Hahaha, enthusiasm is an essential ingredient to effective teaching. Think of your past teachers, the ones that bored you, you probably don't even remember their name or subject.
A few years ago, I would never have taken such an interest in gardening. Life was just too busy and stressful, but I’m learning that gardening is a stress buster and gives much enjoyment. And when you have good people like Stefan helping novice gardeners, then that is surely a bonus. You can grow small fruit trees in pots. Try it.
This video is a nice illustration of the reality that you can prune fruit trees in a variety of ways and get the results you seek. I think I do not follow at least 5 of your seven deadly sins of pruning and I also get the results I want. But to each his own. I have issues with heights, so I keep my trees very short, no more than 8 feet tall, typically more like 5-6 feet if I can. I find I can get more work done from the ground than I can scaling ladders. Your video at 6:42 shows really tall trees. I do not have a ladder that goes that high. I would never purposely cross branches to hold them in place. I would instead cut them off so they do not cross. Crossing branches will cause the branches to either rub and create an open wound, or they will just flip out in the next windstorm. I think it is interesting for the viewer to note that there are many ways to prune a tree.
Thank you for the guidance. This feels most in tune with large orchards and not the backyard orchard. We need trees maintained at a height we can reach. Our pruning (about 40 trees) is somewhat different than what is presented here but we always like learning.
I am so happy to hear you say this! I have two apple trees and I watched so many pruning videos. Then I would go out to the trees and I couldn't bring myself to "improve" them by cutting branches off. I had just resigned myself to having less harvest... but the harvests are more than enough for me anyway. Now I'm glad I didn't chop them up!
I am going to Toronto on 21st April to start studying interaction design. But I find solace in tiny homes, earthships, permaculture rather than the virtual world of IT. One day I'll visit you Stefan. Stay healthy and keep inspiring us ❤️
I have pruned my roses in march, in my front yard garden, the middle aged neigbour walking by, was stunned by me doing yard work still in winter said; 'you're not planting are you?!' Sounding like 'Im crazy, don't know what im doing. So i stood up, smiled and gave him quick lesson on gardening, that gardening is not only about planting ready plants in the late may or early june. If you're true garden, there's work all year round even in december or january. You prune cover,l and uncover plants, you can move some plants in the middle of winter weather permitting if ground is not frozen. 😁
I have a very pretty apricot tree growing in a 15 gallon plastic pot and a very pretty peach tree growing in a smaller clay pot. I have not pruned them because I did not know how to prune them. Someone told me I should reduce them to a stump the first year, but that seemed too drastic so I ignored that. I am glad I saw this video and I will continue to leave them alone to do their thing and give me little peaches and little apricots. My apricot gave me 1 fruit in 2019, nothing in 2020 or 2021 and finally fruit in 2022. My peach tree was bought in a 4" x 4" x 9" pot and had 3 peaches on it and has given me fruit every year for 5 years. Both trees have fruit for 2023.
We planted bare rooted apples last year - and pruned them to whips two feet tail. They're currently six feet tail with fruit buds at the tips. We've mulched twice with composted woodchip (woodchip/chicken manure/calcium sulphate/eggshell). This year will be a watching brief and let the trees express themselves.
I learned the hard way about covering an apple tree with plastic sheeting when a freeze threatened. It came and the sun early the next day cooked the buds right off. Unless you get out there before daylight, taking off the cover, never do it.
Oh my. Just today I went out and pruned our young apple tree that was laden with fruit. I cut off the ends of some branches, pulled off the small apples and pruned the small off-shoots. I did this after watching a video yesterday. Luckily, I didn’t take drastic steps. Thanks for the very informative videos. I live in NZ, so it’s the beginning of our winter, but our young Braeburn apple tree is fruiting. We do live up north, so we get mild winters. My neighbour was quite surprised, as she said it’s unusual for apples to fruit this late.
Summer Pruning doesn't do the same things dormant pruning does. Dormant pruning encourages vigorous regrowth (since there are less buds for the same amount of carbohydrates in the rootsystem, it's more complex than that, but that's the gist), and it allows you to remove weak wood, branches that are going to rub (especially once the weight of fruit is on them, which encourages insect and disease pressure) improve light/air infiltration, and remove flower buds quickly (so you don't have to hand thin as much, or even worse, stress the tree into "june drop"). Summer pruning (which, here in the Northern Hemisphere can be done in Late May - Early June and again in early August) shortens the new flush of growth (without the vigorous response of dormant pruning), encouraging spur formation (well noted for the last couple hundred years), thinning out the canopy to maintain light and air (ripening fruit and limiting disease and places for pests to hide from beneficials), the tree heals much faster than when dormant pruning, and it removes the tips of the new growth (which effectively become nutrient sinks as the tree tries to continue growing while also growing fruit, especially important during the cell-division phase). People that strive for "natural trees" usually don't know what one actually looks like, they have an idea (the ideal) of what a "natural tree" is (which is based in ideology, not reality); and unfortunately, that idea doesn't usually come with the reality of a short life, insect damage, disease, breakages, loss of productivity (most of the space within a large apple tree is wasted space, and does nothing but support the canopy), biennial bearing, and even death (yes, I've seen older feral trees (and younger peach trees) kill themselves with fruit set) that comes with that. There's a difference between managing an ecosystem to function smoothly, and just simply ignoring the last 20 generations of recorded observations (many of which were made prior to the invention of pesticides and fungicides) because it doesn't quite fit with dogma. BTW, Braeburn is a late ripening apple, in Ohio, it ripens in early-mid November (may-june in NZ?), along with Goldrush, Cripp's Pink, NW Greening, and Enterprise. Some of the first Braeburn I tasted were imported from NZ. In very mild climates (California has issues with this sometimes), apples can push flowerbuds in the fall, but those will not ripen, and are a waste of tree resources). Always remember: A tree grows to fill the space it's given, large branches/scaffolds do not produce fruit, and large branches make for large trees (and having done it growing up, you do not want to be crawling up and down a 30' ladder with a bushel bag). There have been trials in Brazil where they planted High density apple orchards on Semi-standard and large semi-dwarf rootstocks, and the trees never became unmanageable as Tall Spindle (as I recall, they were planted something along the lines of 1.2m x 4.25m). My apple orchards are now being planted on 2m x 2m (everything is planted that way, peaches, cherry, plum, apricot, mulberry, pear) spacing with Antonovka rootstock and an B9 interstem, and I have not had any issues.
I just bought a house with apple trees, and my grandpa would always grow them in his yard so I really want to try- but I can from watching your video and a few others that the previous owner didn't know how to prune them because there's no central trunk, most of the branches go straight up and they are maybe 3 feet from the fence with my neighbor. This video was really helpful- thank you! :)
I dont feel so crazy anymore thank you :) my neighbor tried to lop off HALF a 30-40yo cherry type tree (very small) since it was growing horizontal due to the addition of a shed. Iv'e just been braiding/training it to go up along with minimal pruning, and it's already headed toward the top of the shed! They know what's best for them people are really not good listeners.
