The apple tree is an amazing tree, pleasing with dazzling-tender flowering in spring, bringing a generous harvest in the summer and covering the ground with a carpet of colorful leaves in the fall. An apple tree, the care and trimming of which is carried out regularly and at the right time, develops correctly, is not subject to diseases and pests, brings many fruits.
For this tree, it is very important to successfully form a crown. Therefore, pruning is the most important component of apple care. Usually it is carried out in the spring, before the sap flow begins, or in the fall, in October.
Spring pruning
The usual spring pruning dates are March-April. The tree is inspected after winter, all knots and broken branches are removed. Rotten, damaged branches and bark are removed. If the tree is slightly frozen, pruning is done as usual. If the damage is severe, the procedure must be postponed until the start of the growing season.
Branches growing inside the crown, weak internal shoots are cut. It is also necessary to remove contiguous branches, which greatly thicken the crown and impede normal growth. The crown is thinned out, made more symmetrical, if necessary, the height of the tree decreases.
Summer pruning
All manipulations with the crown of the tree in the summer are carried out in addition to the main spring procedures. Pruning apple trees in summer is considered auxiliary and consists in breaking out unnecessary shoots, pinching, removing dead fruit branches and more detailed formation of the crown.
First, tweezing is done (pinching). When the growths of skeletal branches reach 20 cm and 5-6 leaves grow on them, the growth points are removed with a knife.
Pruning of apple trees in summer is carried out later than pincing, when the growths of the current year are lignified and grow to 65-70 cm. After cutting the lignified part of the shoot, buds located at the cut develop. Shoots are characterized by intensive growth, have a good angle of departure and have time to mature before the end of the growing season.
In the first years after planting, pruning of apple trees in summer is not carried out. On old trees, summer pruning is carried out in early June. The strongest continuation shoots are left, competitor shoots are removed.
Pruning apple trees in summer may affect next year's crop, causing the tree to bloom later. Sometimes it is carried out in case if for some reason it was not carried out in the spring or in the fall.
Autumn pruning
In autumn, the main pruning of apple trees. Dates - from the beginning of leaf fall to the onset of frost, so that the slices can heal. This is an ideal time to prepare the tree for the new season, its rejuvenation and the formation of the crown. Dried and broken branches are removed. Shoots, grown at an acute angle, and weak branches are cut.
With autumn planting, the first pruning of the apple tree is immediately carried out . A seedling without a crown is cut at a level that is several cm higher than the height of the stem. If the tree has a crown, leave no more than 5 branches. The center conductor should be 20 cm above the main branches. The tops of the main branches are trimmed at the same level. Minor branches can be rejected to a wilted state in order to further shorten or cut them.
Until the tree has entered fruiting, pruning should be minimal.