Pruning and Training Apple Trees by - Century …

1 PruningandTrainingAppleTreesbyLeeCalhoun Pruningdemonstrationsavailableon ourwebsite:' is understandable;youworkhardto makeyourtreesgrowandthenyouaretoldto is almostlikemaiminga ,umbrellashapewhichyouseeso oftenon ,shadedoutby alsomeansthatqualityfruitis producedon thetopof theratherflatcanopy,almostoutof make'mattersworse,largelimbsoftensplitof fbecausetheyaregrowingat a shapingyourtreewhenit is young,andby carefulplacementof mainbranches,youcanhavea productive, willbehealthierandeasierto treecanbe lotsof fun,almostlikesolvinga puzzle.

2 Andyoushouldapproachit witha senseofadventureratherthandreador suggestyou, ,youwillthenunderstandthateachpruningcut or trainingbendhasa purposeandis nota senselesshackinganddeformingof a helplesstree.'Pruningandtrainingalmostne verpermanentlydamagea a treehasa healthyrootsystemandis properlyfertilizedandwatered,it willreactswiftlyto youreffortsby puttingoutnewgrowth(hopefullywhereyouwan tit).So,buyyourselfa goodsetafhand,pruners,andh( ~at it!!Note:Mostpruningis donein midto latewinter,wellbeforebudbreakin earlyspring.)

3 ' thetree~Bothtechniquesareusedto shapethetreeandto letsunlightintotheinteriorof 'apruningcut,alwayscutbackto somethingsuchas to a budor~ a cutbackto a pruneproperly,tintselecta bud:pointinAin thedirectionyouwishnew;growthto ~ in. UW1gclean,sharp'pruningmean., , ona 3 Iantin41inepar~ :iaa~~ThethreepruningcutsDn theleftareinrorrect;theoneat , ;.toofMfromthebud; closetothebudandmaycauseit to ,right,startsslightlyabovethetip of thebudandslant3downat a 45 antle,~levelwiththe NMJO lthe ' pruningwoundhC.

4 Llsbestif thchranchisseveredfromthetrunkjustalon,g thcolltered,geof thehranchcollar, a limbor to thetrunk, thewrinkledor swollenareawherea twigor branchjoinsa shapingan appletreeis ,thetreeis shapedlikea pyramidor Christmastree,wideat thebottomandnarrowat singletrunkor leaderrisesupthroughthecenterof ,as ,productiveWell-lightedzoneissmall,outof reachI'"Poorly-lightedzoneis relativelysmall_____Poorly-lightedmneisl arge,unproductiveGoodShapeBadShapeThedra wingbelowshows a well-sh~ped, is importantthatthesebrancheshavea narrowcrotchangleis weakandthelimbwilloftensplitoffundera loadof )arestrongerthanweak,narrowcrotches(righ t),A pruningcutstimulatesthebudsforseveralinc hesbelowthecutto shootsgrowingupward(orvertically)tendto elongateor setmorefruitbuttheirelongationor ,itwillhavebeenprunedat willbe to threebudsformupwardgrowingshootswhereast hethreeor (aboutAprilor May)

5 ,selecta single,best-placed,andmostvigorousupward growingshootto be themorehorizontalgrowingshoots,evenlyspa cedaroundthetrunk,to be cannotbe emphasizedenoughthatthisselectionof a centralleaderandscaffoldbranc~esis donein notwaituntilwinterto do ,examinetheoutwardgrowingshootswhichyouh aveselectedto be theircrotchanglewheretheyjointhetrunkis lessthan45 ,spreadthemcarefullywitha toothpick,aclothespin,or a nail(sharpenedon bothends)to a goodcrotchangletendto goodas it allowsbranchesto morehorizontalpositionundera fruitloador ,youryoungtreeshouldhavea before,in latespring,selecta singleupwardgrowingshootfora late, repeatedyearly,as thetreegrows,to forma newlayerof scaffoldsanda sixyears,thelowerscaffoldbrancheswillbe cutsomeof themoffat thetrunkwitha sawto is a mistaketo branchescausessidebranchesto ,pruneoffaboutone-fourthof thenewgrowthon theendsof eachscaffoldandothermainbranchesto st~.