Darn...wish I saw this two weeks earlier. I followed conventional wisdom and make a bunch of the dreaded 7 mistakes. I will check out the course. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Love this advice. I'm back in my childhood city of Melbourne... A family member has pruned my beloved apple trees into hedges. I felt as if I had been speared to the ground with a javelin. In Chihuahua, I've practically given up trying to prune anything except the grape vine. Nothing that I do works at all and always ends up resulting in the opposite effect. Thin out the tree and it will sucker all over the place for shade, remove the ground suckers and the rabbits ring the tree, cut the tree so it's lower so I can reach the fruit and it doesn't fruit... The year I do nothing we had a great crop. Wondering how the garden will survive without no watering until May...
On the bright side there are a lot less things that can go wrong that you’ve not encountered. It tends to be most things can only go up when they’re at the bottom.
Thank you so much for this. I have always questioned a lot of modern practices based upon "control" it seems like humans feel the need to control everything and its refreshing to see even more evidence how that can really muck things up. Honestly I want to grow apple trees that are based upon non-dwarf root stock, do you have ant experience with this
You're so right. Standard sized trees respond the same way as dwarfing sized, except: they often don't need irrigation, staking, they take a bit longer to begin to bear, can be integrated with livestock to the benefit of trees and animals and they far outlive dwarf trees. If you don't need to rely on the orchard to live on in the early years, absolutely plant standard well spaced TRIO based orchard. DON'T get sucked into a monoculture planting. See my other videos on the tree diversity.
Planting my new orchard today (wife finally gave in LOL). I have pruned many trees in the past (myself and for other people). No matter what you know, you will always learn more. Thank you for sharing. Great down and dirty video. You can't break it down farther than that. Many will benefit from this. I picked up a few more good pointers. Never stop learning.
I am worried that my lawn and yard person might have over pruned. Leaves didn't drop from my dwarf apple tree, cause of the cutting with gas cutter. Glad to see you back.
Nobody should be using machinery to cut woody plants (with few exceptions - boxwood, maybe yews...). They make terrible, indiscriminate cuts that struggle to heal & distort the shape of the plant.
Hello from CFS! This video was very helpful, thank you. We are looking to prune a few old apple trees for the first time and we are very excited to be using their apples for making hard cider in the fall. Best, David and Rachel from CFS!!
Hello Stefan, thank you for posting yet another inspiring video. I just finished planting my 1 acre permaculture orchard in Belgium, and I was wondering: If the trees I bought are already pruned, is there still a way to correct the 'damage' that's already been done?
Two questions... 1). This year, due to neighboring timber harvests going on, EVERY fruit tree and bush (even raspberries) have been extensively nibbled on by deer. Will this cause hardening of branches? 2) I have two lilac bushes, (one purple, one white) adjacent to my small orchard. This year the bark on the lower half of each is turning black... Should I worry and take action? Thank you... You're my #1 recommended channel for permaculture orchards. Much love
Never worry, life is too short to waste energy on worry. It will cause hardening, dwarfing, and usually a mess. I have a video coming up soon about deer, watch for it. For the lilac just leave them and see what survives.
@@StefanSobkowiak can’t wait for that video, deer did same to me pruned everything this winter. Mostly my fault no fence and in winter I did not spray repellent.
Thank you for such a helpful video! I need to watch your other ones too. We have a small orchard planted about 20 years ago that has been neglected because of long-term, extensive health issues with a child that started right after planting. I can now give the trees much needed attention, but have no idea where to start. What should my first priority be?
Follow the 3 steps I explained in the starting video in the pruning course. A good clean chimney will bring light into the centre of the trees and allow new branches to grow where needed. Then remove a couple of the most upwards angled branches (they can be large) and third polish the branches by removing all the branches underneath each remaining branch. If you run out of time the chimney is the most important on long abandoned trees.
Training before pruning. I really like this way of approaching my fruit trees. Is this for most fruit trees or just apples? This seems to work well with my Asian pears. How about plums and cherries? Does your pruning course talk about different fruit trees and fruit bushes too?
Yes this technique has been used for fruit trees and bushes as well as nut trees. I cover apple, pear, plum and small fruit shrubs in the course but it applies to all fruit.
Stefan, you are not implying that pruning is completely unnecessary, are you? Also, I am in a cold zone where only standard sized root stock is suitable, so what is your recommendation to keep these trees at a suitable height?
Not unnecessary but generally overused. Training is underused, especially for standard trees. Good training instead of pruning will keep your standard tree shorter and flowering earlier.
Planted an apple tree over a decade ago, and have never pruned it. Kind of glad I haven’t touched it now, after watching this one. My little tree tends to be loaded with apples, and the lack of pruning is probably why. Lol!
Absolutely if you didn’t start pruning the tree took on it’s natural shape. You can now clear a chimney and Polish the undersides of each branch. Check out the quick and dirty pruning video for the 3 steps.
Thanks for another informative video. I have always been big on training shrubs, trees, etc., by a combination of pruning AND tying branches OR using limb spreaders. One must keep in mind hormones and apical dominance among other things though. Many growers though don’t have the time for these techniques and instead just cut away.
Finally a good use for all that baling twine :-) Training down branches - brilliant! Thanks for your insightful videos! They are much fun to watch - As a European transplant I am also interplanting currants in my orchard --- tough to find a good red variety in Washington State. Happy to find that at least some of my seaberries survived last summer's heat wave... Keep it up!
Thank you Stefan for these great videos. I have a question: The quote "do you want a tree or you want a fruit tree?" can be applied to all fruit trees or just apples?
@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you, I am following your advice. I am starting my Orchard from scratch. I have two adjacent small lands (1500 sqr m and 850 sqr m. I am planning to make the bigger one as a berry land (plant all types of Temperate Berries) and the small one as a fruit Orchard.
Love the videos, your style and the philosophy! But….I would argue these apple trees are now bred to produce huge amounts of fruit. They were already manipulated by humans and produce more when manipulated further. I am against dogmatism in the garden and one should know what they want the end game to be. For me that is highly manipulated, tightly spaced, tiny trees. I like open center for beautiful little trees. Thanks for the great videos!
We moved to acreage that was used as a recreational area (dirt bikes, fireworks, etc., for many years. Last summer, I used an app to figure out some of the trees and we have a “common apple” and a cherry. Obviously, food was also dumped wherever. The apple is pretty large. Definitely mature. I will watch those two to see if they bloom this spring. My question is: the apple has at very tall main branch/trunk off to one side that I would like to trim back. Can that be done and, if so, what is the best time to do it? I need a tree service because I cannot reach high enough and my largest pruning stick isn’t long enough or thick enough. Also, does a common apple need another apple tree to produce fruit?
