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Fruit trees may experience a premature death or produce smaller, less flavorful fruits if they are not properly pruned. Pruning trees isn’t difficult. With a little bit of know-how, diligence, a trained eye, and sharp tools, your fruit tree has a better chance of producing choice fruit and remaining disease free.
When a fruit tree has reached maturity and has produced fruit, it should be pruned annually. This should be done when the tree is still dormant, though some gardeners have good results with doing minimal pruning of fruit trees at any time of the year. The risk of disease and stress on the tree is greater though, if pruning is done after the sap begins to run in the spring. The ideal time to prune in most climates is while the tree is still dormant, but the frost is out of the wood. Besides safeguarding against disease, pruning in dormancy is better because it is an easier time to identify damaged wood or branches that rub against each other. It is important to be able to identify both damaged wood and rubbing branches as they put a tree at greater risk of disease and of damaged fruit.
Before you begin to prune, you need to make sure your pruning tools are sharp. The size of the pruning cut that must be made will determine if you use a pruning shears, knife, lopper, or branch saw. The pruning tool must be sharp because you want to make as clean a cut as possible. You don’t want to tear any additional bark as you cut. If bark tears down the wood from where a cut is made, the tree is put at greater risk and the nutrient system of the tree is jeopardized. If you are cutting diseased branches, you will want to dip your pruning instrument in a disinfectant before using it on healthy branches. For general pruning, however, disinfecting isn’t necessary.
The first step to pruning fruit trees is to remove all the dead and damaged branches. Dead branches will show signs of dried up & thickened bark and will snap easily. Damaged branches will have evidence of cracking in the bark or splitting along the surface. They should be cut back to live growth and all cuts should be made on the diagonal so the cut surface sheds water efficiently.
The next step is to prune live branches. How you do this will depend on the type of fruit tree you are pruning and whether or not the fruit is produced on old wood or new wood. For example, peach trees produce flowers on new wood and therefore actually benefit from more severe pruning. In pruning fruit trees which flower on old wood, like apples, you need to be a little more selective and restrained in your pruning. Most fruit trees are best pruned by establishing a leader branch at the top of the tree, so there is one main branch shooting up at the top of the trunk. This method does not work for plum trees however, as they will not retain the leader branch and will fill in vigorously. The purpose of pruning all fruit trees is to open the center of the tree up for the sunshine to reach the lower branches of the tree. Opening the dense growth at the top and center of the tree also stimulates growth and helps prevent disease.
After removing dead and diseased branches, and establishing the shape of the tree by removing unwanted live branches that don’t fit into that shape, you will remove all other branches that are unsightly, grow at odd angles, make the tree unbalanced, rub against each other, or which block the sun from getting to the lower branches. Also, make sure you remove all water spouts or sucker branches. The best branches to keep on the fruit tree are those that grow horizontally from the main branches. Also, remove any branches that droop downward as they will be weaker branches and tend to break or crack under the weight of mature fruit and then allow infestation to enter the tree. It is a good idea to remove twigs and small growths from the underside of the main branches as these too tend to be weaker branches.
Most fruit trees can withstand a fairly rigorous pruning. Never remove more than a third of a tree’s growth, however. And if your tree has been neglected for more than two seasons, you will want to do the major pruning over several seasons. Doing it all at once will endanger the tree. Also, if doing major pruning, it would be wise to apply tree sealant to the large area cuts in order to protect the tree’s core from infestation.
In more fine-tune pruning, make sure you know your fruit tree and what the fruit buds and nodules look like. Consider those nodules when pruning. In apple trees, removing old nodules will actually stimulate growth of new nodules and therefore, more fruits eventually. Keep in mind that some removal of potential fruit is inevitable in the process of pruning. However, the process of pruning actually stimulates better color of the remaining matured fruit and allows the fruit to grow larger, so what you give up in numbers often results in more bushels and better quality fruit.
And as a final tip for consideration in pruning fruit trees, make sure you exercise caution as you work. Carry pruning instruments with their pointed side down, or better yet, carry them in a tool box or case. Wear goggles as you work. If using a ladder, make sure the legs are is on sturdy ground. If you cannot reach the higher parts of your fruit tree easily from a ladder, hire a professional to prune the top portion. Keep in mind that a tree surgeon is cheaper than the surgeon you will meet at the hospital.
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