apple tree pruning my first time.

[DWestbrook]

I thought the first three pictures were 'after' shots!

They are

[DWestbrook]

I hope that has given food for thought rather than offense. I had decided not to reply in case it just came across as criticism, in the end I just couldn't help myself.

I posted them fully expecting constructive criticism.

Thats why I put them up.

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

[burrell_]

Fruit tree pruning is becoming a dieing art

As said before 3ds first

Dead, diseased and damaged

Then the interesting stuff starts if your pruning for fruit

U have to know your growth buds form your fruiting buds

Some fruit takes 3year to produce fruiting buds

Also if leave the trees really thin they will produce what my old man calls water shots (not always a good thing if there is no tree management)

Water shots ( loads of growth with out much /any fruit)

To get a good size fruit rather that hundreds of small fruit u also need to thin

Fruiting buds out

Lol

Also if you thin the centre of the tree out to much u won't have many good reduction points for the future and u will find your self reducing to the frame work( reduction you started with)

Hope this make sense

As my wording things in writing ent that good lol

[Peasgood]

I posted them fully expecting constructive criticism.

Thats why I put them up.

I appreciate you sharing your knowledge.

 

I am not sure if I helped you at all there, I never did think I was much of a teacher.

Some good, basic pointers for open centre bush pruning;

Think of the tree as a wheel, the trunk being the hub. Aim to get the growth radiating away from that hub just like the spokes of a wheel do.

Remove all vertical growth and any that go the "wrong way" ie. grow towards the hub rather than away.

Cut branches off altogether rather than mess about at the ends of them, this applies to branches up to about 5 years old. Avoid bigger cuts because silver leaf disease along with other nasties will get in. If you know a way to stop this then let me know because I don't.

If you look closely at the branches you can see how old they are by counting the external marks which mark the ends of a years growth. At the end of the year the terminal bud will cap over for the winter, when it makes more extension growth the following year that terminal bud will leave a mark on the bark. Sometimes they can make 5-6 foot of growth in a year, sometimes it may be less than 5-6cm! It depends on the tree, year, weather, pruning, fertiliser etc etc.

You are unlikely to get fruit on any wood before it's third year, that is not a hard and fast rule but a good general guide. If you cut off the younger branches every other year you won't get to the fruiting stage.

Young (3-5 year) branches fruit better than older branches, you need to have a regime where the branches are replaced over the years to maintain that younger productive wood. This is where it starts to get more complicated and where making the tree in the garden look pretty takes on more importance than trying to get a profitable tree, unless you are a fruit grower.

 

I hope that gives a bit more direction/help. I have been pruning apple trees for the last 35 years or so, I am still learning.

The way I tackle them is to walk up to the tree and cut out all the bits that don't look like an apple tree. There is always a nice tree in there somewhere it is just a case of knowing what they should look like.

[Peasgood]

I should also add that as a first attempt they are not so bad at all.

[Fredward]

In my mind, unless they are managed in an annual programme (with several visits a year), they are never going to be productive as a tree in a commercial sense. The apple trees I've worked on in orchards have been pyramidal form, with a short clear trunk at the bottom. They are not much to look at but it's one way of maximising fruit and minimising unwanted upright epicormic growth. Who wants that in their garden? The main thing clients tell me is that "all the fruit is way up there and we can't reach it". normally becuase they have let a tree get massive and keep lifting it becuase they want to get underneath with the mower. Sometimes they are just too far gone and it's better to remove them but usually they have "the best fruit I've ever tasted", you can only do what you can do, and I think those trees turned out well.

 

I'm not a massive fan of the cartwheel form, but most plums seem to end up like this, becuase of their outward growth. I do try and leave a bit of cover in the centre to slow down the regrowth (more light = more epicormics), but sometimes there is nothing worth keeping. I can see the point the poster made about leaving the long whippy branches to droop down, but thats not always practical.

 

I try not to mess around too much with fruit trees, looking at buds etc, unless you do it all the time you will just end up taking forever to do a job which should only take 20mins. Fruit is cheap, arborists are not, keep the clients happy and don't charge them a fortune and you'll be back next year or the year after!