6 Eiichpruningcutjustabovean structureof alsohasa largerdiameterdueto carrya constructed,headingcutsshouldnotbeusedex ceptwherefurtherextensiongrowthis snapthemoffearlyeachsummer(orin thewinterif youforgetto removethemearlier).Remo,eIhe,eve,tically !<,owing,hool'~Learnto recognizetheshortfruitingspursanddo recognizethefatbudswhichformfruitandwhichlookentirelydifferentfromtheflatgrowthbudswhichformnewshoots.>v ..IS:rr'''';-\-5(A{ ('{:> ~~c:..s;~.. I'lr-~(.,.w~.F(\A:~&.<>\.5 )~c.~ ,,,,,,,,,el,~~::>w,L'P"'c; (.))))}}

7 A.\ >, "' ..cl.+-4"+I'""'.~,; .. ::.~.. _". ~ '~.nL','G-r.,wY\"" ~:S",,"IU"-c;..J~l ..~<."--M.",~~( :'"l,.,< ~~.\-' \ "v->\-,~Oftenbrancheswillforkat thefork,leavingthelegwhichpointsin fifthyear,youshouldtrainthescaffoldsdown intoamorehorizontalpositionandpullor pushthemlaterallyto 45 angleis eachendto spreadbranchesor youcantiethemdownwithtwineanchoredto a midsummerto notbendscaffoldbranchesdownwardmorethan6 0 . do this,cutoutbrancheswhichrubor (butnotfruitspurs). thetreeby notallowanyapplesto be bornethefirstthreeor fewapplesto be ,thintheapplesto oneor alsohelpsto keepbranchesfrombreakingunderheavyfruitl oads,usuallya 'tbe afraidto goodpairof thebest, youhavemorethanthreetrees, forsourcesof removedsummeror , ,suchas removalof largescaffoldsor cuttingbackthecentralleader,is usuallydonein thelatewinterwhenthetreestructureis unobscuredby oldandneglectedappletreecanneverreturnto fullproductiveness, youjustwantlotsof apples.)

8 Considerplantingyoungtreeswhichcanbe ,theeffortandtimerequiredto restorean treefortyor fiftyyearsoldhasusually~xhau~tedallnutri entsfromthesoilwithinreachof (suchas brush,weeds,grassandothertrees)fromthetr unkoutwellbeyondthereachof thebranches(the"dripline").Spreadtenpoun dsof agriculturallimestoneandtwopoundsof acompletefertilizeron thegroundof theclearedcircleandtillor harrowit intothegroundno "slowrelease"fertilizersuchas 20-9-9or youhaveaccessto a goodmulch(suchas pinebark,pineneedlesorspoiledhay),spread it underthetreeoutto oldtreetwicea year,in MarchandJune, ,justspreadthefertilizerandlimestoneon thesoilsurfaceratherthantillingit removalof thetrunk(rememberto leavethebranchcollar)usuallywitha chainsaw.

9 (Usinga youarenotsureof yourself,hirean expert!I)Deadwoodcanbe removedat ,removeallsuckersgrowingfromthebaseof thetreeandallwatersprouts(longwhip-likes hoots)fromthetrunkand, ,too,canberemovedat a generalrule, is bestto spreadoutdrasticpruningof oldtreesovera two-or a rashof upwardgrowingwatersproutswhichmustbe removedeveryyearin twoofthesetrunksshouldbe removedby chainsaw(usuallytheonesin themiddleto openthecenterof thetreeto sunandair).Coverthestubswithapieceof sheetmetalto oldtreecanbe reducedin heightby cuttingoffthetopsof allupwardgrowingtrunksto a sidebranchat is desirableto reducetheheightby thesetop-mostsidebranchesandmustbe crowdedor shadedby twobranchesar~sharingthesamespace,remove oneof themby cuttingit offat thetrunkof thatlargebranchesshouldbeseparatedvertic allyby at losetenor twelvelargebranchesovera periodof ,again,is usuallychainsawworkandextremecareis neededto {)f f:PYI'AkJ"",;\-i.}

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