Pruning fruit trees

It is a long time ago that I pruned my first fruit tree.  To further my skills over the following years, I have attended classes and lectures, and read books and pamphlets, and asked many questions, and looked at many trees.  I return to trees I've pruned and look at how they have responded to my pruning.  At first I wasn't very good with fruit trees, but I have been determined to understand the trees and discern what to do to make the right cuts.  By now my skills and and knowledge (and confidence) have greatly improved.

To this blog I've added some fruit tree "static pages" which I hope you find helpful (I welcome your feedback).  They are on Why Fruit Trees Fail to Bear, on Helpful Terms (some terminology and concepts), and on Questions to Consider before making pruning decisions.

I've challenged myself to identify Ten Rules when Pruning Fruit Trees.  A number of years ago I wrote a brochure about Ten Rules for Success with Mason Bees and I still figure ten rules are enough.  At this point the "rules" are only a list, but a list is starting point none-the-less.  I have a different "list", made of quips and sage advice, that folk inevitably hear from me. The first 50 times are the hardest for any effort, and the problem with fruit trees is that you can only guess the tree's response, that will take three years of pruning, then watching, and then pruning again, before the tree has noticeably changed its form.

Please also look at the reading list at the bottom of the article, and also the static pages, above.

My (January 2017 version of) Ten Rules when Fruit Tree Pruning:

1. Trees grow vertically. Work with their natural growth.
2. Trees react to being pruned. Anticipate their reactions.
3. Use sharp and clean tools. Don’t hack and tear. Minimize damage.
4. Take enough time. You can’t glue it back afterwards.
5. Balance. Each scaffold needs enough branches (and leaves) to thrive.
6. Study from the ground up. Follow the main shape (scaffold).
7. Too few branches and too many branches are both mistakes.
8. Select for branches growing up and out, at about a 45° angle.
9. Leaves feed the branches and roots. They need light and air.
10. Roots hydrate and anchor the tree. They need water and nutrients.

Start with selecting what to prune and what to keep.  First:

1) Is it dead?
2) is it damaged?
3) Is it crowded / crossing?

Here is a simplified branch diagram to help decide what to keep and what to remove:

Gray lines are other main (scaffold) trunks -- with branches omitted.

1] Main Scaffold Branch: Important. Should be four to six scaffold branches. Each scaffold branch needs enough side branches (and leaves) to feed the main scaffold branch.
 
2] Downturned branch: Often removed — shaded, old, unfruitful. With good light, can be fruitful.

3] Tip of scaffold branch: Keep until it grows down and / or too big, then prune back to branch 4].

4] Fruitful replacement branch: Branches growing outward and 45° upward are ideal for fruit.

5] Potential replacement branch:
If the shoot is useful, tie or weight a vertical watershoot to a ~45° angle; more often, remove it.

6] Fruitful, but inward growing: May make tree crowded, so often they are removed.

This highly simplified drawing shows the diversity of branch patterns and some thoughts on which branches to keep and which to cut.   The tree itself is of course far more complicated.

GOING FURTHER -

There are some good on-line resources for pruning fruit trees.  One pub I recommend frequently is Training and Pruning Your Home Orchard, an Oregon - Washington State Extension publication.  Two other extension pubs of merit are Pruning to Restore an Old, Neglected Apple Tree, and Pruning Basics.  Each emphasizes different aspects of pruning fruit trees, and none will be a waste of time spent studying.

There are some good fruit tree pruning videos on the web (and are some bad ones too), and I will look to add some to this list in the coming weeks.

Glen