Grow your own! Many folks are looking for the most suitable way to affordably feed their families with pure, nutritious, and great-tasting food. Most are growing their own vegetables and herbs, but what about fruit? It makes sense to grow our own fruit, too. Store-bought tree fruits such as apples, cherries, nectarines, peaches, and pears are some of the most heavily sprayed produce, making them questionably safe to eat. For shipping purposes, they are frequently harvested before they are ripe, reducing the fruit’s taste, quality, and nutritional value. What may hold gardeners back from fruit production is fear of the unknown. Fear not! Four Mile Greenhouse & Nursery is here to make it easier to grow all your edibles, including fruits.
Getting Started
Pruning a fruit tree may seem daunting, but once there is an understanding of why, when, and how to prune these unique plants, it all becomes less intimidating.
First, gather your tools.
- Hand Pruners (bypass)
Used on young trees and to cut branches up to 3/4 of an inch. - Loppers (bypass)
Used to prune branches up to about 2 inches thick. - Pruning Saw or Pole Saw
Used to cut thicker branches. A pole saw will help to reach higher limbs.
You will likely only need the bypass hand pruners for the first year. The second year will require loppers; by the third year, you will need a pruning saw. Always make sure that your tools are sharp and clean to avoid spreading disease. Isopropyl alcohol wipes or a mild bleach solution work well — clean pruning tools after each cut.
Why
Pruning is essential to the fruit tree’s health, vitality, and yield. It helps establish strong limbs and enhances air circulation to reduce pest and disease problems while allowing more sunlight to reach the fruit to increase its vigor, size, and nutritional benefits. Pruning also benefits the tree’s overall health by eliminating damaged, diseased, and dead wood, and it makes maintenance and harvesting easier by reducing the plant’s overall size.
When
Young fruit trees should be pruned immediately after planting. From then on, the ideal time to prune is in the late winter or early spring while the trees are dormant. The absence of leaves makes it easier to see the tree’s structure and spot damaged limbs. Dead and injured branches may be removed at any time of the year to avoid further damage to the tree. Always choose a dry day to prune to prevent the spreading of disease.
How
There are two types of fruit tree pruning cuts:
- Heading
A heading cut’s purpose is to shorten a branch and redirect the growth and should always be made just above a healthy leaf bud, at a 45-degree angle, directing water away from the bud to prevent disease. - Thinning
A thinning cut’s purpose is to remove an entire bough to eliminate dead or diseased wood and open up the tree’s canopy. These cuts should be made just above the collar of the limb.
Establishing a Form
There are four common fruit tree pruning forms: central leader, modified leader, open center, and espalier. An open center is the most common form of pruning for the home gardener. The open center form has typically been the choice pruning form for stone fruits like peaches and nectarines, but it also works quite well on apple trees in a home setting. This style of pruning will establish a vase-like form that keeps the tree at a manageable height for harvesting and maintenance, will strengthen limbs, and will increase fruit production.
At Planting Time
If the young tree does not yet have branches, cut the tree’s central leader to about 25 to 30 inches above the ground after planting. Branching will begin to develop about 6 inches below the cut.
If the young tree has branches, remove all branches that are below 15 inches from the ground. Select three or four strong branches about 16 to 30 inches above the ground, growing at a 60 to 90-degree angle, extending from different areas around the main trunk. Cut these selected branches back by one-half to an outward-facing bud. Remove the central leader just above the tallest selected branch.
At the summer’s end, the fruit tree will begin to display an open shape.
First Early Spring
Remove all dead or diseased branches and thin out all vigorous upright shoots that have grown inside the main scaffold. Continue to prune the tree to maintain the open or vase shape.
Second Early Spring
Now that you’ve established the main scaffold, the tree will begin to develop its sub-scaffolding. Choose two to three side branches on each main scaffold limb. These branches should be spaced about 6 to 8 inches apart, on opposite sides of the limb, and about 18 to 24 inches from the tree trunk. All other side branches should be removed, especially those growing inside the open center. Head the selected side branches and primary scaffold back by one-half.
Third Early Spring
Remove any dead or damaged limbs. Continue to maintain the tree’s open center with 3 to 5 scaffold limbs evenly distributed around the trunk at wide angles. Head back the scaffold and sub-scaffold limbs to maintain the size of the tree and encourage the development of new fruiting wood. Thin out any branches growing inside the open crown. Thin suckers (straight-up, quick-growing shoots at the bottom of the tree trunk) and water sprouts (thin shoots that develop on the trunk and limbs), as they will bear no fruit.
Mature Fruiting Trees
Each spring, continue to limit the height and width of mature fruit trees and maintain the vase shape as in prior years. Remove all dead and damaged wood. Head back the primary scaffold limbs to an outside-growing side branch. Keep shoots that are growing horizontally and remove all others. Thin fruiting shoots to about 6 inches apart on a branch.
It is always better to prune fruit trees, even if not done perfectly, than to not prune them at all. Still have fruit tree pruning questions? Four Mile Greenhouse & Nursery is always here to help.
