There are 7 main branches distributed vertically and spiralled on the trunk and attached by wide, strong crotches. Make pruning wounds flush with the limbs to which the unwanted branches are attached. The exception to this rule is with peach. With peach use a collar cut rather than flush cuts. Wood healing is more rapid when the bark ridge at the base of larger limbs is not removed during a pruning cut. Where one-year-old wood is being pruned, make the cut as close as possible to a bud to facilitate healing.
This is particularly important with peach because canker may enter where healing is delayed. Where the crotch angle is less than 35 degrees the attachment will be weak because of the inclusion of bark. The tissues in narrow crotches Figure 2 are slower to mature in the fall and may be injured by low temperatures, especially in test winters. Narrow crotches are usually further weakened by water, ice, rot organisms and canker.
Thus, remove limbs that make sharp angles early. This avoids possible loss of a large part of the tree later on due to breakage from weight of fruit. Figure 2. Structure of wide a and narrow b crotches. The narrow crotch is structurally weak and contains a bark inclusion arrow , an entry point for insect or diseases modified from Cornell Agr.
When new fruit trees are dug in the nursery, a large percentage of the finer root system is left behind during the process.
The new tree that once had a balance of leaves to roots now develops more leaves than there is root system to sustain. The resulting tree will be out of balance, resulting in poor growth. To overcome this problem, heavily prune all fruit trees at planting time before growth starts.
Eliminate all branches below 60 cm. If the tree is tall enough, cut back the leader to about cm, and remove all shoots. With well developed trees or older trees having some limbs you wish to retain, you can cut these limbs back to 2 or 3 buds and retain growth in that area. Totally remove limbs:. Consider the pruning at planting time and over the next 2 or 3 years as a training process.
The final strength of the tree depends upon the wise selection of branches and your ability to maintain the proper balance between these branches. Mistakes made in this formative period may mean weak trees and, in addition, the correction of errors may call for severe pruning in later years - the removal of considerable portions of the bearing area and the creation of large wounds subject to infection.
It is critically important that you build a strong framework in the early years. The central leader training system is recommended for all fruit trees. In the top of the tree, thin out the most vigorous shoots, and keep those that are not so vigorous.
Never allow the upper scaffolds to overgrow and shade the lower ones, and prune out large diameter upright- growing branches. This provides good access to light throughout the tree, and makes for easy care and picking. Trellis training is similar to the central leader, only in a more 2-dimensional framework. A simplified trellis system is increasingly used by commercial orchards, particularly apple growers, to maximize fruit production per unit area, and to provide better exposure to sunlight for high fruit color and quality.
The best alignment for a trellis is north-south, so that both sides get good exposure to sun. The key element to emphasize with all of them is that the less actual pruning you do, the better. The wires allow for branches to be bent down and tied in position , either horizontally as in the classic espalier, or at a 45 degree angle from the trunk.
Very little cutting should be done, and then only to remove shoots and branches that are growing in the wrong direction at right angles to the trellis or are too crowded. In young trees, the leader should be headed to produce side branching at each level, until the main trunk reaches its desired height.
After that, growth should be controlled by bending the branches to encourage early fruiting , and thinning out any shoots that are too vigorous. Umbrella trees are usually older trees some up to nearly years old , originally planted in yards and homesteads when the modern size-controlling rootstocks were not yet available. They were pruned to an umbrella shape to keep trees that would normally reach 40 feet down to a manageable height.
An established umbrella tree has as its basic framework one set of main scaffold limbs that are horizontal and are also the apex of the tree. Fruit bearing branches grow outward and downward from these main limbs, and clumps of water sprouts shoot upward. Keeping these water sprouts thinned out is the key to maintaining a productive umbrella tree. The largest and most upright should be removed , leaving the smaller ones well spaced, much as you would thin a row of corn. These remaining sprouts can be positioned by bending and tying them to encourage more fruit buds.
