While intimidating for most, proper pruning of fruit trees in the summer and winter ensure healthy growth and bountiful harvests. For region-specific information, please contact your local Giving Grove affiliate. If you would like more information like this sent straight to your inbox, consider subscribing to The Serving, The Giving Grove’s quarterly newsletter.
Why prune?
Removing dead and diseased wood helps prevent infection and the spread of disease.
Pruning can improve both the quantity and quality of the harvest. The interior of unpruned trees tends to be too shady for good production. Apples and pears may also demonstrate alternate-bearing, every other year, if not pruned.
Good shaping works with a plant's natural growth habit to develop a strong primary structure to support the full weight.
Encouraging good branch angles can prevent them from breaking in high winds or under fruit load, which can tear deep into the trunk and endanger the whole tree. A narrow crotch (branch) angle is weak; at 17 degrees or less, the bark gets pinched between the branch and trunk, trapping water and promoting rot. A crotch angle between 45 and 60 degrees is ideal because the bark can develop fully.
Shorter trees and lower fruit growth make for easier harvesting. An unpruned tree may grow upward without bearing until the fruit is out of reach or the tree is too large for the space.
Pruning maximizes fruit production and health by controlling vegetative growth. Shoots, water sprouts, and vertical branches drain a tree's energy. Suckers grow from below the graft union and divert energy from the grafted tree.
Sunlight to the interior of the tree is essential for flower bud formation and fruit ripening.
Increased air circulation to the interior prevents the development of fungal diseases and reduces pest populations.
A crotch angle between 45 and 60 degrees is ideal for bark development.
Know your fruit! How, when, and what to prune will depend on what type of tree you are working with. Be familiar with your tree's growth habit: pyramidal, spreading, multi-trunked, vining, or vigorous. Also, learn about its fruiting habit; inadvertently pruning fruiting wood, or specialized fruiting structures (spurs) can seriously compromise a tree's ability to bear fruit.
When to Prune:
Damaged and diseased wood and suckers should be promptly pruned, no matter what time of year. (Beware of fire-blight if pruning in May-July.)
Annual pruning should be done during the dormant season before buds begin to swell, and preferably on a day when the temperature is above freezing (late January through early March). Most tree diseases are dormant in winter, thus reducing the spread of infection. Pruning cuts will also heal most quickly during the spring growing season to follow. Never prune in the fall or early winter! Also, never prune during rain as this can spread disease.
Summer pruning in August's heat (summer dormancy) is important for limiting excessive growth and water sprouts on apples and pears and can have a dwarfing effect on the trees.
Pruning Methods
Thinning: To allow more light and air into the interior, cut small side branches back to their point of origin on the parent branch. This is practiced not only on twigs but on crowded limbs.
Tipping: To induce horizontal branching, remove the terminal bud to a lateral bud heading in the direction you want the branch to grow. Cut ¼” above a lateral bud (to allow for dieback) and at an angle parallel to the direction of the bud.
Notching: By nicking vascular tissue above or below a lateral bud, you can determine whether a bud becomes a shoot or a flower. The nick should be close to the bud, about 1/8” wide, but not deep (a mere scratch - to cut the phloem just below the bark surface). It should reach halfway around the stem. To produce a shoot, notch above the dormant bud, cutting off the flow of growth hormones from terminal bud. To produce a flower, notch below the dormant bud, sending the flow of carbohydrates from the leaf to the bud instead of the rest of the tree.
Bamboo is used to support and straighten the fruit tree central leader.
Other Shaping Methods: Spreading, bending, & tying
Try hanging weights, using clothespins, tying branches to the ground, or using various length limb spreaders in late May-June to widen branch angles. This is very important in shaping the tree. Also, staking or splinting with bamboo and tie tape along the trunk can help establish central leaders.
Basic Structure of Fruit Trees
Central Leader
The central leader method is for trees with a strong vertical (conical, pyramidal) growth habit (apples, pears, Asian pears, European plums). Usually 3 tiers (whorls, scaffolds), each consisting of 4 branches, 6-9” apart, and spaced evenly around the trunk. For example:
Tier (scaffold) #1: 2.5-3’ above ground
Tier (scaffold) #2: 4.5-6’ above ground
Tier (scaffold) #3: 7.5’-9’ above ground
Fruit tree with modified central leader formation
Modified Central Leader
The modified central leader is an alternate method for trees with a strong vertical growth habit. Recommended for cherries, pears, and some apples. 5-6 branches are left spiraling evenly up the trunk, 8-12" apart, but the trunk is cut back to a main branch at 5-8' and treated like a vase/open-center from that point.
Fruit tree with central leader formation
Fruit tree with vase or open-center formation
Vase or Open-Center
Vase or open-center is used to encourage trees to a spreading, vase-shaped growth habit (such as peaches, and plums). A whorl of 3-5 branches are left within 2-3' above ground. Any main trunk is cut back to the topmost branch.
Basic Pruning Steps
Please note: Never remove more than 30% of living wood in one growing season (except for peaches), or there will be a flush of vegetative growth as the tree tries to restore its former food-producing capacity.
Remove dead and diseased wood.
Keep the central area open by removing crossed, crowded, and inward growing branches. This increases light to the interior and improves air circulation.
Prune for branch strength by removing branches with acute crotches (less than 17 degrees between the branch and the main trunk). Encourage wider angles by training narrow forks through spreading techniques.
Don't prune off fruiting spurs on apples, pears, apricots, and plums.* On sour cherries, thin the fruit-bearing wood by removing twigs under 4-6”. On peaches, thin fruit-bearing wood under 12” long. Ideal fruitwood on peaches should be 12-18” long and pencil-thick.