Yes it needs another apple or crab-apple within about 300m. Late winter - early spring is the best time to prune. You can prune back the main stem to a downward facing branch (don't cut back more than 1/3 or it will just regrow very vigourously.
Lot of good info, but I grew up dealing with, we use to spend hours proping limbs with heavey crops, I always thined fruit so could size fruit. I noticed alot of farmers styling trees to be more oen and t he eavier limbs, very nice to gaze upon. I weight limbs and tie for direction. Conclusion you b u, and i be me. When i make large cuts i seal cut, everyone , lock in moister, and prevent dry rot. Dries out , gets wet, sun shines and cooks then rot. Seal with pruning putty, latex paint, may have to recoat later, if paint cracks.
Thank you, Stefan! We're waiting on bated breath to see what fate will befall the gorgeous apple blossoms we have forming on our apple trees down here in 8B/9A.
The best pruning video ever. I too feel people over prune, take off too many leaves (the energy machine of the tree), try to master the tree. Other than really crossing branches, I think I will take a more naturalistic approach! I wonder if weighing down pear branches w weights is still a good idea or will the natural weight of fruit be enough?
My neighbors apple & pear trees along the property line are All disease ridden. Every fruit is rotten & falls mostly into my yard. Wish I could cut them down. Their old giant double dying Oak also drops branches & huge limbs onto my yard. My dog narrowly missed being crushed
How will your trees look like in years to come? In my village where i live the apple trees are pruned and trained in like umbrella shape, height about 3 meters and the branches are really zig zag from the base and resemble a pile of knots tangling everywhere, so they have been trained many times in many directions. Is there a weakness when doing like that, they must be around 100 years old by now
It was an old training technique called arcure Lepage probably after the originator. It was meant to keep standard sized trees lower. An interesting technique that one of my apprentices tried. Works.
Great info; thank you! I have 5 various, mature apple trees that have all been pruned wrong! Now I can coach someone to leave them alone😉 Can I use a sucker branch to graft to another tree?
I had rabbit head cut several branches on my fruit trees. They are young trees and the branches are low down on the trees. Should I just cut the branch off at the base and count my losses?
Moved into zone 4b Minnesota had four crabapple trees..lost one ..over.. crowding.. now these trees are out of control..and growing over the driveway parking area .so other three will need to be pruned..hoping to not need to completely remove them.. I take it the pruning need to be done just before Spring 2023.. knowing how to do this..I thought before I watched this video..may need to watch your pruning session
I couldn’t figure out why my apple trees look so good and healthy but I never get any fruit. I’ve been pruning them to have strong upright branches and removing anything that sags. I thought sagging branches (especially heavy with fruit) would break. Now I know that I need them to sag.
Hello Sir I have Baby apple trees teh way rural kings pruned it all my branches are point up ill show it on my next video maybe you can help me prune it?
Your videos are the most helpful Ive seen for pruning. I really like training the trees. I have a peach tree that is pretty small. the fruit is so heavy it keeps breaking branches. Is it better to support the branches?
Thank you, Stefan. This is a very different perspective to the more conventional wisdom out there. What I want to know, however, is that I am creating a small food forest and I don't want my trees to get so tall that I have to use ladders. Is this not a good justification for pruning the leader and having an open center shape? I haven't been able to get hold of dwarf varieties and pruning the trees short was supposed to be an alternative.
Thanks for this great info... question. Should the flowers of young (first year planted) apple or other fruit trees be removed... someone else suggested to remove flowers to prevent fruiting so the tree can focus on root development... any truth to this, anyone support that advice??? I'm new to raising fruit trees and there is a lot of contradicting guidance out there! Thanks!
You leave a few next to trunk. Branch croches should look like space between thumb and first finger. Any spurs that bare fruit last year will rest this year.
Hi Stefan, the references to limb removal I've come across always mention to never take it back to the collar, but to leave a stump so as not to endanger the trunk by cutting back all the way, and have buds regrow the limb from there. I have the Lespinasse book, too, but could find no definite answer in it as to why he favours this method. Did he add this method after it was published?
I don't know which references you are mentioning but leaving a stub is not recommended unless you want to regrow a branch in that same spot and if so the stub is no more than 1'' and better to be angled with nothing left at the top. Then why take it down in the first place unless the branch angle is too vertical. How much to take off requires looking and understanding where the branch collar ends. If you leave the collar you don't endanger the trunk and leaving a stub just encourages rot as has been shown a long time ago by Dr Alex Shigo.
@@StefanSobkowiak I was referring to cutting back to a stump like in the pruning of vines, or cherries (f.e. KGB), in apples more to not endanger the trunk than to get a new shoot from buds in that stump. You would still constantly have to do that in an adult tree once the limbs surpassed 50% of trunk diameter, wouldn't you? Or is there a moment when those 15 limbs form a final set, barring disease or accident?
I took on an allotment plot May 2022 and inherited very mature old pear, apple and a cherry plum tree. The apple and pear fruited a lot. The cherry plum I got 2 fruits. The apple and pear tree look to not ben pruned for many years. Some of the larger branches are rubbing against each other. Now I thought you had to cut the rubbing branches out, because they cause damage. But your instruct shows you manoeuvring branches to be tucked under other branches. I shall leave them in then. One thing I do have, are 3 larger branches that have tore/split - they still produce fruit. I was going to cut those branches out. But now I am wondering if they are still producing fruit and the split is there, but very old, maybe the split has "healed". I just see so much advice out there to cut damaged wood out. Not sure.
Based upon your considerable enthusiasm for a non pruning approach I spent the day opening up my 10 foot apple trees. I never cut anything. Because it is high-spring here in Alberta, Canada, the limbs are soft and pliable. I hung bricks from many of the limbs to weight them down and begin the process of changing those acute angle branches into right angle branches. That process along opened up the tree to more sunlight. My tree that had a 4 foot footprint now has a 10 foot footprint. Hopefully it will stop the race to see who is leader. Do I understand you correctly to say, that if I want a 12 foot tree I can bend the leader and that will signal the rest of the tree to do the same? Am I wrong to gently massage the 5/8 thick limbs into a gentle bend. Nothing broke but there was considerable stretching going on.
You got it. Yes you can bend the top, 5/8 is small enough. It may not want to stay there and want to shoot another shoot at the bend but worth trying. Just bend it so the tip is pointing down below horizontal.Keep on trying you will see an amazing change to your tree.
Crickey I’ve done it all wrong. Now you’ve got me thinking I need to train down the multi leaders on my young apple tree so that’s there’s only one vertical. Is that stupid too?
