Pruning after year one of growth for trees that were headed for shipping

[Charman03]

Sometimes these trees you have shipped that were cut back like to throw up a lot of vertical limbs at the cut. How would you proceed in pruning/training these limbs after the first year of growth?

 

[chickenlittle]

Pruning helps spur growth but you want it to gain height. Choose a central leader and leave it alone. Don't head that central leader as that causes multiple buds to push growth to become the new central leader. Below your central leader, all those limbs will eventually get removed. Remove anything that is competing with your chosen central leader. The rest can be pruned to encourage growth or removed at your discretion. Next year do the same thing while starting to choose your permanent scaffolding or structure from those limbs above the top of the cage. If you don't get side limbs, you can start scoring above buds to encourage limbs.

 

[bowhuntin22]

I have a similar question. I have some pears that grew out the top of a 5 foot tube in year one. I understand the central leader part but at what height should I top this tree to encourage lateral branches. Or should I not top it at this point. Again they are about 5 1/2 feet.


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[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^^ I'd help on this if I could, but we only have 3 pear trees and we just let them grow as they will. I know nothing about training pears.

 

[cavey]

I've been heading back my central leader, especially if I have a lot of growth - vertical growth, and not much for scaffold branching... I just started experimenting with notching or making a horizontal cut/slit above leader bud sites to try and encourage scaffolding also. My trees tend to have run away central leader growth and lack scaffold branching and heading seems to really help getting those side branches to take off.

Everybody out there seems to have a little twist on the art of pruning and Im finding that it is an art/science with a ton of differing opinions.

One thing I know is key is getting on existing limbs and training their crotch angles - Im always behind on this and the trees grow so fast that it always seems that I'm failing in getting out and making the time to do this and paying for it later. I have a bunch of older trees that have poor branch angles and are now breaking under fruit loads. Those older trees also have a lot of funky crossing branches and branches on the trunks that are now to close together. Learn to be mildly aggressive with your pruning.

So the last couple years I have cut back the central leader on my trees each year, and have been cutting back terminal growth on my scaffolds and being more aggressive with my overall pruning %. It may cost me some years worth of gain in overall height but, and I may be off the charts wrong - but I was told that it allows for a stronger core to the tree - stronger thicker central leader. Where I really fail is getting out there and getting spreaders or weights on the branches.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

^^^^ I get behind too on the quick growth and not getting limb spreaders in place soon enough. Then I'm playing catch-up on some trees.