Apple Tree Pruning 3/07

After an unusually long and bitter winter, the warm days of Spring had at last arrived!  I realized, belatedly, that I had put off the pruning of my apple trees since late december!

Thus on the weekend of March 6th, I journeyed back to Pennsylvannia with my girlfriend Marisa.  The weather was fair and the ride pleasant, and soon we were at my parents' house. After having lunch and visiting Lancaster with my folks and Marisa, I approached the task at hand.

To begin with, the Cleaver/Pruning knife must be sharpened to a razor edge to ensure as smooth a cut.  Rough gashes takes longer to heal, and an open gash is an invitation for infection.  Secondly, the edge of the Cleaver has to be washed with soapy water to ensure that the blade is as sterile as possible.

With my tools in hand, I began to assess the trees to see which branches had to be pruned.  Both of the apple trees are just 2 years old.

At this early age, much of a fruit tree's energy must be devoted towards the growth of "leader" branches.  These are main branches growing directly out off a trunk.

A young fruit tree should have no more than 2 to 4 such Leader Branches.  If a tree has more than 4 branches, than no single branch would grow strong enough by the tree's 3rd year to bear the weight of apples.   Both of the Apple trees had more than 7 such branches.  So first, I cut off the leader branches.  The cuttings were made along the length of the trunch, this minimizes the surface area of the wound and expedites the Tree's natural healing process.

Next, I proceeded to remove smaller branches growing at odd angles.  Basically, the ideal tree would have branches extending outwards in the rough form of a cup.  This allows maximum leaf exposure to sunlight, while also enabling air circulation in the middle of the tree's canopy.  However, some branches grow inwards or in rather orthogonal directions.  When fully leafed, these branches would block sunlight to other branches and increase the chance of fungus outbreaks.

With all the superfluous branches pruned, I then proceeded to apply a gum resin over the open cuts.  The resin would quickly seal off the living sap wood from the external environment, this greatly speeds up the tree's recovery by reducing the risk of infection.