Hello, i have an apple tree in my front yard and it is may 9, 2022 and the tree has not sprouted leaves yet, it is starting to sprout suckers on the trunk, just started. In the fall the leaves at the very top stay on it until late and i fertilize june and dec with manure. It grew very well last year and thought id get a good first year of apples this year but im afraid its dead or was harmed in some way. If i scratch off the bark on some areas there is green under the bark area. I trimmed it early in march and im afraid i harmed it. It has been cold here at night and im hoping the tree is holding back until a long stretch of warm weather hits. I snipped the ends off of many small branches and i see the green cambial layer, what is your opinion of why it has no leaves yet, is there hope for it?
There are no leaves here either, but it depends what zone you’re in. Relax take a deep breath and realize that it will probably be fine. Even if for some reason the top dies, the roots will likely grow back and you can graft on the shoots.
@@StefanSobkowiak Im a little north of Philadelphia i think zone 5, there are tiny suckers starting to grow out of the main trunk, in the very least it will grow new branches, i was fearing the worst because i had high hopes for it this year for a nice harvest, thank you for your reply.
Seed will likely have a high % of thorny seedlings. Just keep looking or order from Canada. I just ordered a tray of small thornless from Végétolab from here in Quebec. If you order they may have some for fall or next spring. Pretty well all fruit plant nurseries will be short of stock again this year.
The book: Novel concepts in fruit tree pruning by Lespinasse and Leterme. The fruit tree architecture group at INRA in France. They’ve been leading research since the 80s
I just watched other 1million viewed bideo with a lot of pruning to creat air flow, to control the way they grow but didn’t say it will produce more apples, after watch yours, I am Really confused now😂😂, I don’t know should I trim or not trim?? My goals just produce more apples
It may bother some people that he refers to ALL of the tree’s attempts to grow more branches as: “suckers” whether they originate from ground level, or not. Technically speaking, he is correct since the mechanism is the same above as below. However, it’s more common to refer to suckers coming from ground level as “suckers” and suckers originating on branches as “watersprouts”.
@@StefanSobkowiak awesome! I was hoping i didnt mess anything up. I pruned off anything that wasnt healthy. To try and help it send energy somewhere else that could actually be alive. I know they like the central leader but It wasnt alive so i figured a new lead would start on its own.
Yikes I watched this too late I had already used my German Lowe pruners to prune the apple tree. I’d like to blame you for not contacting me but I can’t because it’s all on me. I’ll have to go through all your apple tree videos now! I hope you have a tutorial on dealing with the Coddling moth. The apples get ravaged by the worms.
So pruning is not a necessity.? Funny, I was going to prune my apple tree this week because every one tells me to do it so it can produce more apples. I never pruned it .I like the shape and I think it’s happy .but I was going to do it because I was told I should. Thanks for this. I think I will leave it alone this year again.
Can we hang weights on young trees (4 to 7 years old)? I want my apple tree branches at 90% or less. I'm thinking of hanging 16oz bottles filled with the right amount of water to weight them down. I want fruit trees not just trees!
Haha you understand. Yes you can, using a bottle will allow a pretty precise simulation of a weight load of fruit and can be adjusted with more weight easily.
I moved into a house with apple trees two summers ago. They've been untended for, well, honestly, I have no idea. But since I have them, I thought I might start caring for them. I know you talked about the branch naturally drooping as the fruit grows and gets heavy, and allowing it to do that. . .but on one of my trees half the tree is currently touching the ground! It looks like an upside down forest. What do you think? Should I just go ahead and leave it?
If it’s touching the ground because it’s loaded with fruit just prune the branches under the main trunk in late winter. See the first video of the pruning course on the 3 steps, use step 3 on that branch (pruningcourse.com).
Hands down, one of the absolute best channels on the tube. This guy knows his craft. I always learn from him.
I couldn't agree more! Plus just love your spirit Stefan! Such a light-hearted approach :) Thank you as always for sharing your knowledge!
I don't even have apple trees and just watched this whole video because I love your contagious enthusiasm so much!
Hahaha, enthusiasm is an essential ingredient to effective teaching. Think of your past teachers, the ones that bored you, you probably don't even remember their name or subject.
Pruning is all fun and games
Till someone loses an eye
@@brianhanrahan7561 that gave me a chuckle, thanks😅
A few years ago, I would never have taken such an interest in gardening. Life was just too busy and stressful, but I’m learning that gardening is a stress buster and gives much enjoyment. And when you have good people like Stefan helping novice gardeners, then that is surely a bonus. You can grow small fruit trees in pots. Try it.
Get an apple tree.
This video is a nice illustration of the reality that you can prune fruit trees in a variety of ways and get the results you seek. I think I do not follow at least 5 of your seven deadly sins of pruning and I also get the results I want. But to each his own. I have issues with heights, so I keep my trees very short, no more than 8 feet tall, typically more like 5-6 feet if I can. I find I can get more work done from the ground than I can scaling ladders. Your video at 6:42 shows really tall trees. I do not have a ladder that goes that high. I would never purposely cross branches to hold them in place. I would instead cut them off so they do not cross. Crossing branches will cause the branches to either rub and create an open wound, or they will just flip out in the next windstorm. I think it is interesting for the viewer to note that there are many ways to prune a tree.
Trees are like clay in the hands of a potter. We can make them do all kinds of things. No way is wrong it just depends what your goal is.
I’m with you, James!
Thank you for the guidance. This feels most in tune with large orchards and not the backyard orchard. We need trees maintained at a height we can reach. Our pruning (about 40 trees) is somewhat different than what is presented here but we always like learning.
I am so happy to hear you say this! I have two apple trees and I watched so many pruning videos. Then I would go out to the trees and I couldn't bring myself to "improve" them by cutting branches off. I had just resigned myself to having less harvest... but the harvests are more than enough for me anyway. Now I'm glad I didn't chop them up!
I am going to Toronto on 21st April to start studying interaction design. But I find solace in tiny homes, earthships, permaculture rather than the virtual world of IT. One day I'll visit you Stefan. Stay healthy and keep inspiring us ❤️
I have pruned my roses in march, in my front yard garden, the middle aged neigbour walking by, was stunned by me doing yard work still in winter said; 'you're not planting are you?!' Sounding like 'Im crazy, don't know what im doing. So i stood up, smiled and gave him quick lesson on gardening, that gardening is not only about planting ready plants in the late may or early june. If you're true garden, there's work all year round even in december or january. You prune cover,l and uncover plants, you can move some plants in the middle of winter weather permitting if ground is not frozen. 😁
I have a very pretty apricot tree growing in a 15 gallon plastic pot and a very pretty peach tree growing in a smaller clay pot. I have not pruned them because I did not know how to prune them. Someone told me I should reduce them to a stump the first year, but that seemed too drastic so I ignored that. I am glad I saw this video and I will continue to leave them alone to do their thing and give me little peaches and little apricots. My apricot gave me 1 fruit in 2019, nothing in 2020 or 2021 and finally fruit in 2022. My peach tree was bought in a 4" x 4" x 9" pot and had 3 peaches on it and has given me fruit every year for 5 years. Both trees have fruit for 2023.
