Pruning

We have now completed the winter pruning of all the apple trees.

This year some of the trees needed re-staking as they were getting top heavy and were in danger of collapsing. The Norfolk Beefing did collapse in October and has now had a major re-shape with what was a horizontal branch becoming the new vertical main trunk. We also had to remove some of the top branches of a few trees, known as crown reduction, to reduce their height and bring the fruiting branches down to a better picking level.

All of the trees have had their general winter prune which involves removing of dead and diseased wood, including that nibbled by deer, removal of the vertical water shoots which do not produce fruit, taking out of crossing branches and others to open up the center of the trees.

Some people do get worried about pruning in that they might get it wrong. The general principles are to first walk around the tree to get a good idea of its shape and what needs to be removed to get it into a better shape. Take out those branches which are crossing or diseased pruning back to a bud facing the way you want the new branch to grow. Use sharp secateurs for smaller cuts and loppers or a pruning saw for larger branches. And, remember if you get it wrong don’t worry as the tree will grow back.

The best advice is that given in old books on orchard management, “A pigeon should be able to fly through the tree”