Pruning Apple Trees at My Farm
It’s time to prune the apple trees!
If you grow these wonderful fruit trees, the best time to prune them is now - in winter - or in very early spring before any new growth begins. Pruning not only helps to develop proper shape and form, but also encourages new growth, promotes high fruit yield, and maintains good tree health. At my Bedford, New York farm, I have many, many apple trees that are pruned every year. My outdoor grounds crew tackled some of them yesterday.
Enjoy these photos.
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- A good number of my apple trees are at least 50-years old, so they were already here when I purchased the property. Up behind what I call my “Contemporary House” is a grove of old apple and pear trees. Here’s a late summer photo when the grass is green and the trees are full of fruits.
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- Here’s another tree with lots of red, juicy apples. To maintain productive fruit trees, they do need regular maintenance and pruning once a year.
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- Last year was not an overly productive apple season, so I am looking forward to an abundance of fruit this year.
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- Now is the time to prune these trees. The tree takes up a dormant state after shedding its leaves and before sprouting new buds. Pruning is best completed just before growth starts in the spring as cuts will heal quickly. There are two main goals of pruning trees. On young trees, pruning encourages a strong, solid framework. And on mature trees like these, they usually already have their shape determined, so it’s important to maintain their shape and size. Traditionally, apple trees were always encouraged to stay shorter, so apples were easier to reach.
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- My outdoor grounds crew started pruning the apples yesterday. Pasang is an excellent pruner and does a lot of the smaller tree pruning projects at the farm. Here he is pruning the new growth off of the top of this apple tree.
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- Pruning encourages the tree to grow more of these fruiting spurs by eliminating competing suckers and unproductive wood.
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- Pasang also cuts branches that are rubbing or crisscrossing each other, preventing any healthy new growth. Basically, the goal is to create a tree with well spaced lateral branches. Any branches which interfere with the tree’s shape or create a dense framework should be removed.
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- Here’s Domi working on the side of another tree. He stopped just long enough to pull down his face covering and smile for the camera. We are all maintaining the necessary CDC pandemic guidelines of wearing masks and distancing. I am glad all these precautions have kept us safe and healthy here at the farm.
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- Dead branches, or those without any signs of new growth, are also cut, so the energy is directed to the branches with fruiting buds.
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- I always prefer hand tools that will give my trees a more natural appearance and shape. Smaller twigs are snipped off with regular secateurs. Each member of my outdoor grounds crew has a pair.
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- Domi removes crowded branches to help let in light and promote good air circulation.
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- The new growth should be pruned fairly flush to the branch from which it grew. The idea is to leave slight stubs. By removing any more, the remaining branch has too much of an opening for disease to enter.
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- On healthy trees, about a third of the growth can be pruned. Spur branches where the apple tree flowers and sets fruit are the most preferred.
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- There is a lot of pruning to do on these trees – they are healthy and have produced a lot of growth in the last year.
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- After all the branches are cut, they are gathered, neatly piled, and then either saved for kindling or processed through a wood chipper to make mulch.
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- Pasang carefully selects his cuts, making sure to electively cut branches growing more horizontal to the ground.
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- Once a section is pruned, Pasang takes a look to make sure nothing was missed. The end goal is to encourage good fruit production.
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- On this tree, Chhiring works on removing the water sprouts. Water sprouts are thin branches which normally grow straight up from lateral branches and do not bear fruit.
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- Chhiring uses a pruning hand saw for any branches that are tougher to cut with regular hand pruners.
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- The final cut on each unwanted bough needs to be alongside the “branch collar”, a raised ring of bark where the branch intersects with another branch. Growth cells concentrate in these nodes, causing fast bark regrowth which seals the cuts.
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- Looking to the side, one sees the view of the lovely weeping willows which grow on the edge of the hayfield. Their golden color looks so pretty against the winter white snow.
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- This apple tree looks great after pruning. I am looking forward to many lustrous green trees heavy with rosy red fruit come autumn. One tree down, many more to go – keep up the good pruning, guys!
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