Pruning Fruit Trees

Pruning a fruit tree is a critical step for tree growth and fruit production. There is a variety of ways to prune trees, and some types of trees have different needs. I am a learner in this topic, so we will start with listing resources I am using to practice and learn techniques related to pruning.


Goals of pruning

• Remove dead wood
• Remove any crossing branches
• Open the tree to get even sunlight and good air movement

When to prune

You do not want to do heavy pruning during the active growing season, but you need to take care that you do not prune just before a cold snap either. Pruning is reported to lower a trees cold tolerance. It is suggested that you prune trees just before they bud out which would be after the danger of really hard freezes and very low temperatures. The larger the tree, and the older the tree, the more able it is to withstand cold after pruning. Apples can withstand winter pruning better than peaches.


General methods and techniques

• Training & Pruning Fruit Trees (web)
• Pruning Fruit Trees (pdf)

Apples

• Pruning Apple Trees part 1 (video)
• Pruning Apple Trees part 2 (video)

Cherries

• Pruning Cherry Trees (web)
• Pruning Cherry Trees (video)

Pears

• Pruning Pear Trees (web)

Peaches

• Second year pruning (video)
• Third year pruning (video)
• Fourth year pruning (video)
• Pruning old growth (video)

Plums

• Plum trees should be pruned in the spring, to minimize fungus attack.