General pruning notes on apple and fruit trees

Fruiting spurs

With fruiting trees the object is to maintain and encourage more fruiting spurs. These are the section or buds on the stems that produce flower followed by fruit in the summer or autumn.

Fruiting spurs develop on second year or older growth and can be identified as short stubby growth looking as though they have been compressed often having the appearance of tightly packed rings around the thinner stems near the fruiting buds.

Summer growth

Summer growth on a fruit tree is longer stems with the buds being set at a larger spacing along then stem Normally in the winter these stems are cut back by a third to a half of the growth achieved in the past growing season. This will help to maintain and create more fruiting buds, Unless its a new tree and you are trying to build up a frame work of branches

Maintain a apple or other fruit tree involves the following in the winter

General pruning – to remove damaged and disease areas of the stems and encourage more fruiting spurs

Winter washing – to kill over wintering pest eggs

Application of grease bands – to help stop insect climbing into the tree

Feeding with a balanced fertiliser – such as Growmore

Sowing calendula seed – around the base to encourage beneficial insects

pheromone traps – Later in the year in March / May installing pheromone traps for such pests as codling moth

In the case of apple and fruit trees that have a lot of lichen on the stems additional feed such as some liquid tomato feed and chicken pellets will help the trees recover from the lack of nutrients