We planted bare rooted apples last year - and pruned them to whips two feet tail. They're currently six feet tail with fruit buds at the tips. We've mulched twice with composted woodchip (woodchip/chicken manure/calcium sulphate/eggshell). This year will be a watching brief and let the trees express themselves.
I learned the hard way about covering an apple tree with plastic sheeting when a freeze threatened. It came and the sun early the next day cooked the buds right off. Unless you get out there before daylight, taking off the cover, never do it.
@Ni-dk7niMaybe so, yeah.
Oh my. Just today I went out and pruned our young apple tree that was laden with fruit. I cut off the ends of some branches, pulled off the small apples and pruned the small off-shoots. I did this after watching a video yesterday. Luckily, I didn’t take drastic steps. Thanks for the very informative videos. I live in NZ, so it’s the beginning of our winter, but our young Braeburn apple tree is fruiting. We do live up north, so we get mild winters. My neighbour was quite surprised, as she said it’s unusual for apples to fruit this late.
Blessings from the south!
@@catherinesyme901 Blessings to you too. 🙂
Summer Pruning doesn't do the same things dormant pruning does. Dormant pruning encourages vigorous regrowth (since there are less buds for the same amount of carbohydrates in the rootsystem, it's more complex than that, but that's the gist), and it allows you to remove weak wood, branches that are going to rub (especially once the weight of fruit is on them, which encourages insect and disease pressure) improve light/air infiltration, and remove flower buds quickly (so you don't have to hand thin as much, or even worse, stress the tree into "june drop").
Summer pruning (which, here in the Northern Hemisphere can be done in Late May - Early June and again in early August) shortens the new flush of growth (without the vigorous response of dormant pruning), encouraging spur formation (well noted for the last couple hundred years), thinning out the canopy to maintain light and air (ripening fruit and limiting disease and places for pests to hide from beneficials), the tree heals much faster than when dormant pruning, and it removes the tips of the new growth (which effectively become nutrient sinks as the tree tries to continue growing while also growing fruit, especially important during the cell-division phase).
People that strive for "natural trees" usually don't know what one actually looks like, they have an idea (the ideal) of what a "natural tree" is (which is based in ideology, not reality); and unfortunately, that idea doesn't usually come with the reality of a short life, insect damage, disease, breakages, loss of productivity (most of the space within a large apple tree is wasted space, and does nothing but support the canopy), biennial bearing, and even death (yes, I've seen older feral trees (and younger peach trees) kill themselves with fruit set) that comes with that. There's a difference between managing an ecosystem to function smoothly, and just simply ignoring the last 20 generations of recorded observations (many of which were made prior to the invention of pesticides and fungicides) because it doesn't quite fit with dogma.
BTW, Braeburn is a late ripening apple, in Ohio, it ripens in early-mid November (may-june in NZ?), along with Goldrush, Cripp's Pink, NW Greening, and Enterprise. Some of the first Braeburn I tasted were imported from NZ. In very mild climates (California has issues with this sometimes), apples can push flowerbuds in the fall, but those will not ripen, and are a waste of tree resources).
Always remember: A tree grows to fill the space it's given, large branches/scaffolds do not produce fruit, and large branches make for large trees (and having done it growing up, you do not want to be crawling up and down a 30' ladder with a bushel bag). There have been trials in Brazil where they planted High density apple orchards on Semi-standard and large semi-dwarf rootstocks, and the trees never became unmanageable as Tall Spindle (as I recall, they were planted something along the lines of 1.2m x 4.25m). My apple orchards are now being planted on 2m x 2m (everything is planted that way, peaches, cherry, plum, apricot, mulberry, pear) spacing with Antonovka rootstock and an B9 interstem, and I have not had any issues.
I just bought a house with apple trees, and my grandpa would always grow them in his yard so I really want to try- but I can from watching your video and a few others that the previous owner didn't know how to prune them because there's no central trunk, most of the branches go straight up and they are maybe 3 feet from the fence with my neighbor. This video was really helpful- thank you! :)
I dont feel so crazy anymore thank you :) my neighbor tried to lop off HALF a 30-40yo cherry type tree (very small) since it was growing horizontal due to the addition of a shed. Iv'e just been braiding/training it to go up along with minimal pruning, and it's already headed toward the top of the shed! They know what's best for them people are really not good listeners.
Darn...wish I saw this two weeks earlier. I followed conventional wisdom and make a bunch of the dreaded 7 mistakes. I will check out the course. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
Love this advice. I'm back in my childhood city of Melbourne... A family member has pruned my beloved apple trees into hedges. I felt as if I had been speared to the ground with a javelin. In Chihuahua, I've practically given up trying to prune anything except the grape vine. Nothing that I do works at all and always ends up resulting in the opposite effect. Thin out the tree and it will sucker all over the place for shade, remove the ground suckers and the rabbits ring the tree, cut the tree so it's lower so I can reach the fruit and it doesn't fruit... The year I do nothing we had a great crop. Wondering how the garden will survive without no watering until May...
On the bright side there are a lot less things that can go wrong that you’ve not encountered. It tends to be most things can only go up when they’re at the bottom.
Thank you so much for this. I have always questioned a lot of modern practices based upon "control" it seems like humans feel the need to control everything and its refreshing to see even more evidence how that can really muck things up.
Honestly I want to grow apple trees that are based upon non-dwarf root stock, do you have ant experience with this
You're so right. Standard sized trees respond the same way as dwarfing sized, except: they often don't need irrigation, staking, they take a bit longer to begin to bear, can be integrated with livestock to the benefit of trees and animals and they far outlive dwarf trees. If you don't need to rely on the orchard to live on in the early years, absolutely plant standard well spaced TRIO based orchard. DON'T get sucked into a monoculture planting. See my other videos on the tree diversity.
More majestic too. But harder to pick and prune.
I'm taking a tree warden class, your videos are most helpful to me
Great to hear!
Planting my new orchard today (wife finally gave in LOL). I have pruned many trees in the past (myself and for other people). No matter what you know, you will always learn more. Thank you for sharing. Great down and dirty video. You can't break it down farther than that. Many will benefit from this. I picked up a few more good pointers. Never stop learning.
That is awesome! I do break it down further in the pruning course but the first video should get you started. Thanks
I am worried that my lawn and yard person might have over pruned. Leaves didn't drop from my dwarf apple tree, cause of the cutting with gas cutter. Glad to see you back.
Nobody should be using machinery to cut woody plants (with few exceptions - boxwood, maybe yews...). They make terrible, indiscriminate cuts that struggle to heal & distort the shape of the plant.
Hello from CFS! This video was very helpful, thank you. We are looking to prune a few old apple trees for the first time and we are very excited to be using their apples for making hard cider in the fall. Best, David and Rachel from CFS!!
Welcome aboard glad to help.
