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Pruning Fruit Trees 2009

Then on October 25, 2005 we had that terrible heavy, wet snowstorm that arrived before leaves had fallen. I was standing outside at 10 pm with a bamboo pole knocking snow off smaller trees when I heard a sound. Old Beauty, that favorite of mine, split up the middle and fell to the ground as I watched. I have plenty of other apples to prune in March and through much of April, but none quite so lovely.

How you prune your apples should depend on your intentions. If you want a pretty tree that might produce a few apples, prune for looks. Make it look like a lollipop if that pleases you. If you want to produce apples you need to work a little differently. The basic shape of a production apple tree is pyramid-shaped. A single leader should go skyward, with ¡∫scaffold branches¡Ö or laterals growing out from the trunk at wide angles. The lowest branches should reach the farthest, with the upper branches - which are younger - shorter.

When I planted a replacement for Old Beauty I chose a Honey Crisp - a flavor I liked. But that tree has been arguing with me about its shape ever since I planted it. Many of its scaffold or lateral branches want to grow almost straight up, competing with the leader. But branches that are growing more or less vertical tend not to produce fruit, or not as much as they would if the branches would just relax a little and hold their arms out at a less steep angle. Not at a 90 degree angle to the trunk, but at a 45-60 degree angle. And tight crotch angles eventually become weak as the grow over bark and develop weak spots, and so they are liable to split.

The year I planted my young apple I did little or no pruning, letting the tree settle in and make as much food via photosynthesis as possible. The second year I cut off some of the most vigorous, upward aiming branches in March, opening up the tree and eliminating future problems. I also removed anything that was too close to the ground - I may want to be able to use a mower under the tree later on.

I removed any branches that were too close to other branches. Often 2 branches grow near each other - within a foot or so - and parallel to each other. One will always shade out the other, so one must go. Later on, when the scaffold branches get big, some new shoots will aim toward the center of the tree - and they must go, too.

Around the first of June when the sap was up and sun warm, I changed the branch angles of a few laterals the second year. I did this by pulling them down with quarter-inch nylon rope. I filled gallon milk jugs with water, placing them on the ground beneath branches, and then tied a guy rope from each branch to a jug. For small branches on young trees this works well. You can drive stakes in the ground to tie on for larger branches. I didn't leave the ropes in place all summer -- a month or so is all it takes. It's important not to use wires or anything that might dig into the branches under pressure.

A well pruned fruit tree should have branches spaced well apart. A bird should be able to fly though your tree and not get hurt. One of the most common types of clutter are young shoots that grow straight up from established branches, creating a dense mass of twigs and foliage that clutters up the tree. These are called water sprouts.

I know that many organic gardeners don't bother growing apple trees because they say that, without pesticides, apple scab and the various insect pests make the fruit unworthy. I disagree. I have several young apple trees, including a replacement for Old Beauty, and plan to eat fruit - perfect or not - without using pesticides. That's what a kitchen paring knife is for - to cut out the bad spots.

Old Beauty was an example of a fruit tree that I appreciated for its flowers and for its beauty as sculpture, particularly in winter. Like virtually all wild apples, the fruit was mealy and not even fit for making cider. All named varieties of apples are propagated by taking a twig from a named variety and grafting it onto a root stock. Wild hybrids have the potential to be wonderful. Apple breeders do careful crossing of apple varieties hoping to find that one in a million that will be the next Macintosh or Red Delicious. But don't plan your retirement around funds generated by your new apple variety. Actually, given the state of the stock market, you may as well.

Henry Homeyer is the author of 3 gardening books. You may contact him at P.O. Box 364, Cornish Flat, NH 03746 or henry.homeyer@comcast.net.