Pruning Your Fruit Tree

Fruit trees, no matter what kind, need to be pruned. But how do we know when to prune them? If we don’t prune them correctly, then we will have an odd shaped tree and unhealthy fruit.

There are some that think a fruit tree only needs sunlight and water. A fruit tree needs more than water and light to produce healthy fruit. By pruning your fruit tree, you allow the sunlight to reach through to all the flower buds. When the top of the tree is too full, it blocks the sunlight to the parts of the tree that need it the most.

The flower buds, the beauty and the scent are the most beautiful part of spring. That is new life coming forth. But did you know that the flower buds actually begin to form during the latter part of summer?

So this would make winter the most important time for your fruit tree. This is when it is important to prune it, in the winter, when the tree is dormant. This actually helps the tree to become stronger, getting rid of the old diseased and dead branches.

Pruning is best in the winter because there aren’t any leaves to get in your way. This helps you to shape your tree, achieve some balance for the fruit to grow evenly and equally throughout the tree.

There is another pruning that is done during the summer. This is done to rid the tree of fast growing shoots that will take up the energy of the tree. The tree should not be supporting new growth at the end of summer.

There are many kinds of fruit trees, and they are not all alike. There is an order that you should be pruning your trees. The pruning should be done as the tree buds in the spring. The apple tree should be pruned first, the plum tree being the last to be pruned.

There is another pruning rule that applies to all fruit trees. When you start your dormant pruning, you should do it when the weather is the coldest. And as far as summer pruning, this should be stop about a month before it becomes the hottest time of summer.

If you take care of your trees, treat them for disease, fertilize and prune, then you will have a tree full of delicious fruit in the summer months. When you see that fruit and taste it, it will have all been worth it.