Find out how to prune fruit trees properly, plus tips for timing your pruning right.
Liz West
Sure, unpruned fruit trees can still produce a crop.
Why Prune Fruit Trees?
Credit:Liz West
If you favor a morelaissez-faireapproach to gardening, you may be wondering why you should botherpruning fruit trees.
The primary reason is to control the size and shape of a tree.
This goes beyond removing lower branches to make mowing around the trunks easier.
Credit:Peter Krumhardt
Fruit trees that have been pruned are easier to maintain and harvest.
The increased air circulation reducescommon tree diseases, especially in humid climates.
For example, sweetcherries can be prunedin late summer when theres less chance of bacterial infection.
Credit:Marty Baldwin
To lessen the chance of diseases spreading and developing, prune when the weather is dry, not rainy.
Pruning can also help tame excessive growth that shades the inner canopy, inhibits flowering and weakens branches.
Examine the tree from all angles.
Heading cuts are best for reinvigorating a tree and spurring new growth.
Make the cut 14 inch above an outward-facing bud so new growth is directed away from the trunk.
Water sprouts are fast-growing upright stems that appear after major pruning.
check that to thin them out and only keep those growing away from the trunk and permanent branches.
Upright central leader:The tree has one upright-growing leader (trunk) with scaffolding branches to the sides.
Recommended for pear andpersimmon trees, as well as dwarf and semi-dwarf apple trees.
The central leaders top has been removed, but scaffolding branches remain.
This form features a sturdy trunk and strong branches but makes larger trees easier to harvest.
First, decide whether the tree is worth the effort.
Is it a special cultivar with exceptional fruit flavor?
And is it structurally sound or full of rot, insects, or disease?
If the trunk and parts of large limbs are hollow, the tree may not be salvageable.
In those cases, it’s best to remove and replace the tree.
Start by removing any broken branches, along with dead or diseased wood.
Then look for branches that are growing inward, upward, or into each other.
Alsoprune off low-hanging branchesand weak, spindly growth.
Elkner, T. (2023, March 9).Home gardening: Pruning to renovate old fruit trees.