Hello are you Polish? That's awesome knowledge you gave me with this video! Instead of pruning I want to start to train the tree.
Yes I am! Yes focus on training and you will have easy trees to manage.
Thank you for showing what happens where the cut is too flush . I’ll remember that nxt time I prune !
I think he has the best advice ive listen to so far. Im new to apple growing. Thank you and im following you Sir for more advice. ❤❤❤❤❤❤
So nice of you
Hello Stefan, thank you for posting yet another inspiring video. I just finished planting my 1 acre permaculture orchard in Belgium, and I was wondering: If the trees I bought are already pruned, is there still a way to correct the 'damage' that's already been done?
Yes training them down can help.
Two questions...
1). This year, due to neighboring timber harvests going on, EVERY fruit tree and bush (even raspberries) have been extensively nibbled on by deer. Will this cause hardening of branches?
2) I have two lilac bushes, (one purple, one white) adjacent to my small orchard. This year the bark on the lower half of each is turning black... Should I worry and take action?
Thank you... You're my #1 recommended channel for permaculture orchards. Much love
Never worry, life is too short to waste energy on worry. It will cause hardening, dwarfing, and usually a mess. I have a video coming up soon about deer, watch for it. For the lilac just leave them and see what survives.
@@StefanSobkowiak can’t wait for that video, deer did same to me pruned everything this winter. Mostly my fault no fence and in winter I did not spray repellent.
@@Terri_Stauffer Try the bone sauce by Billy on youtube. The stuff works!
I have an Apple tree that I planted from seed when I was in 7th grade I’m how 20 with my first baby and finally got a flower on the tree!!
Wonderful patience rewarded. You never know it can be something amazing.
I've used women's nylon socks filled with rocks that I tie onto a branch that I want to train downwards.
From my experience, trees that are not pruned will get some of its branches broken because of the weight of the fruits.
Thank you for such a helpful video! I need to watch your other ones too. We have a small orchard planted about 20 years ago that has been neglected because of long-term, extensive health issues with a child that started right after planting. I can now give the trees much needed attention, but have no idea where to start. What should my first priority be?
Follow the 3 steps I explained in the starting video in the pruning course. A good clean chimney will bring light into the centre of the trees and allow new branches to grow where needed. Then remove a couple of the most upwards angled branches (they can be large) and third polish the branches by removing all the branches underneath each remaining branch. If you run out of time the chimney is the most important on long abandoned trees.
@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you so much for your help!
Training before pruning. I really like this way of approaching my fruit trees. Is this for most fruit trees or just apples? This seems to work well with my Asian pears. How about plums and cherries? Does your pruning course talk about different fruit trees and fruit bushes too?
Yes this technique has been used for fruit trees and bushes as well as nut trees. I cover apple, pear, plum and small fruit shrubs in the course but it applies to all fruit.
Stefan, you are not implying that pruning is completely unnecessary, are you? Also, I am in a cold zone where only standard sized root stock is suitable, so what is your recommendation to keep these trees at a suitable height?
Not unnecessary but generally overused. Training is underused, especially for standard trees. Good training instead of pruning will keep your standard tree shorter and flowering earlier.
Planted an apple tree over a decade ago, and have never pruned it. Kind of glad I haven’t touched it now, after watching this one. My little tree tends to be loaded with apples, and the lack of pruning is probably why. Lol!
Absolutely if you didn’t start pruning the tree took on it’s natural shape. You can now clear a chimney and Polish the undersides of each branch. Check out the quick and dirty pruning video for the 3 steps.
I got the pruning course and I am beginning to learn how prune my way to a more productive orchard. Thanks!
Enjoy, thanks for the support.
Thanks for another informative video. I have always been big on training shrubs, trees, etc., by a combination of pruning AND tying branches OR using limb spreaders. One must keep in mind hormones and apical dominance among other things though. Many growers though don’t have the time for these techniques and instead just cut away.
Agreed. In the end it’s a question of the time you want or have available to put into the trees.
Why are all the other channels saying "YOU MUST PRUNE!"? Great advice on keeping it simple!
Because older information was based on a time when labour was cheap. Times have changed, now there is interest on saving time, even for gardeners.
Thank you, this is very timely, as I have been looking at a couple of branches on my young trees and debating if I should prune.
Finally a good use for all that baling twine :-) Training down branches - brilliant! Thanks for your insightful videos! They are much fun to watch - As a European transplant I am also interplanting currants in my orchard --- tough to find a good red variety in Washington State. Happy to find that at least some of my seaberries survived last summer's heat wave... Keep it up!
Thank you Stefan for these great videos. I have a question: The quote "do you want a tree or you want a fruit tree?" can be applied to all fruit trees or just apples?
All except pear (which you train only to horizontal). Even works great for nuts, figs, ...
@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you, I am following your advice. I am starting my Orchard from scratch. I have two adjacent small lands (1500 sqr m and 850 sqr m. I am planning to make the bigger one as a berry land (plant all types of Temperate Berries) and the small one as a fruit Orchard.
Am happy and i enjoyed watching the video. I have learnt alot that will help me in the pruning of my apple garden
Check out the whole pruning playlist.
Love the videos, your style and the philosophy! But….I would argue these apple trees are now bred to produce huge amounts of fruit. They were already manipulated by humans and produce more when manipulated further. I am against dogmatism in the garden and one should know what they want the end game to be. For me that is highly manipulated, tightly spaced, tiny trees. I like open center for beautiful little trees. Thanks for the great videos!
We moved to acreage that was used as a recreational area (dirt bikes, fireworks, etc., for many years.
Last summer, I used an app to figure out some of the trees and we have a “common apple” and a cherry.
Obviously, food was also dumped wherever. The apple is pretty large. Definitely mature.
I will watch those two to see if they bloom this spring.
My question is: the apple has at very tall main branch/trunk off to one side that I would like to trim back.
Can that be done and, if so, what is the best time to do it?
I need a tree service because I cannot reach high enough and my largest pruning stick isn’t long enough or thick enough.
Also, does a common apple need another apple tree to produce fruit?
Yes it needs another apple or crab-apple within about 300m. Late winter - early spring is the best time to prune. You can prune back the main stem to a downward facing branch (don't cut back more than 1/3 or it will just regrow very vigourously.
@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you!!! Now, a subscriber!
Do you have any suggestions if you want to espalier a tree? Thank you for your excellent advise.
Train it to an espalier shape excellent for pears to be flat branch angle but for other fruit train them below horizontal. Go for it.
Great .
Thankyou.
Do you have any on pruning plum trees.
Have just started a job on a farm .
Where the trees have been let go .
Lot of good info, but I grew up dealing with, we use to spend hours proping limbs with heavey crops, I always thined fruit so could size fruit.
I noticed alot of farmers styling trees to be more oen and t he eavier limbs, very nice to gaze upon.
I weight limbs and tie for direction. Conclusion you b u, and i be me.
