How to Prune Fruit Trees
Pruning trees at the right time can help ensure a bigger and better fruit harvest, easier to access fruit, and healthier trees, making you more resilient.
What is pruning and why do we do it?
Pruning is when we remove unwanted plant material in order to allow the tree to produce fruit in a way that's healthy for the tree and accessible to harvest.
Wild trees are still able to produce vast quantities of fruit and flowers, but pruning is done to achieve one or more of the following:
- Keep the tree small and highly productive.
- Increase fruit size, yield, and accessibility.
- Improve structural strength of tree limbs to better support fruit.
- Removed diseased or damaged parts.
- Remove branches that cross each other and cause congestion.
- Increase light and airflow to prevent fungal diseases related to excess humidity.
- Maintain soft green stems which are useful for propagation.
- Remove a 'leader' (apical bud, tallest upright stem) to encourage the tree to grow outwards (lateral growth).
Commercial orchards often prune trees to make wide open canopies and make chemical spraying easier. In a permaculture setting, it's best to shape trees to reflect your climate and fruit harvest needs.
Should I prune in summer or winter?
Stone fruits (plums, cherries, peaches, apricots) are best pruned in summer. These trees are susceptible to a disease called Cytospora canker, a fungal disease that attacks pruning cuts made in cold weather. Pruning in summer lets the cuts heal before winter.
Pome fruits (apples, pears, quince) are generally pruned when plants are dormant in winter. Pruning in winter when the trees have finished growing and are dormant will produce lush new growth in spring.
All trees can be pruned in summer, but pruning an actively growing tree will limit its growth. If you're trying to reduce the size of a tree, summer pruning may be best.
A Tree's Growing Features
Understanding your tree's morphology will help you make informed cuts when pruning.
Leaders: the longesy, strongest branches - or the longest, strongest branch in the center of the tree.
Laterals: any branch growing away from the central leader or leaders. This is where most fruit is formed.
Sublaterals: a stem growing from a lateral
Choose which stem/stems will become your leaders. Base this choice on your space and what you plan to do with the tree, as well as the climate. In dry, hot areas, you may not want a wide open fruit tree that lets lots of sunlight in. In a humid environment you may want to open up the trees to reduce moisture and fungal disease.
Identify Fruit Tree Buds and Fruiting Spurs
First, determine if your fruit is spur-bearing or tip-bearing. Spur-bearers produce trees with lots of spurs on wood that's two years or older. Tip-bearers produce fruit in clusters near or at the tip and produce very fear fruiting spurs. If you're purchasing a new tree, ask which type it is.
The size and shape of buds will help you decide where to cut when pruning. Examine the bud and determine if it's a:
Shooting bud: a thin, flattish bud that will produce leaves and a stem
Fat fruit bud: looks fatter and founder and sometimes more fluffy than a shooting bud and will produce a flower and therefore fruit if pollinated
Fruiting spur (also known as a spur-bearer): a short, stocky shoot close to the leaders, that produces fruit and is spaced very closely to the next shoot. Fruiting spurs occur on apples, pears, cherries, pomegranates, and plums.
For more fruit, try not to prune too many fat fruit buds or fruiting spurs.
Will my trees still produce fruit even if I don't prune them?
YES! Just like wild trees your trees will continue to produce fruit, pruned or not. Pruning every year makes harvesting easier long term.
How to tell if a tree is older than two years old?
Every season a tree puts on new growth and then stops. At the spot where growth stopped the tree develops a terminal bud and a bulging line. Run your hand along the central leader up and up until you can feel a raised textured surface circling the stem, each time you find a bulge like this it represents a year of growth.
Why do I need to know the age of a fruit tree?
Fruit trees start producing fruit in their second or third year (if a dwarf variety) or any time after those first few years. They don't produce fruit in the first year and some only produce fruit on new-season growth. Knowing this helps you prune in an informed way.
Pruning Branch by Branch:
Pruning dead/damaged branches: if a branch is still alive it will be very easy to scratch the surface and the scratch will reveal a distinctly green layer underneath. If a branch is dead the surface will be harder to scratch and you will not see that lush green layer. If this is the case, cut that stem right back at a slight angle. Treat a broken branch the same way.
Pruning low-growing branches: pruning these (lower than 1 meter) branches allows easier access to the tree. If you live in a landscape where rabbits are a problem you may want to leave your low-growing branches so the rabbits don't chew the bark on your central ladder.
Pruning fruit tree suckers: most fruit trees are grafted, with fruiting trees grafted to the top of a rootstock that's known to grow vigorous and strong. Even with successful grafts shoots can be sent up from the rootstock, these are called suckers. Cut these suckers off to prevent them taking nutrients.
More Resources on Pruning:
Years to Fruit, how long different fruit trees take to offer fruit
How to Prune Stone Fruit Trees in Summer, video
Tips for Winter Pruning, video
