Pruning question

[Peeps]

I have several trees I got lazy on early on and now they have multiple leaders. I’ll use this tree as an example. Should I completely saw off the 2 leaders in the left and keep the right one as the central leader or just trim down those 2 left ones so they are significantly smaller than the right one?

 

[Charman03]

At this point I might just ditch the central leader and go with the open middle approach. What roostock? All trees don’t have to be on a central leader. Most of this pruning advice you read is from commercial orchards that need big perfect red fruit they can sell.

 

[Turkey Creek]

Narrow crotch angles like that tend to break out when the tree becomes laden with fruit. I for sure would remove the farthest left one in the picture.

 

[Apple Junkie]

Like people, apple trees come in all shapes and sizes, but they don’t get there in one year. I’d listen to Turkey Creek, then next year see what additional improvements can be made to get the tree shaped to what you’re aiming for. For now, I'd cut the one TC suggested and prune back any competing leaders so the stem on the right is the clear leader. Just my two cents.

 

[Telemark]

I had a similar tree. I used spreaders to push the angles out in June and then pruned the next winter.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

I had an Enterprise tree that had 2 aggressive leaders a few years ago. I cut the one off entirely, and camp members said it looked like I was killing the tree. Now that tree has one central leader, the shape is good, and it's beginning to bear apples. What looked like a "ruining" of that Enterprise actually helped it get taller and sturdier with a good shape. I learned good pruning tips from guys on here, and a couple online videos.

Turkey Creek's advice on crotch angles is accurate. I've used limb spreaders like Telemark does, and also clothes pins on very young limb sprouts to force them to grow out straighter from the trunk.

As Apple Junkie said - well-shaped trees don't happen in one year. Ours have taken 3 to 5 years to get a good shape.

 

[Peeps]

I sawed off that far left one and left the other 2 for now.

 

[Telemark]

I sawed off that far left one and left the other 2 for now.

I wouldn't cut those branches off yet. Those thick low branches can hold a lot of fruit. Wait til May/June when the tree is flexible and spread them out away from the central leader. Then when the angles are good, prune next winter. The tree looks great. You have a very good central leader in spite of the doglegs.

 

[Telemark]

The blue is the central leader, And yellow are the branches to spread away from it. Tie a conduit or something to the central leader to support it against the spreaders.

 

[Peeps]

I already wacked off that far left one. I’m trying to get rid of the lower spilts and branches on my trees so later on it will be easier to mow under and hopefully my bears won’t be tempted to climb and hang on them. In past years I was hesitant to trim to much. This year I wacked some stuff off. Most of my trees are on Antonovka rootstock from SLN.

 

[Bowsnbucks]

Peeps - We have a lot of SLN trees on Antonovka too. They've all done well for us. Following the advice of Maya and Appleman, as well as others here, I didn't go crazy cutting off all lower limbs right away. Those gents advised keeping some of them on until 3 to 5 years after planting to let the trees get established and develop good root systems. The limbs and leaf surfaces aid in growth from photosynthesis. Basically, "don't cut away the sun collectors." I just remove a low limb every March until I get the lowest limbs up where I want them.

So I waited a few years to remove some of the lowest limbs - with good results. We have bears, too, so I keep the lowest limbs at 6 ft. or higher, just to avoid casual "reaching up." We've found the younger bears are the ones most likely to want to put their paws on things, reach up, snoop around, etc. 6 ft. or higher limbs minimizes the "easy reach."

 

[Telemark]

I already wacked off that far left one. I’m trying to get rid of the lower spilts and branches on my trees so later on it will be easier to mow under and hopefully my bears won’t be tempted to climb and hang on them. In past years I was hesitant to trim to much. This year I wacked some stuff off. Most of my trees are on Antonovka rootstock from SLN.

Gotcha. There is a thread somewhere with anti-bear motives. If I remember correctly they trimmed low branches and put a spiked tire around the trunk.