When i make large cuts i seal cut, everyone , lock in moister, and prevent dry rot.
Dries out , gets wet, sun shines and cooks then rot.
Seal with pruning putty, latex paint, may have to recoat later, if paint cracks.
Thank you, Stefan! We're waiting on bated breath to see what fate will befall the gorgeous apple blossoms we have forming on our apple trees down here in 8B/9A.
It will Be what it will Be. Don’t count your apples until they are in the basket.
The best pruning video ever. I too feel people over prune, take off too many leaves (the energy machine of the tree), try to master the tree. Other than really crossing branches, I think I will take a more naturalistic approach! I wonder if weighing down pear branches w weights is still a good idea or will the natural weight of fruit be enough?
Depends on the size of branch and it’s starting angle.
My neighbors apple & pear trees along the property line are All disease ridden. Every fruit is rotten & falls mostly into my yard. Wish I could cut them down. Their old giant double dying Oak also drops branches & huge limbs onto my yard. My dog narrowly missed being crushed
How will your trees look like in years to come? In my village where i live the apple trees are pruned and trained in like umbrella shape, height about 3 meters and the branches are really zig zag from the base and resemble a pile of knots tangling everywhere, so they have been trained many times in many directions. Is there a weakness when doing like that, they must be around 100 years old by now
It was an old training technique called arcure Lepage probably after the originator. It was meant to keep standard sized trees lower. An interesting technique that one of my apprentices tried. Works.
Very informative.I really like your videos. I'm learning a lot every time.
Awesome, thank you!
Great info; thank you! I have 5 various, mature apple trees that have all been pruned wrong! Now I can coach someone to leave them alone😉
Can I use a sucker branch to graft to another tree?
Yes suckers make good scions.
Amazingly value in this video, thank you!🌼🌿😁👍🙏
I had rabbit head cut several branches on my fruit trees. They are young trees and the branches are low down on the trees. Should I just cut the branch off at the base and count my losses?
No leave them for the rabbits for following years, it can save your tree in the future.
If you have prunded a apple tree, 😢 and then stop pruning it will it beable to sort itself out in tht future? Thanks like this video
Depends on the pruning. Better to have trained it while young and then you have a tree set for life.
Thank you
I trimmed my dwarf honecrisp like a thin Christmas tree with small branches evenly dispersed
Moved into zone 4b Minnesota had four crabapple trees..lost one ..over.. crowding.. now these trees are out of control..and growing over the driveway parking area .so other three will need to be pruned..hoping to not need to completely remove them.. I take it the pruning need to be done just before Spring 2023.. knowing how to do this..I thought before I watched this video..may need to watch your pruning session
Late winter is best unless you’re cutting one down which can be done now.
I couldn’t figure out why my apple trees look so good and healthy but I never get any fruit. I’ve been pruning them to have strong upright branches and removing anything that sags. I thought sagging branches (especially heavy with fruit) would break. Now I know that I need them to sag.
Pretty well the exact opposite of what you got, unless you are selling scions then you got a perfect tree.
Oops! Well I didn’t do too much pruning, I hope!
Did lots of grafting onto wild plum and Bradford pear though.
Thanks, most interesting. Will use this on my apple trees in Sweden.
So when I get a new tree in a pot or a bare root, all directions say to prune it and reduce its height, so do you agree?
No, it will partly stunt the planting year.
Enlightening!
Dang it!
Wish that I knew these things years ago!
So do I. I taught about pruning before I even understood these principles deeply. Never stop learning, information is always changing.
Could you tell us how to prune an apple tree which has grown too big?
Thanks for the advice.
Hello Sir I have Baby apple trees teh way rural kings pruned it all my branches are point up ill show it on my next video maybe you can help me prune it?
what does the electric wire over it do? for predators or keeping it low?
Keeping it low
Beautifully enlightening information
Glad you liked it
Winter and summer pruning is necessary. I wonder how many broken branches he get every year.
Great video! Thank you so much
What are your thoughts on the little fruit tree concept as described by author Ann Ralph?
Don't know it.
Your videos are the most helpful Ive seen for pruning. I really like training the trees. I have a peach tree that is pretty small. the fruit is so heavy it keeps breaking branches. Is it better to support the branches?
You can support or thin the fruit while they are small. Fortunately peaches replace branches easily.
Thank you this video. Very helpful.
Thank you, Stefan. This is a very different perspective to the more conventional wisdom out there. What I want to know, however, is that I am creating a small food forest and I don't want my trees to get so tall that I have to use ladders. Is this not a good justification for pruning the leader and having an open center shape? I haven't been able to get hold of dwarf varieties and pruning the trees short was supposed to be an alternative.
You can keep them shorter but will require much summer pruning to reduce vigour.
Thanks for this great info... question. Should the flowers of young (first year planted) apple or other fruit trees be removed... someone else suggested to remove flowers to prevent fruiting so the tree can focus on root development... any truth to this, anyone support that advice??? I'm new to raising fruit trees and there is a lot of contradicting guidance out there! Thanks!
85% of Root growth happens in fall after leaf fall.
You leave a few next to trunk. Branch croches should look like space between thumb and first finger. Any spurs that bare fruit last year will rest this year.
Such an informative video brother. Thank you!
Very informative video. Plus, less work with no pruning.
I didn’t say no pruning did I? Less certainly.
I don't know what to do.
Hi Stefan,
the references to limb removal I've come across always mention to never take it back to the collar, but to leave a stump so as
not to endanger the trunk by cutting back all the way, and have buds regrow the limb from there.
I have the Lespinasse book, too, but could find no definite answer in it as to why he favours this method. Did he add this method after it was published?
I don't know which references you are mentioning but leaving a stub is not recommended unless you want to regrow a branch in that same spot and if so the stub is no more than 1'' and better to be angled with nothing left at the top. Then why take it down in the first place unless the branch angle is too vertical. How much to take off requires looking and understanding where the branch collar ends. If you leave the collar you don't endanger the trunk and leaving a stub just encourages rot as has been shown a long time ago by Dr Alex Shigo.
@@StefanSobkowiak I was referring to cutting back to a stump like in the pruning of vines, or cherries (f.e. KGB), in apples more to not endanger the trunk than to get a new shoot from buds in that stump.
You would still constantly have to do that in an adult tree once the limbs surpassed 50% of trunk diameter, wouldn't you? Or is there a moment when those 15 limbs form a final set, barring disease or accident?
I took on an allotment plot May 2022 and inherited very mature old pear, apple and a cherry plum tree. The apple and pear fruited a lot. The cherry plum I got 2 fruits. The apple and pear tree look to not ben pruned for many years. Some of the larger branches are rubbing against each other. Now I thought you had to cut the rubbing branches out, because they cause damage. But your instruct shows you manoeuvring branches to be tucked under other branches. I shall leave them in then. One thing I do have, are 3 larger branches that have tore/split - they still produce fruit. I was going to cut those branches out. But now I am wondering if they are still producing fruit and the split is there, but very old, maybe the split has "healed". I just see so much advice out there to cut damaged wood out. Not sure.
