Pruning Apple Question

[KY wild]

In the past I would buy a bareroot tree and plant it and let it grow that 1st winer I would start pruning it the way I want it for the future. Now that I am grafting I am running into a new situation and wonder what is best practice.
My 1st year grafts last year grew straight up whips and made it to the top of a 5 foot tube or close to it as a whip and went into winter needing little help. I did nothing to them because I wanted the limbs above 5 foot and the whip was only at 5 foot heading into spring. Well this growing season they are up to about 7 feet or so as of this moment and some are still whips and some have two split stems. I realize the next step is to cut off all but one to make central leader and to top the central leader to make it start branches between the 5 foot and 7 foot. The question is should I do right now at the end of hot July so they will quit wasting improper growth or should I wait until Sept. or maybe wait until completely dormant. I know it would be OK to wait until dormant season but seems like wasted time and energy, but don't know if July cut would be harmful to tree. Please tell me what you think, thanks

 

[bigboreblr]

Overall summer pruning is for dwarfing a tree. Some exceptions.

Id wait till dormant.

You can make a small nick a little above a bud where you want a branch. Forgot the name of the pruning procedure.

My grafts rhis year i do prune back lesser leaders. Just the 1st and msybe 2nd leafs pairs. Not sure if it helps or not.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Dormant season is the time recommended for structural pruning - shaping the tree. Summer pruning is usually done to remove water sprouts or diseased / damaged limbs, both of which are a waste of tree energy.

As bigboreblr said above, "scoring" above a bud can stimulate that bud to begin forming a branch. I've scored a number of our camp's trees, and it works. It's done by using a grafting knife or other sharp knife. About 1/4" above a bud you'd like to form a branch, take the knife and press it straight into the bark / cambium layer of the trunk (central leader) until you feel a "snap" or "pop". Stop when you feel the "snap", and don't cut deeper, or ring the leader with your knife, just enough cut to cover the width of the bud. The knife's blade is held perpendicular (90*) to the central leader, and it doesn't take much pressure if your knife blade is sharp. (Try this at a bud location you don't care about having a limb form as practice. You can always prune off that "practice" branch later if you don't want it there.) You'll feel the "snap" when the blade breaks through the bark & cambium.

If you have a nice central leader, you can "arrange" limbs to form around the central leader so the tree ends up balanced, more or less, by scoring above buds.

 

[KY wild]

So scoring above a bud can be done now or should it also wait until dormant season? Thanks

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Dormant season. That's when I've done our camp trees - usually late March or early April. Often have new limbs forming that same spring / summer.

The above scoring info is not my smarts - I learned it from others who know their orchard work. I just try to pass on what I learned. Good luck with your trees!

 

[bigboreblr]

MYy1st year with little trees was to prune out some during the summer. Like little small branches 4ft or lower, competeting leaders, a real bad branch. Im starting to think let the tree grow for the year, collect the energy from the extra leaves to make more roots, then prune it in a positive direction come winter. Even brnaches and leaves below your 1st permanent branch I tend to keep when winter pruning. Give the tree some more energy. Keeping it whip like for for than 2 years won't be that good. A pic of what you got might be helpful.

 

[KY wild]

So I was going to top central leader to force limbs to develop, this has worked for me in the past but now maybe this is not necessary. My new question is if I am going to make slice above buds in dormant season then do I still need to top central leader or make the slices and leave the central leader alone? Thanks

 

[Bowsnbucks]

So I was going to top central leader to force limbs to develop, this has worked for me in the past but now maybe this is not necessary. My new question is if I am going to make slice above buds in dormant season then do I still need to top central leader or make the slices and leave the central leader alone? Thanks

Depends on how tall you want your trees to get. Our camp apple trees are for wildlife mainly, so I didn't cut back the central leaders on them. I try to encourage the central leaders to reach for the sky, because we want TALL trees so we have producing branches up in the tops. We have bears, so thinner - but producing - branches up high tend to survive bears climbing. Avoiding deer is no problem once the trees get big enough ........ we prune the lower limbs off so the lowest limbs are above 6 ft off the ground. ( I saw a bear try to get in the higher branches once at camp. The thinner limbs up there wouldn't support its weight, and it fell to the ground with a huge thump and a loud yowl. It took off running full tilt, and I doubt it tried to go too high again!!!) Thus our plan for taller trees.

For eating - you can prune to control the height of your trees by cutting back on the leaders if you choose. Pruning for human consumption and ease-of-reach is a bit different than pruning strictly for wildlife. Most wildlife planters don't want to be out every year for decades pruning apple, crab, and pear trees. After pruning and shaping wildlife trees to their needs, most guys want to have less work and more enjoyment / feeding of wildlife. Trees get left to do their thing after a certain point. YMMV.

 

[H20fwler]

I've had pear trees I've started from grafting go straight up like you describe, I head them off about five foot tall and they started throwing branches. For me when I see something I don't like on a young tree I fix no matter the time of year. There is still growing time left this summer, train the tree the way you want it.

It has worked fine for me so far.