In peaches and nectarines flowers are borne laterally on the previous season's growth. On healthy trees there are usually 2 single flower buds per node with a single leaf bud in between. The most productive shoots are those that are approximately pencil size in diameter and 12 to 18 inches long. Cherries, plums and apricots produce flowers terminally and laterally on one year old wood and in spurs on older wood.
Regardless of basic growth habit, all trees respond similarly to a given type of pruning cut. Heading cuts remove the growing point and developing leaves if applied during the summer and the terminal bud if applied during the winter. This operation severely changes the shoot's hormonal balance and forces the plant to react accordingly. The tendency for suppression of the lateral bud break is referred to as the apical dominance of the terminal bud.
This young growing point or terminal bud is the site of manufacture of the class of plant hormones known as auxins. Removing either the shoot tip or the young growing leaves stimulates the growth of lateral buds immediately below the cut into side shoots because of the removal of that site of auxin manufacture. The lateral buds are inhibited in growth by auxins produced in the young meristematic tissues contained in the shoot tip and transported back downward.
This effect must occur when the leaves are very young because removing young, developing leaves can stimulate lateral bud break; but removing fully expanded leaves cannot stimulate growth. There are two ways to overcome this apical dominance effect from shoot tips. One is to remove the shoot tip as in a heading cut and the other is to bend a shoot tip to a more horizontal position.
The latter works because auxins generally move in response to gravity. Research has suggested that the inhibition of flower bud formation can be explained by the alteration of three plant hormones: cytokinin, auxins, and gibberellins.
All three occurred in higher concentrations in the conductive tissues of trees that were pruned. Cytokinin-like substances were doubled in the conductive tissues at the very beginning of growth in the spring. In mid-June, after a month of growth, auxin levels were much higher in pruned trees than in nonpruned trees. This was followed by higher levels of gibberellins from the middle of June to the end of July in the pruned trees, compared to controls. When growth begins, the terminal and subterminal buds are usually the first to start; in most deciduous trees and vines less so in shrubs they produce the longest and strongest shoots, although shoots may grow from many of the lower buds.
However, seldom do all the lateral buds start, and as a rule the largest percentage of those remaining dormant are on the basal portion of the shoot. The result of a heading cut is the loss of apical dominance as mentioned above, with the removal of the inhibiting effect on the lateral buds. The net result is an increase in total shoot growth. Both shoot number and length are affected, but the impact is affected by shoot age, severity of cut, growth habit, and shoot orientation.
The stimulation of shoot growth is most pronounced when heading cuts are made into 1-year-old wood. Such cuts usually result in very vigorous shoots from the three to four buds immediately below the cut.
These shoots can develop very narrow angles. Heading cuts made near the top of these shoots induce the top five to seven buds to grow, usually within 6 to 9 inches below the cut although this will also vary by severity of cut and orientation of the branch. Severity can be long, medium, short, or very short with a very short cut removing the most wood.
Regrowth is related to the severity of cut in a bell curve response and time of season that pruning is done. Pruning Fruit Trees by Katie Jan 8, 15 comments. Use our foolproof 7-step Pruning Method Are you confused about pruning your fruit trees? Relieved, right? Using principles instead of rules makes pruning fruit trees much easier. Photo credit: Janet Barker Why should you prune your fruit trees?
Overall, pruning improves the quality of your fruit. How pruning fruit trees can help keep them healthy The first principle of pruning is to remove all the dead and diseased wood. Are there reasons not to prune your fruit tree?
How do trees respond to pruning? Wendy Wyllie on January 9, at am. Great info, thanks What brand are the secateurs that you use? Hugh on January 9, at am. Hi Wendy, We use Felco secateurs. Tess on June 11, at pm. Katie on July 7, at pm. MIranda Chiappini on January 9, at am. Katie on January 11, at pm. Marg on January 9, at pm. If I am trying to keep my dwarf trees small do I prune the longer limbs in summer or winter Reply.
Alison on April 10, at pm. Thanks Reply. Katie on April 13, at pm. Nicolas Avila on June 10, at am. I have register a certificate and hope someone could give me a call soon Reply.
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