*unless pruning older trees with crowded spurs.
Making the Cut
To remove a branch less than 1” wide, you will make a single cut, with hand pruners, just outside the branch collar's outermost ring. Start by locating the branch collar, a swollen area of compressed rings of bark tissue/wood at the base of a branch. It is the point at which the trunk's growth pattern overlaps that of the branch, strengthening the connection of the branch to the tree as new growth is added each year. Branch collar tissue is the tissue that heals and closes over the wound made by removing a branch. It is also a storehouse of phenolic compounds that prevent fungal diseases from entering the plant while the wound is healing.
Make precise cuts. Never cut into the branch collar (a flush cut). Cutting into the branch collar reduces the tree's capacity to heal.
Don't leave a stub. If more than 1/8" of wood is left outside the branch collar, the wound takes much longer to heal because the branch collar's healing tissue must grow out over that extra wood. This increases the risk of attacks by insects and diseases.
A three-cut approach is best for pruning branches larger than 1” in thickness. Although the final cut should be made in the same location, just outside the branch collar, preparatory cuts are recommended to avoid the weight of the branch tearing down the side of the trunk and causing significant damage to the tree. Use a handsaw rather than a pruner to make cuts on larger branches.
The first cut should be made on the branch's underside, a couple of inches out from the branch collar. Saw only a quarter to halfway through the branch. This prevents the weight of the branch from tearing towards the trunk on the second cut.
The second cut should be made just beyond the first cut. Saw all the way through the branch from the top. This removes most of the weight of the branch.
Make the third and final cut just outside of the branch collar, perpendicular to the branch bark ridge.
Quick Pruning Notes for Specific Fruit & Nut Trees
Apple (Malus)- Preferred form depends on variety, but modified central to central leader works for most. Work on scaffolds (tiers) Spreading/bending branches is recommended. Thin fruit to 5” apart.
Pear (Pyrus)- Central leader or modified central leader. Spreading/bending branches is necessary. Lateral branches are equally spaced around the trunk with 6-8” between. Thin fruit to 5” apart.
Asian Pear (Pyrus)- Central leader or modified central. After 5 years, fruit buds tend to produce inferior fruit, and new laterals are encouraged to take the place of older wood.
Peach (Prunus Persica)- Last to prune in the dormant season. Remove up to 50% each year. Thin out twigs under 12”, and crowding twigs. Proper fruit twigs are 12-18” and pencil-thin. Open-center form. Thin fruit to 8” apart.
Cherry, Tart (Prunus Cerasus)- Open-center or modified central leader.
Cherry, Sweet (Prunus Avium)- Modified central leader. Head leader to create side-branching.
Jujube (Zizyphus)- Train as multi-trunk branching at 3-4’ off the ground. Minimal pruning except to limit the height or crossing limbs.
Apricot (Prunus Armeniaca)- Open-center or modified central leader. Thin fruit to 2” apart if necessary.
Pawpaw (Asimina)- Minimal pruning needed. Keep root suckers at bay. The tree has a central leader, spread laterals to help with sunlight.
Persimmon (Diospyros)- Modified central leader. Continue to work the top to keep the tree shorter.
Plum (Prunus)- Open-center form, except for European varieties that prefer central leader. Thin to 2” apart on heavy bearing varieties.
Nuts:
Pecan (Carya)- Central leader. Make sure branching is pruned off until the central leader is at least 5’ tall. At this point, make sure branches have a good angle of 45-60˚.
Chestnut (Castenea)- Central leader. Make sure branching is pruned off until the central leader is at least 5’ tall. At this point, make sure branches have a good angle of 45-60˚.
Hazel/Filbert (Corylus)- Multi-trunk with 5-9 trunks. Keep suckers at a minimum.
Berry Bush Pruning
Brambles are treated differently than other fruiting shrubs. All brambles are perennial, with some fruiting on biennial canes (floricanes). Blackberries are treated this way, except for primocane varieties, which the Giving Grove does not offer.
Blackberries (Rubus)- Tip, prune, and tie first-year canes late June-August. Tip laterals to 12-15” of second-year canes in early March. Remove canes once done fruiting.
Raspberries (Rubus)- For fall bearing (primocane) such as Heritage/Caroline, cut back to 2” above ground in late fall or late winter.
Multi-Stemmed Shrubs: Use thinning cuts for a less bushy effect. This increases light and air circulation to the interior of plant. In general, remove stems that are more than 4 to 6 years old. Older stems are less productive, so their removal enables younger stems to take their place. When pruning, cut stems to l-2” above crown of plant.
Aronia berry (Aronia)- Very little pruning, thin out trunks older than 5 years.
Blueberry (Vaccinium)- Thin out canes older fruiting canes 5+ years.
Bush Cherries (Prunus)- Thin out crowded stems, 5yr, and older stems can be removed to make room for younger trunks.
Currant/Gooseberry (Ribes)- Remove shoots after their 3rd fruiting year. Remove all but 6 new stems.
Elderberry (Sambucus)- All American varieties produce on new wood so that they can be cut down to the ground every year for maximum production, or if a taller shrub is needed, they can be left to grow. ‘Marge,’ a European variety produces on 2-year wood.
Fig (Ficus)- In spring, after bud break (often late April), remove winterkilled branches. This may mean all the way to the crown. In exposed sites, wrapping or mulching may be needed for winter protection. Remove smaller trunks and excess growth throughout the season, allowing for 10-12 main trunks.
Goumi (Eleagnus)- Thin out larger trunks over 1.5” in diameter.
Serviceberry (Amelanchier)- Cultivate 5-9 trunks. Remove trunks over 1.5” in diameter to rejuvenate the shrub.