Apple pruning.

Dave Shepard

Dave Shepard

Square peg, round world.
Joined
Oct 28, 2007
Messages
5,806
Location
Alford, MA
I have 6 or 8 apples to prune in the next couple of weeks. They are pasture type trees that have probably not been touched in a half century, if ever. I want to dead wood them, and get them a bit lower. We are going to make cider again next fall, and these trees put out a lot of apples last year. Any suggestions for pruning for yeild? Thanks.
 
If they're very out of shape, don't do it all in one cycle. Deadwood, and take about 1/3 of what you figure should come off.
 
Someone should make a book, "An Arborist's Guide to Pruning Fruit Trees."

People are always asking me how to prune their lemons or plums or whatever. I tell them that there are "trees" and there are "fruit trees." I can tell them how to prune one. I then tell them to seek a fruit tree expert, or let me show them how to prune a tree.

If they are looking to maximize yield or flavor, they will seek outside help. If they just want a tree that will last a long time, I can help them.

I suppose none of this helps you though!

love
nick
 
  • Thread Starter Thread Starter
  • #5
I was thinking the 1/3 rule was the way to go. I'm also expecting a lesson from Stumper.:D I've always pruned crab apples for blossoming effect. I guess that's the same as pruning for fruiting effect.The trees aren't in terrible shape, like a tree that has been let go, they doen't have 45 million suckers on them. Getting rid of some of the tallest stuff is part of the plan, I don't want to have apples 25 feet in the air.
 
Part of the yield consideration in fruit trees is blossoming, and light penetration. Prune for a spreading "flat" appearance. don't be afraid to hack the tips of branches off, either, so they're stronger in relation to their length- it helps keep the weight of fruit from breaking them.



I HATE orchard pruning. Give it a few years, you will too. ;)
 
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  • #7
I don't suppose I'd like to do commercial orchard pruning, like a couple thousand trees, but I have always wanted to have about two months worth of it in the winter, good, easy, profitable winter work for a landscraper.;)
 
if it hasnt been touched in years and you want fruit next season, leave it alone. apples come on second year wood and you wwill just end up pruning all the fruit off
 
I was wondering when you would get on this Steve.. Good to read ya. Last class I went to was taking 50 percent while pruning. They weren't arborists. They were master gardeners and horticulturists. Was that right?
 
To prune apple trees its important to be able to tell the the difference between fruitwood and sapwood and to be able to identify fruit spurs. Fruitwood is grey and crinkled, while sapwood is brownish red. Like Willie said apples grow on last years wood so if you prune too hard you will lose all of this years fruit. If you are pruning down a tree that has not been pruned in some time, you will be cutting off the fruitwood on the top by making larger cuts. That's not a real big deal because that's not really where you want fruit anyway. I would shoot for taking the top down somewhere between 1/4 to a 1/3 each year until it is at a manageable height. I would also reduce the number of stems in the middle, thinning out branches that are too tight or shoot back across the middle. On the sides, where you want to get fruit, its all about reducing the amount of fruit so the branches don't brake and the fruit that is produced is sweeter. You want to get your hand snips or loppers and cut the fruitwood back to outward facing buds and leave at least three buds on every stem. I find this part hard to tell and easier to show. Maybe I'll take some pictures this week.

I found a picture of fruitwood and a motivational picture.
 

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Thanks all. I'm thinking that a little top reduction, and eliminating crossing, weak or damaged structure lower in the tree will be my goal for this year, as well as getting the dead wood out.

As a side note, it has been said that when the trees bear a lot of fruit, it means a long hard winter ahead. The apples put out big time around here last year, and it was very cold, very early, with almost no breaks all winter. I wonder how the trees know.:/::lol:
 
if you want a long term fruit pruducing tree do as darin said. just dont count on much juice this first year and dont forget to prune it every winter
 
Some apple varieties tend to alternate bear also. The structural wood tends to grow straight up also and this can be taken care of when the tree is being trained but with a mature tree like you have, what you got is what you got, as they say. LIke OM says bring the height down to an acceptable level. You don't want to be way high on a ladder picking and or thinning. You will get nicer color if you prune for light also. You also want your branches nice and stiff. It may not be such a big deal where you are but here if a limb sags down under the weight of the crop, many times the apples on that limb will sunburn.

Edit: The comment I made about them alternate bearing was if you go back after you pruned them and there is hardly any crop it won't be from pruning, it is probably from their habit and can only be stopped by thinning.
 
Mr. Sir said:
How about we delete the racist comments, eh? :roll:
Click to expand...

Look, know it all, actually it was a compliment. When living near Watsonville in Northern California, I had some experience working with Mexicans doing agriculture, including in apple orchards, and a very hard working people they were, capable of doing exceedingly repetitive work, without the slightest complaint. Then they will share their lunch with a with a white boy. I'm the last one to offer racial indignities at Mexicans.

Get the picture?
 
Mr. Sir said:
How about we delete the racist comments, eh?

wow, thin skinned? its not like he said a negative word about em.

we do about 2 months of apples here, repetetive work, the isa does not have a guide but there is a how to prune fruit trees book ( illistration of a man with loppers on cover) that explains the fruiting cycle of each variety of tree...decent read, worth having, its in the crew truck otherwise i'd give ya the name
Click to expand...
 
I did a couple of orchards this winter. If I wasn't so slow here I wouldn't have worked on them myself. It's repetative as all get out, you find yourself looking at your watch hoping it's lunchtime or quitting time or whatever time it needs to be for you to be gone from there. Mostly lopper and pole pruner work, your neck hurts from looking up all day. Freaking mountains of brush to handle. When I was a kid I helped my Dad prune his walnut orchard and I hated it.
 
I have one lone apple tree I look after in my mothers yard .It has to be around a hundred years old and has not bore fruit in years . I just keep it dead wooded etc to attempt to preserve the old thing .

That tree got even with me after 40 years or so .I had built a tree house in it as a boy and hit the nails some many years later with a saw ..Poetic justice perhaps .:)
 
last year i turned away alot of fruit trees, i grew up with apples and would help my grampa in his gravenstein orchard. ive sold alot of fruit trees this year. one tree was whacked several years ago and we have pruned it 3 years now and im finally happy with it.
 
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