Apple Trees and Other Fruit Trees - Pruning and Disease

I pruned my apple trees on April 5.  I knew I had to hurry, as the daily temperature is warming up and the trees will soon be in bloom.  The best time to prune apple trees and other fruit trees is while they're still dormant, which is late winter to early spring.  However, I did read somewhere that any pruning is better than no pruning at all. Again, I followed the instructions I received at a WMMGA seminar.

I pruned my plum tree, nectarine tree and pear trees yesterday, on April 9.  My plum tree looked horrendous.  It had (and still has) "wounds" all over and looks pathetic.  I'm wondering if I should rip it out?  I tried to prune off as much of the wounded wood as I could, but the trunk also has gaping wounds. The base of the trunk is also a mess with chewed bark. I feel so bad for this tree!  I wonder if I should call a tree specialist or just consult a good book. Maybe I should send pictures into the email hotline!? Now there's a thought!

 All of the trees showed a lot of new growth, but a lot of that growth had to be cut off in order to let light and air through the tree.  Also, many of the branches were growing either straight up or straight down, or they were growing inward or rubbing against each other.  I cut so much that I was worried I wouldn't have anything left of the trees!  However, this is good for the trees and will result in a lot of fruit (I hope!!)

Pruning got a little tricky where "central leaders" were concerned.  All of the trees have obvious central leaders except for my nectarine tree.  There just isn't one central leader. As a result, it looks like a tuning fork!  I think this is because it wasn't pruned properly in the past.

Too Late for Pruning Fruit Trees, and Other Mistakes

Unfortunately, I have been so busy for the past couple of months that I never set aside enough time to prune my fruit trees.  This is unfortunate, because this is their second year in my yard, and I have never pruned them.  Fruit trees need to be trained while they are still young to encourage good framework.  They will be healthier, stronger and more fruitful in the long-run.  Fruit trees are supposed to be pruned while they are still dormant, but I saw today that all of my trees are in bloom.  The ideal time to prune fruit trees in Massachusetts is late March.  I have no choice but to wait until next year. This is already on my March To-Do List, but next year I will be sure to make it a priority.

I did take time to examine all of my trees today.  So many issues.  For starters, I have the wrong pruners.  These have a blunt edge.  I need to get pruners that have 2 sharp edges.  Also, I'm supposed to keep these things clean!

 

 

I noticed that most of the trees have multiple central leaders instead of one, and that most of the trees have very narrow crotch angles, which means that the trees are susceptible to breakage in storms.  This tree needs to be thinned out, but it already has buds.  Also, I need to start putting weights on some of the branches to encourage them to drop, creating wide crotch angles:

 



This tree has multiple leaders and needs to be corrected next year:

I also discovered other signs of abuse and neglect.  For instance, I just got around to removing the tags from all my trees.  Shame.  Also, I need to put mulch around the trees to protect them from weed-wackers and lawn mowers:

 

 

Lastly, I need to get some tree wrap to protect the trees from deer, mice, and sun.  My plum tree has suffered from either deer rubbing against it or sun-burn - not sure which.  I intend to wrap them as soon as possible and put wire mesh around all the tree trunks.  Also, some of the trees trunks are being chewed by mice or voles:

 

 

 

The pests can be brutal.  I didn't realize baby trees were so vulnerable.

 

Before I went out to prune the trees, I reread my post from early April about pruning fruit trees.  However, I didn't feel like I had enough information, so I did a little more research.  Here are some other useful sites:

 



http://www.uri.edu/ce/factsheets/sheets/pruneapples.html

 

http://learningstore.uwex.edu/assets/pdfs/A1959.pdf

 

http://www.weekendgardener.net/how-to/prune-apple-trees.htm

Pruning Apple Trees at Cold Spring Orchard

Today, I joined other "master gardeners" at Cold Spring Orchard in Belchertown to learn how to prune apple trees.

