Apple tree pruning video

Apple tree pruning is always carried out during the dormant period; this is a general rule for all regions. Trees are pruned in late autumn, late winter or early spring. However, it is better to postpone pruning frozen apple trees until the leaves bloom, then the damaged branches will be better visible.

The crown of fruiting apple trees can also be thinned out in the summer during a lean year. It is carried out after the end of the shoot formation process, not earlier than mid-August.During summer pruning, shoots directed steeply upward or into the crown, shading the fruiting branches, are removed.

Young, newly planted trees are not pruned in the summer, except for too powerful competitors within the crown.

Pruning young apple trees

Formative pruning of young apple trees begins immediately after planting. To provoke lateral branching, the top of the seedling is immediately cut off. True, if the seedling is planted in the fall, then the pruning should be postponed until the spring. In autumn, young seedlings are not pruned.

It is desirable that during the first summer the apple tree grows 3 - 4 side shoots. They should be located at a height of 70 - 80 cm from the ground. All branches growing below will have to be removed. The remaining 3 - 4 branches will form the first or lower tier of the crown of your apple tree.

Video tutorial from an experienced agronomist:

If these branches grow at an acute angle to the central conductor, that is, they are directed almost upward (and most often this is the case), they need to be redirected. Such future skeletal branches should be located at an angle of 60º relative to the trunk.

Stretch marks are used for these purposes. Drive several hooks into the ground and use twine to pull the branches to the desired direction. The shoots should remain in this position until autumn. Just do not tie the shoots too tightly with twine, otherwise there will be constrictions.

There must be one central conductor (trunk). If it has a competitor, a branch growing at an acute angle, it must be removed. All branches growing at an acute angle must be removed if it is not possible to pull them to a horizontal position.

Pruning apple trees in spring

Pruning an apple tree in the spring is the best time to form a tree.Of course, you can do pruning in the fall, but where is the guarantee that some of the branches we left during formation will not freeze in winter. The proposed video clips show very clearly and in detail how to prune apple trees:

If you have trees of different ages growing in your garden, then the approach to pruning should be different. Therefore, be sure to think about which branches to trim and which to leave. After all, this is your garden, and pruning your apple trees should benefit your trees.

It is very important what gardening tool you use. The pruning shears must be sharp so as not to crush the tree bark when pruning. You should also have a garden saw on hand to cut thick branches.

All cuts must be immediately covered with a thin layer of garden varnish. If there is no varnish, it can be replaced with oil paint.

Pruning an apple tree in autumn

According to the rules, autumn pruning of apple trees should begin after shoot growth stops. This phase is determined by the formation of the apical (rather large) bud on the shoot - at the end of September, when the outflow of nutrients from the leaves to the roots has completely ended.

But it is better to postpone the pruning to a later date - to October, when the leaves have not fallen, but the coloring of the leaves has already begun. There will be 2-3 months left before the onset of persistent cold weather, the weather is warm, dry, wounds are healing well.

The trimmer should immediately coat the cuts with garden varnish or oil paint on natural drying oil. Do not put off coating until the tree has been trimmed completely.

When pruning fruit-bearing apple trees in the fall, try not to cut out large skeletal branches, as a hollow may form. Do not inflict several large wounds close to each other at once. This will weaken the skeletal branches and the central conductor.Trim neglected crowns gradually, over 2-3 years, if you need to remove large thickening branches.

What mistakes do gardeners make when pruning trees?

Trim dried or diseased branches, including 15-20 cm of healthy parts. If you do not follow this rule, the wound will not heal and pruning will not benefit the tree.

Follow the rule: do heavy pruning in the spring and light pruning in the fall.

Formative pruning of young apple trees in the fall is not recommended. This often leads to freezing of shortened annual growths and branches.

When forming the crown of young apple trees, try to avoid heavy pruning: do not deprive the young tree of nutrients that enrich annual growths. This can weaken growth processes, impair fruit set, and cause fruit shedding. This recommendation applies not only to autumn, but also to spring (late winter) pruning of apple trees.

Pruning old apple trees

If you have an old apple tree growing in your dacha, with a half-dried crown, and the variety of apples suits you quite well, then you don’t have to uproot it and plant a new one. Using the powerful root system of an old tree, it can be rejuvenated relatively quickly. See how they do it:

To do this, radical, rejuvenating pruning of the apple tree is carried out. In order not to be left completely without a harvest, such pruning is carried out in two stages. First, half the crown is cut to a height of one and a half meters on the south side of the tree. From the remaining thick cuttings of branches, young shoots, the so-called tops, will begin to grow in the first year. It is from these tops that we will form a new crown of the apple tree.

But this process cannot be left to chance; there will most likely be a lot of shoots, and if you leave them all, the tree will quickly overgrow, and besides, such tops tend to grow upward, outpacing each other. Choose several of the most powerful shoots. located in the most suitable places and from them form the crown of the apple tree.

Rejuvenating pruning of old apple trees.

First of all, cut off the tops of their heads so that they begin to branch. Immediately cut off growing young branches directed towards the center of the crown, try to direct the branches in different directions. Form approximately as many skeletal branches as you cut. At first it may seem that the tree is bare and you want to leave more shoots. but they will grow quickly and then they will have to be cut out.

In two years it will be possible to cut off the second half of the old crown and start growing a new one in the same way. Thus, I had to rejuvenate not only apple trees, but also apricots, plums, and cherry plums. All the trees quickly restored their crowns and began to produce a full harvest. In the photo you see one of these apple trees.