Older trees that won't produce

[Charman03]

there's a few apple trees on a property that only produce a few apples each year. According to the landowner they used to get a lot of fruit. They haven't been trimmed or maintained for atleast 15 years according to the owner. Anything I can do to help them out?

 

[Charman03]

 

[Charman03]

Hopefully these pictures can help

 

[John-W-WI]

People much move versed in apple trees than I am will chime in... But undoubtedly you need to remove some material so sunlight can get in there. It's been my experience that cutting too much makes the tree respond with a TON of new growth. I've never been sure "how much to cut". It's a balancing act for sure. I think a little bit over several years is better than a lot in a single season.

Lets see what the experts have to say.

-John

 

[Neahawg]

You need to prune. Go to YouTube and look up Stephen Hayes somewhere he does a series on how to prune neglected trees. That's is what that tree needs.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Renewal of fruiting wood is a often over looked process. Older wood becomes less productive over time. Generally it is recommended that no more than 1/3 of a older tree be removed in a year.

 

[CrazyEd]

Start by removing all dead or diseased wood.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

And do not fertilize after pruning !! Doing so will spawn the TON of vegetative growth that John - post #4 - spoke about. Removing no more than 1/3 of the tree is the rule-of-thumb most recommended by the apple tree experts - I'm not an expert, but am relaying what I've read from the experts.

 

[Charman03]

thanks for the help. I'll look into what all to remove

 

[chummer]

I would remove dead stuff now and prune in July. My experience says if you prune that tree in the spring for every branch you cut 5 will grow back. Do it in July and in August you can pick off any young shoots by hand.

 

[H20fwler]

Open up the middle and cut all those suckers off, any branches that touch, dead stuff...I would prune it pretty hard.

 

[Maya]

This tree is in the open getting good light already, so watch out on how much is cut. I would start at the base and work my way up. Take out that dead wood and small stunted stuff under the main canopy. It's not going to do anything anyways as far as fruiting, it's just extra wood. Then go up as the others have said and take a couple uprights. Pick ones that are gnarly and have a several other uprights (not the big 4-5 leaders) and lower branches off of them. This way you essentially are only making one or two cuts to the tree and there will be less suckering. Although you may have to make a few more cuts just to get them out. Make those cuts on the wood you are taking out..............................Again not much though, just 2-4 spaced evenly around the tree! If you take out a bunch, making a ton of cuts, it will just sucker like crazy!!!!! I can't stress this enough.

Take your time, this will be about a 3-4 year process to get it in decent shape. I wouldn't try to get it down to one leader, it's too far gone for that. Another good thing you can do is prune off any suckers that shoot up from the cuts you have made in mid summer.

 

[Charman03]

Great info everyone. Much appreciated. Thanks for the details maya