Hello, We recently purchased a home that has a few fruit trees that have obviously been pruned over the years but have not within the last several I would guess. The trees themselves are quite old, I would hazard a guess that they are 40+ years. I'm curious if this technique could be used on these trees to "restart" them? Their main trunk is roughly a foot thick, the trees are close to 15 feet tall, and roughly as wide. Or might I be better off pruning back less vigorously and training branches from there? Thank you very much, and thank you for this great video series.
Hi Eric, probably best to use an incremental approach like you mention. If you were to prune back a tree of your size and age like the small one in this video, you'd like get a super response and you wind up with a mass of branches that would be difficult to shape and bring back under control. Probably best to to limit major pruning to 1/4 of the tree per season. That should get a less vigorous response. It will also let you see the trees response so you can adjust your pruning for the next 1/4. Good luck with your trees!
Normally, I'd advise against doing any major cuts now. But if your branches aren't in leaf, then you aren't wasting energy by removing them. Was it a family tree with a few cultivars on the same tree? I'd cut a branch or two back, to a 10" or 6" stub. Have a look to see if that part of the branch is still alive. Have you been using any lawn feed with weed killer near the tree? Put grass clipping from a treated lawn in your compost, or use it to mulch your tree? It sounds like your tree is in a bad way, and that something major has happened to it recently. Removing one or two branches to a stub won't do much harm at this stage. It will also let you see just how far they have died back. If all else fails, you can cut the entire top off a small tree and graft on new scion wood. You can do this just before bud break, in the new year. On a larger tree, you can graft onto the stumps of major branches. If you look up a channel called JSacadura, he has a lot of information on grafting. Hope that helps, and you save / over graft your tree.
How soon after the first heavy cutting back of the tree can I add the compost, fertilizer and wood chips...it looked to me like it was done the end of the following growing season? Can it be done sooner?
You can apply compost, fertilizer, and wood chips anytime of the year. It's important in the fall so that the tree has the nutrients to build reserves during the winter that will be used the following spring and summer. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html
I live in western New York and was wondering if there was a way to better guestimate the timing of the initial cutting back of the apple tree...I believe that you are in california and was wondering what would be the best time to do this cutting in my area of the country? Our winters can hold on here till mid April, although we have had a very warm winter this year. I was gonna shoot for mid to late march in the hope that the tree would still be in winter dormancy...or is that not necessary?
This kind of major pruning should be done during winter dormancy as indicated by most or all of the leaves have dropped. I think that Feb or March would be a good time in your area. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”: agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html
Yes, you can prune it now. Apple trees should be pruned both winter and late summer. Winter pruning stimulates growth and shapes the over structure of the tree. Summer pruning "fine tunes" the structure and helps to stimulate the growth of fruit buds and fruiting laterals. These two videos will tell you have to do both: Here's a video on winter pruning of apple trees: ua-cam.com/video/p_-f610rFEU/v-deo.html Here's a video on summer pruning: ua-cam.com/video/9ioGcl7gHgc/v-deo.html
Hello,
We recently purchased a home that has a few fruit trees that have obviously been pruned over the years but have not within the last several I would guess. The trees themselves are quite old, I would hazard a guess that they are 40+ years. I'm curious if this technique could be used on these trees to "restart" them? Their main trunk is roughly a foot thick, the trees are close to 15 feet tall, and roughly as wide. Or might I be better off pruning back less vigorously and training branches from there? Thank you very much, and thank you for this great video series.
Hi Eric, probably best to use an incremental approach like you mention. If you were to prune back a tree of your size and age like the small one in this video, you'd like get a super response and you wind up with a mass of branches that would be difficult to shape and bring back under control. Probably best to to limit major pruning to 1/4 of the tree per season. That should get a less vigorous response. It will also let you see the trees response so you can adjust your pruning for the next 1/4. Good luck with your trees!
Is it too late in the season to do this? My tree had no leaves, except out of the trunk, and it's July
Normally, I'd advise against doing any major cuts now. But if your branches aren't in leaf, then you aren't wasting energy by removing them. Was it a family tree with a few cultivars on the same tree?
I'd cut a branch or two back, to a 10" or 6" stub. Have a look to see if that part of the branch is still alive. Have you been using any lawn feed with weed killer near the tree? Put grass clipping from a treated lawn in your compost, or use it to mulch your tree?
It sounds like your tree is in a bad way, and that something major has happened to it recently. Removing one or two branches to a stub won't do much harm at this stage. It will also let you see just how far they have died back.
If all else fails, you can cut the entire top off a small tree and graft on new scion wood. You can do this just before bud break, in the new year. On a larger tree, you can graft onto the stumps of major branches. If you look up a channel called JSacadura, he has a lot of information on grafting.
Hope that helps, and you save / over graft your tree.
How soon after the first heavy cutting back of the tree can I add the compost, fertilizer and wood chips...it looked to me like it was done the end of the following growing season? Can it be done sooner?
You can apply compost, fertilizer, and wood chips anytime of the year. It's important in the fall so that the tree has the nutrients to build reserves during the winter that will be used the following spring and summer. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”:
agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html
I live in western New York and was wondering if there was a way to better guestimate the timing of the initial cutting back of the apple tree...I believe that you are in california and was wondering what would be the best time to do this cutting in my area of the country? Our winters can hold on here till mid April, although we have had a very warm winter this year. I was gonna shoot for mid to late march in the hope that the tree would still be in winter dormancy...or is that not necessary?
This kind of major pruning should be done during winter dormancy as indicated by most or all of the leaves have dropped. I think that Feb or March would be a good time in your area. Below is a link to several dozen more fruit tree care videos. Scroll down to the section called: “Getting Started with Fruit Trees Organically”:
agroecology.ucsc.edu/resources/instructional-videos.html
My pink lady apple tree is 2yrs. Old, it's very tall, has leaves sprouting.
Can I prune it back, or not
Yes, you can prune it now. Apple trees should be pruned both winter and late summer. Winter pruning stimulates growth and shapes the over structure of the tree. Summer pruning "fine tunes" the structure and helps to stimulate the growth of fruit buds and fruiting laterals. These two videos will tell you have to do both:
Here's a video on winter pruning of apple trees: ua-cam.com/video/p_-f610rFEU/v-deo.html
Here's a video on summer pruning: ua-cam.com/video/9ioGcl7gHgc/v-deo.html
Is there an update video on this tree?
Sorry, but there isn't an update. But, the tree has really flourished and we expect a moderate crop this year.
Savage!!!