I had a big box store Kieffer pear top kill a couple years ago. The root stock grew back, it split into 2 leaders, both are about 5' total height and about the diameter of a finger. I t-budded both leaders this past summer at about 3.5' height and appears just one took. Where do I prune this and when? My thought was to prune just above the t-bud that took and leave the other leader on this growing season as a nurse branch. Then next winter prune off the leader with the failed t-bud. Is this a good plan of action?
Pruning T-budded Root stock
- Thread starter gunfun13
- Start date
Turkey Creek
5 year old buck +
I would prune off a couple of inches above the T-bud before bud break on the tree. You could leave the other leader, but it may prove dominant and suppress the T-bud from growing much. Its better to let the scion/ bud be dominant and leave other branches on a tree that are lower to serve as nurse branches.