Yes healing is normal. If the branch is well positioned and produces keep it.
We have 200 apple trees 🌳. We pruned them all over the last 5 years
Based upon your considerable enthusiasm for a non pruning approach I spent the day opening up my 10 foot apple trees. I never cut anything. Because it is high-spring here in Alberta, Canada, the limbs are soft and pliable. I hung bricks from many of the limbs to weight them down and begin the process of changing those acute angle branches into right angle branches. That process along opened up the tree to more sunlight. My tree that had a 4 foot footprint now has a 10 foot footprint. Hopefully it will stop the race to see who is leader. Do I understand you correctly to say, that if I want a 12 foot tree I can bend the leader and that will signal the rest of the tree to do the same? Am I wrong to gently massage the 5/8 thick limbs into a gentle bend. Nothing broke but there was considerable stretching going on.
You got it. Yes you can bend the top, 5/8 is small enough. It may not want to stay there and want to shoot another shoot at the bend but worth trying. Just bend it so the tip is pointing down below horizontal.Keep on trying you will see an amazing change to your tree.
@@StefanSobkowiak My trees are fruiting bricks as we speak. People wonder what bricks are doing hanging in my apple trees. Lol
Crickey I’ve done it all wrong. Now you’ve got me thinking I need to train down the multi leaders on my young apple tree so that’s there’s only one vertical. Is that stupid too?
Not at all. You can change a tree over 2 or 3 times in the life of a tree.
Hello, i have an apple tree in my front yard and it is may 9, 2022 and the tree has not sprouted leaves yet, it is starting to sprout suckers on the trunk, just started. In the fall the leaves at the very top stay on it until late and i fertilize june and dec with manure. It grew very well last year and thought id get a good first year of apples this year but im afraid its dead or was harmed in some way. If i scratch off the bark on some areas there is green under the bark area. I trimmed it early in march and im afraid i harmed it. It has been cold here at night and im hoping the tree is holding back until a long stretch of warm weather hits. I snipped the ends off of many small branches and i see the green cambial layer, what is your opinion of why it has no leaves yet, is there hope for it?
There are no leaves here either, but it depends what zone you’re in. Relax take a deep breath and realize that it will probably be fine. Even if for some reason the top dies, the roots will likely grow back and you can graft on the shoots.
@@StefanSobkowiak Im a little north of Philadelphia i think zone 5, there are tiny suckers starting to grow out of the main trunk, in the very least it will grow new branches, i was fearing the worst because i had high hopes for it this year for a nice harvest, thank you for your reply.
It is nearly impossible to get thornless sea berries here in the U.S. apparently. Is there a chance I could buy some seed from you?
Seed will likely have a high % of thorny seedlings. Just keep looking or order from Canada. I just ordered a tray of small thornless from Végétolab from here in Quebec. If you order they may have some for fall or next spring. Pretty well all fruit plant nurseries will be short of stock again this year.
Hey Stefan, I was wondering what some of your go to sources for up to date research are. Got any tips?
The book: Novel concepts in fruit tree pruning by Lespinasse and Leterme. The fruit tree architecture group at INRA in France. They’ve been leading research since the 80s
Thanks for a great video . lt's nice to see someone who agrees with my way of thinking when it comes to pruning apple trees .
I just watched other 1million viewed bideo with a lot of pruning to creat air flow, to control the way they grow but didn’t say it will produce more apples, after watch yours, I am Really confused now😂😂, I don’t know should I trim or not trim?? My goals just produce more apples
Branch angle is the simplest strategy to more apples. Keep branches with horizontal or below horizontal angle will get you there.
Won’t the branches rub together if you tuck one underneath another, damaging the bark and making it susceptible to diseases?
No it's just temporary until the fruit bend it further
It may bother some people that he refers to ALL of the tree’s attempts to grow more branches as: “suckers” whether they originate from ground level, or not. Technically speaking, he is correct since the mechanism is the same above as below. However, it’s more common to refer to suckers coming from ground level as “suckers” and suckers originating on branches as “watersprouts”.
Good point. Waterspouts.
The center lead of one of my newer apples actually died off. I pruned it off since it was not healthy. Was that okay in that situation?
Yes it will send out a replacement.
@@StefanSobkowiak awesome! I was hoping i didnt mess anything up. I pruned off anything that wasnt healthy. To try and help it send energy somewhere else that could actually be alive. I know they like the central leader but It wasnt alive so i figured a new lead would start on its own.
Great explanation and video 👍
Yikes I watched this too late I had already used my German Lowe pruners to prune the apple tree. I’d like to blame you for not contacting me but I can’t because it’s all on me. I’ll have to go through all your apple tree videos now! I hope you have a tutorial on dealing with the Coddling moth. The apples get ravaged by the worms.
Yes one on trapping coddling moth.
So pruning is not a necessity.? Funny, I was going to prune my apple tree this week because every one tells me to do it so it can produce more apples. I never pruned it .I like the shape and I think it’s happy .but I was going to do it because I was told I should. Thanks for this. I think I will leave it alone this year again.
We have pruned and unpruned apple trees. Both can look happy, unpruned can look less formed but produce very well.
subbed, this is fantastic. I can already tell youre a welath of knowledge.
Fantastic, enjoy the learning. Lots to binge watch.
Shared your video great content thank you Stefan ❤
Much appreciated!
Can we hang weights on young trees (4 to 7 years old)? I want my apple tree branches at 90% or less. I'm thinking of hanging 16oz bottles filled with the right amount of water to weight them down. I want fruit trees not just trees!
Haha you understand. Yes you can, using a bottle will allow a pretty precise simulation of a weight load of fruit and can be adjusted with more weight easily.
I moved into a house with apple trees two summers ago. They've been untended for, well, honestly, I have no idea. But since I have them, I thought I might start caring for them. I know you talked about the branch naturally drooping as the fruit grows and gets heavy, and allowing it to do that. . .but on one of my trees half the tree is currently touching the ground! It looks like an upside down forest. What do you think? Should I just go ahead and leave it?
If it’s touching the ground because it’s loaded with fruit just prune the branches under the main trunk in late winter. See the first video of the pruning course on the 3 steps, use step 3 on that branch (pruningcourse.com).
@@StefanSobkowiak Thanks for the advice! I will do that!
Does this apply equally to Cortland apple trees?
Yes even to cortland which are naturally weeping.
@@StefanSobkowiak Thank you 🙏🏻
I've got two trees with five different cultivars on each .not to sure how to prune it.
When 5 in 1 you may need two or three trunks and train the others as branches or just select one as the leader and train all others as branches.
Happy i found you 😊
Welcome!!
Interesting ideas!
Very educational