Pruning Apple Trees

Overview:

Apple trees must be pruned every year during their dormant period. Pruning apple trees in the early years of the trees life will results in a bountiful harvest. If you do not prune the harvest will be good one year and poor the following years.

Apple trees are the most common fruit trees home gardeners grow. Pruning fruit trees is necessary in order to open up the tree canopy to sunlight and air circulation to promote fruit production. The following tips for how to prune apple trees will insure you can reap a bountiful harvest year after year.

The ideal time to prune apple trees is in late winter or early spring. Avoid tree pruning in the fall since this stimulates new growth at the same time the tree should be getting ready for winter. The new growth may not have a chance to harden before the winters cold temperatures, which can lead to tree damage.

Pruning Tools:

Hand pruner to remove small branches and twigs. You'll probably use this tool the most, so keep it sharp and handy.
A lopper with a long handle for pruning larger branches. They are used to prune branches larger than then 1" in diameter or larger.
A folding saw for pruning limbs larger than 3" in diameter.
A pole pruner, which is a blade attached to a long pole and handy for reaching high branches.

How to Prune Apple Trees:

1. Remove any dead, injured or diseased branches. When going to make a cut, look for the branch collar, which is the wrinkled part near the base where the branch is connected to the tree trunk. This part of the tree has all the cells necessary to heal wounds. Never cut into the branch collar when pruning. Instead, make the cut just above the point where the branch collar flares.

2. During the first two years after planting allow the tree to grow its roots and establish itself before doing any pruning. It's okay to prune away dead, injured or diseased branches immediately after planting for the first three years.

3. When your tree is three years old begin the heavy pruning. Remove any dead, injured or diseased branches. Move up the tree looking for branch angles or scaffolding branches which are branches that grow from the main trunk. Do not remove these branches. Leave them for the basic framework of your tree.

4. Fruiting buds are dark-colored, wrinkled wood that grows from scaffolding branches. Leave these small branches since they're the ones that produce fruit. Trees begin to form fruiting buds at around three years of age.

5. Vegetative buds are similar in appearance to fruiting buds, but they're not so wrinkled and dark. These buds form leaves and new branches. There is no need to remove them.

6. Remove any competing branches that will cause a future problem for the tree. Sometimes these branches create a hollow where water can collect and cause tree rot. Branches growing toward the inside of the tree should be removed to improve air circulation.

7. Apple trees should have only one central leading branch. Don't allow two leader branches to form, or the tree will become weak. Leave the healthier or stronger leader, and remove the others. The ideal apple tree has one central leader surrounded by evenly spaced scaffolding branches that have plenty of fruiting spurs.

Thinning the Fruit:

The tree may produce an overabundance of fruit, causing fruit "crowding" on the branches and resulting in smaller-sized apples. In order to grow tasty, normal-sized apples, it’s necessary to thin out the fruit. Fruit should be spaced about 6 inches apart along the branches; thin out closely grown small apples in favor of the larger apples.

If you do not prune your trees they will not produce ample fruit. Properly pruning apple trees will produce a bountiful harvest each year and provide a beautifully balanced tree with a full canopy of apple blossoms in the spring.

See: Planting Apple Trees

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