The best times to prune apple trees is in the late winter months and into the early spring months. This is due to the fact that the tree is dormant and isn’t going to be producing any fruit for a while. You’re not going to want to prune mid season because you will stunt the growth of the tree as well as the growth of the apple on the branches you cut.
What you’re going to want to do is cut the oddly shaped branches. You don’t want your tree to look dumb and you don’t want it to be overcrowded either. The branches that are turned downwards need to go. Also the branches that are snapped need to be cut.
A big part of the trimming process is ridding your tree of “suckers.” These are tiny stems that grow upwards on your tree either from the branches or from the roots. The ones on the branches need to be trimmed immediately but the ones that are growing from your roots need to be killed by 10 inches. These suckers draw out the nutrients of the tree and produce nothing; this is like an extra appendage.
Another thing that you need to understand is that even though you want as many apples as you can get you also want a good looking tree. You don’t want branches that are all over the place and you don’t want to get hurt trying to pick apples. One thing that people with apple trees forget is that if you want a healthy tree it needs to look healthy.
You want a central branch for everything to grow around. You want it to look like a ladder once the tree is fully grown. They need to “climb” the tree in stacks but you don’t want them to touch each other in the process.
When you plant a new tree lots of people go out and buy whips. These are trees that have no branches. What you are going to want to do is trim the top down and use that as the leader. Once you cut the tree in this manner it will coax the tree to sprout branches underneath it. always remember that that first branch is the leader and trim accordingly. The leader is going to be the only branch growing straight up. All other branches are going to be facing outward slightly like fingers on a hand when you spread your fingers out.
Some of the tools you are going to need will be hand pruners and pole pruners. As the name suggests the hand pruners are going to be used mainly for the ones that you can easily reach with your hands. The pole pruners are good for taller trees that require high pruning. These can be obtained at any garden center and someone there will help you understand which kinds will suite your needs.
Pruning your apple trees is going to be beneficial in the end. You’re going to get great apples and have a lovely looking tree. Just remember that good things need to be worked for.