It was freezing!!  But, as this is the time of year to prune fruit trees, it was good experience.

This is Dr. Wes Autio, a specialist in fruit trees.  He is a professor at UMass and was our instructor today:

One of the first things we learned is that a true horticulturist only uses the best quality tools.  That goes for aspiring horticulturists like myself.  Hmm.  Guess my OSJL tools don't count.  I didn't dare take them out of the car!

Wes suggests buying our tools from Oesco (Orchard Equipment Supply Company) because they have the best tools available, and because they are a local company (Conway, MA).  I picked up one of their catalogues when I went to the blueberry pruning seminar last month.  The tools needed for proper pruning are hand-pruners, loppers and pruning saws. Some of the brands Wes highly recommends are Felco, Barnel, Pica (hand-pruners) and Silky (saws). 

In this picture, he is demonstrating how to sharpen tools.  In his right hand is a sharpener (diamond stone, "medium").  You are only supposed to sharpen the beveled side.  Run the sharpener along the bevel, against the cut itself, then turn the blade over to clean the bur (deburring) by rubbing the sharpener flat against it.

Also, it is recommended that you oil the tools with a light oil and keep them clean, either with water or WD-40 (I actually discovered that we have a can of this in the basement!).  Wes says he doesn't worry too much about disinfecting the tools, and says that it is not necessary unless you've been working with plants that are diseased.

Now, for the apple trees!

I can just picture this place when the trees are in bloom!!

We were all given a bookmark/factsheet about apple tree pruning and training:

• Sunlight turns buds into fruit buds.
• Training and pruning should maximize sunlight in the tree.
• Shade is your enemy - All parts of the tree should receive sunlight.
• Pruning Stimulates new shoots which will produce fruit buds the following year and bear fruit the next year.

There are seven rules, to be completed in order:

1. Remove 2 or 3 of the largest limbs in the top two-thirds of the tree.
2. Use the 2-1 rule (diameter-based pruning).  Remove any scaffold branch or limb that is half the diameter or larger than the central leader.  A branch of this size chokes out the leader, not allowing the tree to reach optimal fruiting capacity.  Use bevel cuts to remove these limbs.
3. Avoid heading cuts - remove the entire limb instead.
4. Avoid complex branches in the lower one-third of the tree.  As branches on lateral limbs get older they develop additional branches.  This is what we call a complex branch.  Leave the smaller pencil thick fruiting shoots.
5. Remove downward hanging branches.
6. Remove shoots that are growing straight up.
7. Leave one shoot as a central leader - do not prune it.

Pruning Shrubs and Trees - Late Winter

I learned in my gardening class that some shrubs and trees should be pruned in late winter, and March is the perfect time to do this: Lilacs, forsythia, butterfly bush, hydrangea, spirea - and other deciduous shrubs, apple trees, needled evergreens, and hemlocks.  As mentioned in an earlier post, I went to Tougas Family Farm to learn how to prune blueberries, since this is the time of year when they need to be done.  I will not be pruning my blueberries for at least 3 years however.  My poor blueberry bushes!

Those little twigs sticking up through the snow are what's left of my baby blueberry bushes!  This year, I am going to do everything I can to protect them.

I pruned several bushes this week - my butterfly bushes and my hydrangeas.  I took another look at them today and determined that I have to go back and make some "thinning cuts".  Thinning cuts can be done at any time of the year, as they don't really effect the fruiting.

This poor butterfly bush had a deer take a nap on it last summer.  It's still alive, but I have to find some way to straighten it out.

I still have our hemlock hedge to do - which is getting a little out of hand:

Also, forsythia, lilacs,burning bush (which is an invasive species) and spirea... all of which are a mess!

 

 

I like this picture of Shadow!  He loves to be outside when I'm gardening.

Anyway, I tend to tame all of these plants.  These pictures show we had fresh snow yesterday.  The yard looked a little bleak today - very soon we should see a lot of color (and neat looking hedges and shrubs)!