Many newbie gardeners often think that pruning is a challenging task. As a gardener, it is important to understand that the needs of a fruit tree are quite different from those of an average shade tree. Fruit trees require annual pruning to improve the quality and quantity of their fruit. Also, it is not recommended for fruit trees to bear fruits in the first couple of years after planting. Pruning flowers, shoots, and flowers do not cause permanent damage to the health of the tree; instead, regular pruning helps the tree grow healthy.
Benefits of Pruning Your Fruit Tree
Planting fruit trees in the yard helps improve the landscape of your property. Healthy and luscious fruit trees can make your yard the envy of the neighbourhood, while a diseased tree can be a pain to look at. Bringing out the wow factor of your landscape includes pruning your trees regularly.
Here are some good reasons to prune your fruit trees annually:
- It improves curb appeal – Pruning enhances a tree’s overall appearance. Cutting off diseased tree parts or removing certain sections that imbalances the growth gives the tree a whole new look. Think about giving your tree a haircut. By enhancing the shape of the tree, it adds to the aesthetic appeal of your landscape.
- It helps the trees to thrive – Pruning does not only give your tree a pleasing shape, but it also helps achieve a form that allows sunlight to penetrate and increase air movement through the tree. With adequate sunlight and air, the tree grows healthy and bears high-quality fruits.
- It boosts fruit yields – Regular pruning benefits all types of fruit trees. Removing dead or diseased limbs promotes better tree health. A dead or diseased tree branch is likely to attract pests, increasing the risk of infestation.
Also, pruning stimulates new spurs growth, which will produce fruits the following year. This promotes an increase in the production of healthy, premium quality fruits.
- It removes hazards like falling branches – Pruning your tree also ensures safety. Dead branches can easily fall during storms or high winds. Even on a windless, sunny day, it can still fall and accidentally injure people nearby. Contact a professional to prune branches hanging over the roof and those growing into the electric lines.
- It prevents disease – Removing a diseased tree part can help prevent disease, pests, and fungi from spreading and wreaking havoc on the infected tree, and on other trees in the vicinity.
When you prune fruit trees in their early years, the tree will thrive, and should only require moderate pruning in the coming years. Train your tree early and you will be up to reap amazing benefits.
How Often Should You Prune?
The purpose of pruning the fruit tree is to develop a healthy, robust structure that supports the production of healthy and delicious fruit. While we know that regular pruning is essential for optimum tree health, among the most common concerns of newbie gardeners is the frequency of pruning. Seasoned gardeners recommend pruning fruit trees once or twice a year. Although they can survive without pruning, the trees will not be productive.
Early pruning helps train fruit trees. Pruning young apple, cherry, and pear trees teaches them to take the central leader or Christmas tree shape as they grow older. Prune peach, plum, and nectarine trees to a vase shape. To complete each training system, make sure to prune them during summer and dormant seasons. To achieve the vase shape and central leader form, cut back a newly planted tree with no branches to 30 to 34 inches above the ground.
The Best Time for Fruit Tree Pruning
The right timing and method of pruning are vital in enhancing the growth quality of your crop. Proper pruning techniques help fruit trees to create a strong and open scaffold sturdy enough to bear bountiful produce without breaking any tree part.
Gardening experts recommend pruning fruit trees as early as planting time. Prune new stems off 24 to 30 inches from the ground, as well as side shoots, to encourage the growth of low branches and balanced growth. This also protects the root system by preventing a dense top growth during establishment.
When trained young, fruit trees will no longer require annual pruning in the later years. Initial pruning encourages the growth of thick stems, opens the canopy to sunlight and air, promotes flowering, and reduces the risk of fungal and bacterial diseases.
Some say that early spring (just before the buds start to break and trees are still dormant) is the best time to prune, while others recommend pruning in winter. However, the purpose of pruning your tree has to do with its seasonal cycle of energy.
[one_half last=”no”]
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]Pruning in winter spurs growth. During the cold season, fruit trees store excess energy in their roots. Winter pruning distributes the energy to the branches until spring arrives. This encourages each remaining branches to grow more and bear quality fruits[/one_half]
[one_half last=”no”]
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]Spring pruning slows tree growth. Fruit trees use a lot of stored energy to produce leaves and blossoms. Spring pruning allows the tree to burn up extra energy and prevent it from growing vigorously during the rest of the season.[/one_half]
[one_half last=”no”]
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]Summer pruning slows down tree growth even more. At this point, much of the tree’s energy has been used up during spring. The energy left is not enough to compensate for new growth. [/one_half]
[one_half last=”no”]
[/one_half]
[one_half last=”yes”]Never prune in autumn. The energy left in the tree in fall is insufficient to promote healthy new growth. New shoots are usually tender and can easily die during early winter, providing easy access for pests and disease.[/one_half]
Three Easy Pruning Tips for Beginners
The secret to maintaining the beauty and productivity of fruit trees is annual pruning. Expert gardeners may have different opinions on how the proper way of pruning a tree, but here are three easy-breezy pruning process that works great for most fruit trees and demystify the entire procedure.
- Step One: Clean Up
Start by pruning away the three Ds — dead, damaged, or diseased tree parts. Check the base of the trunk and remove all suckers that may originate from the rootstock. This ensures that the fruiting tree grafted gets a sufficient share of nutrients. Also, remove all water sprouts developing from the main branches. Use a correct pair of loppers to cut the backflush and ensure no stubs are left.
- Step Two: Thin Out
After removing the suckers and infected branches, prune excess branches. Thinning out your fruit trees helps significantly reduce the risk of pests and diseases by allowing air and sunlight to flow freely throughout the canopy. Cut down overlapping branches and those growing downwards and towards the centre of the tree. Maintain a 15 to 30-centimetre space in between the branches to ensure evenly distributed airspaces.
- Step Three: Head Back
Lastly, prune the outermost growth of the tree. This technique allows branches to grow thicker and robust, making your fruit tree look more visually appealing. Heading back stimulates tree hormones to increase fruitfulness. The proper method includes pruning 20 to 30 percent of the growth acquired over the previous year. When pruning a fully matured tree, cut the branch by 1.2 metres back from its tip. Also, each branch should be pruned one-half centimetre from the bud facing the direction where you desired the branch to grow in the coming year.
At Dave Lund Tree Service and Forestry Co Ltd., we provide assistance to newbie gardeners. We will be glad to assist and educate you with the proper way of pruning and caring for your fruit trees.
Call us today at (905) 884-0511 to book our tree pruning services in Richmond Hill.