How To Winter Prune Fruit Trees For Maximum Fruit Production & Tree Health!, by Plant Abundance on YouTube. 6 min 24 s.
- Video length
- 6 min 24 s
- Time to do it
- 45 minutes
- Difficulty
- Medium
- Steps
- 10
What you need
Steps
Prune while the tree is fully dormant, in mid to late winter before buds swell. Pick a dry day above freezing so the cuts seal cleanly.
Walk around the tree first and look at its shape. Decide which branches you will keep as the main framework before you make any cut.
Start with the three Ds: dead, diseased and damaged wood. Cut these out first and drop them away from the tree.
Remove branches that rub against each other or cross through the middle. Keep the ones that grow outward and upward.
Open up the centre so light and air reach the fruit. Take out crowded inward growth rather than cutting the outer canopy back.
Cut just outside the branch collar, the raised ring where the branch meets the trunk. Leave that collar intact and never leave a long stub.
Use the saw for anything thicker than your thumb and pruners for small wood. Support the branch with your free hand so it does not tear bark as it falls.
Step back after every few cuts to check the shape. Remove no more than about a quarter of the live growth in one winter.
Clean your blades with rubbing alcohol between trees. Spray the larger fresh cuts with a fungicide if you use one, following the label dose.
Clear all prunings from the ground and bin or burn diseased wood. Leaving it under the tree keeps pests and spores close by.
Tips and common mistakes
Sharpen your pruners and saw before you start, because blunt blades crush bark and leave ragged wounds that heal slowly.
Never cut into the branch collar or flush with the trunk, as that removes the tree's own healing tissue.
Do not tidy the whole tree in one go. Heavy pruning pushes leafy growth at the expense of fruit the next season.
Wear gloves and eye protection, and keep both feet steady on a ladder rather than overreaching for a high branch.
Questions
When is the best time to prune an apple tree?
In winter, while the tree is dormant and has no leaves. This makes the branch structure easy to see and the cuts heal before spring growth starts.
Can I prune a fruit tree that is already budding?
It is better to wait until the next winter. Pruning after buds break stresses the tree and can cost you that year's crop.
Do I need to seal the cuts?
Not usually for small cuts, which seal themselves. On larger cuts you can apply a fungicide spray to protect the wound, following the product label.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
