The main purpose of pruning apple trees, as with other fruit trees, is to produce more fruit buds and, especially with young trees, to make sure the tree grows into the right shape.
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It’s a mistake to prune young apple trees heavily, because this will lead to too much growth the following year. The important thing is to give the tree the structure you want. A well-shaped apple tree should just have a single leading shoot, with a few branches growing at a roughly horizontal angle. If there are branches angled upwards, they should come out, but only make a few cuts.
A mature apple tree should usually have an ‘A’ shape, with a few big branches lower down and smaller branches at the top. This is so the sunlight can get to the apples down below.
Your principle should be to cut out large, older wood and leave an open framework of young shoots bearing fruit buds. You’ll notice that there are two types of bud – the thinner ones are leaf buds, the fatter ones are fruit buds. The buds naturally grow on the young shoots, under three or so years old, and you should aim to keep plenty of these.
All too often, apple trees are left unpruned, and they soon stop producing apples. Again the important thing is to cut out large, older wood, leaving a framework of branches with plenty of young shoots.
If the tree is very overgrown, it’s probably not a good idea to do all the work at once, because you will just stimulate the tree to grow strongly the next year. Instead spread the work over two or more years.
Apple trees are usually pruned in the winter or early spring, while the tree is dormant and before the sap starts to rise.
It is best to carry out your major pruning in the winter, but summer pruning can be useful too. Summer pruning usually involves more minor work such as thinning out the new growth to make sure the apples are getting enough light.
You will need secateurs for the smaller cuts, and a saw for the larger cuts. Cut as near to the bud, or to the old wood, as possible: it’s not a good idea to leave stubs, which will die back. Some people paint larger cuts with special anti-canker paint, but it’s not important.
That’s all you need to know, really. And it’s not difficult, so go for it!
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