but it seems to work OK.

 

I'm sure I read something from a decent, up to date source somewhere in the late 1990s relating lifespan to pruning method, which came down on the side of renewal pruning. I can't remember what it was at the moment - I'll have a look tomorrow and see if I can find it. Admittedly, that was over a decade ago, so thinking may have moved on since then.

 

Alec

[agg221]

Are we pruning for shape or fruit production?

 

Big difference IMO, although the two can meet?

 

Most of Gollum's first post and my earlier comment about branch placement (scaffold) and cleaning up the trunk etc. relate to pruning for shape, and tree health, but most of the tip bearing, spur pruning and renewal pruning discussion relates to fruit production, although it will have an effect on appearance. Spur pruned trees look like they've had a haircut. Renewal pruned trees always look more shaggy. Neither looks exactly natural.

 

Alec

[agg221]

Tip bearers do produce blossom on the tips

 

Yep, I wasn't thinking straight when I wrote my previous post, and it's been so long since I last spur pruned anything that I haven't had to think about it. You're right, it is literally the tip isn't it, i.e. remove anything and you've just lopped the flowers off.

 

Alec

[Tony Croft aka hamadryad]

Yep, I wasn't thinking straight when I wrote my previous post, and it's been so long since I last spur pruned anything that I haven't had to think about it. You're right, it is literally the tip isn't it, i.e. remove anything and you've just lopped the flowers off.

 

Alec

 

argh yes, thats why bramley regrowth is so thick even just one year spurs!

[Mr Fir]

Good advice Gollum and Alec. I highly rate RHS Growing Fruit (£5.20 on Amazon), it has most if not all what you said and some clear diagrams of the pruning techniques. Also has soft fruits and planting, site planning etc.

 

I'm just getting into it but will be doing restoration pruning on some old orchard trees in Newburgh, Fife with some local gardeners this winter so all this knowledge will be well used