Pruning apple trees

Apple tree before pruning

Apple tree after pruning

When we first moved here, I planted a few apples trees. They have become quite productive and on a good year yield the apple harvest is plentiful.

Unfortunately, the pruning process has always been intimidating to me, so for the first 12 years or so, I didn't prune any of my trees. I could tell they were getting a little bit out of control, but I just didn't know where to start with it. I looked for information in books and online, but never felt confident. I mentioned this to many people in hopes someone could point me in the right direction... and finally it paid off as my friend Peggy from Good Food Garden, who similarly wanted to learn to prune her apple trees, got a small group together to learn this art from a local expert, Jeff Turner. After participating in this workshop, I can safely say that the best way to learn pruning is to learn in-person, from someone who knows what they are doing! After covering a little bit of theory, we headed outside and pruned Peggy's three apple trees, that were in a comparable state to mine. As the pruning process progressed, the pieces started to fall in place for me and I started to be able to make educated guesses about which branches needed to go. The next day, I pruned my apple and pear trees - I thought I better do it before I lost my nerve! 

Reflecting on the specific advice that Jeff gave, I realized some guiding principles:

1. Any branch that is doomed to break off, or that isn't productive (watersprouts), corresponds to wasted energy. 
2. Aim for a tree with an even distribution of branches in three dimensional space, emanating from the center but not crossing each other. Branches that cross are in competition and also run the risk of rubbing against each other, opening up a wound.
3. Think about the practicality of the harvest - are low branches going to be in the way? Do you need some kind of open space to lean your ladder against?
4. When deciding between two branches, always imagine what things will look in the future if you leave branch A, vs branch B, and how these scenarios will support or contradict the first three principles.

Here are a few of the specific guidelines I used to prune my trees in support of the principles, thanks to Jeff's advice.

• Prune off any "watersprouts" - thin vertical shoots that won't produce (principle 1, waste of energy)
• Avoid having any Y-split of 15-20 degrees or less, in  vertical Ys - these are likely to get bark trapped in the center of "Y" as the two branches develop and thicken, weakening the joint and leading to the "leaning" branch breaking off. (principle 1, potential waste of energy when a whole section breaks off)
• Prune off any branches that cross other branches when seen from above. When deciding which branch goes, imagine future development and which branch will fill out the tree without crowding an area. (principles 2 and 3, even branch density with no crossings)
• Never prune back more than one third of the tree

In terms of the process of pruning, we learned:

• Always prune just after the collar. Cutting into the collar is not great for healing, and leaving too much of the branch sticking out might be an opportunity for rot to set in.
• Any cut that is more than an inch in diameter should be covered with pruning sealer. I used a woodworking glue spreader to apply it. 
• The best tools to use are a pullsaw (I used my woodworking Dozuki saw...) and sharp pruning shears
• An alternative to pruning is using spreaders or ropes and weights to redirect the branches for a season, to set them in a new direction. I haven't tried this technique yet.

Obviously this isn't a how-to guide to pruning, but I hope that these guidelines give you a general sense of the process. Learning in-person from an expert was such an eye-opening experience, and I really encourage anyone seeking to learn the process of pruning, to try to learn from someone local to you.