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Yesterday, I spent the whole day on an Espalier Pruning day at Painswick Rococo garden. It was great fun and I learned a ton about how Apples grow and how to maintain an espalier. It was also a gorgeous setting in which to learn, with a central kitchen garden surrounded by hundreds of espalier Apples and Pear and a separate orchard including Medlers and Yellow Plums (which I had a sneaky taste of). Thanks to Chris Hitchcock (the head gardener, on the right) and Bill Whitehead (an Apple and Pear expert, on the left) I now feel super confident about summer pruning my own espalier apple tree. Thanks also to Paul Hervey-Brookes for being the perfect host. Lastly, thanks to my wonderful under-gardener for buying the course for me and looking after Jackson for the whole day so that I could go! So what did I learn? Now is the time to start summer pruning Apple an Pear espaliers. Aim for the end of July to mid August. The reason you Summer prune is to restrict growth (after all an espalier is a restricted form) and to let in light to help the fruit ripen. The light also encourages buds for the following season, so everyone’s a winner! Here are Four Steps to Summer Pruning Espaliers 1.Chop Down All Top Growth Before you start pruning your espalier might look like this. Lots of long wippy shoots growing upwards. You should cut all the top growth down by about half so that you can see more clearly what you’re doing. Leave two long shoots unpruned, that are growing from the central stem. The reason you do this is to draw the sap upwards through the central part of the tree which reduces the amount of regrowth at the ends of the branches. It should start to look a bit like this. 2. Prune Each Branch Three Leaves Up From the Basal Leaves Inspect each of the branches that you’ve cut down by half. Find the basal leaf cluster (these are the clutch of leaves that are around the base of this year’s growth. In the photo below, the basal leaves are the three leaves coming from the base of the branch. Then the real leaves are the three after that (one is pointing backwards). You would make your cut above the third. Angle your cut so that it slants away from the leaf – but ideally points away from the tree (so that the water runs away from the leaf and the tree). Don’t make your cut too angled and also not too close to the bottom of the leaf (as below). Continue to work through the tree doing the same for each branch. 5. Dead, Diseased, Dying, Weak and Wayward Next inspect the tree and take out all branches that fit the following description – DDDWW (Dead, Diseased, Dying, Weak and Wayward). Quite a few of the trees that I was pruning had Canker, which was rotting away various branches. I was told to just cut them off (since they don’t spray fungicide at Painswick). 4. The Finished Espalier When you’re finished you should have a perfectly trimmed espalier, with lots of light getting in and with two wippy stems protruding from the top. Sorry this ended up being so long but I needed to get all that I had learned down in one place. Hope it helps you out when you come to Summer prune your espalier Apples or Pears.
Apple tree pruning varies according to the age of the tree. In this article, we describe how to prune apples trees that have just been planted, then apple tree pruning for trees up to 8 years old, and then for trees 8 years old and over. Lastly we look at pruning espaliered apple trees and other special cases. Pruning a new apple treePlant the new tree in its dormant period, from November to April, and cut it back to the height where you would like to see new shoots develop. Cutting the central leader encourages the growth of lateral branches from the wood buds below. If the tree already has side branches, leave them in place, and tie them down using string and clothes pegs. Tying down side branches encourages the tree to come into production more quickly. This is because unpruned branches tend to produce more fruit beds when it is held horizontal or below horizontal ty tying. In this way you can begin giving the tree its ideal pyramidal shape without pruning at all. Always seal pruning cuts. How to prune apple trees up to 8 years oldApples trees less than 8 years old should be pruned in winter and in summer. Winter pruning stimulates tree growth and root growth. Summer pruning keeps tree size under control, diverts energy to fruit growth, and helps regular cropping. Winter pruning apple trees up to 8 years oldWinter pruning should be performed in the period December-April, when the tree is dormant. Here are the main tips on pruning apple trees in winter:
Summer pruning apple trees up to 8 years oldSummer pruning enables sunlight to reach the ripening fruit, prevents over-cropping, and encourages the production of new spurs and darts for next year’s crop. Summer pruning on apples should be performed in late August in the UK, when the lower parts of new shoots are stiff and woody. The basic principle of summer pruning is to remove vertical shoots that are shading the fruit. Here are the tips on pruning apple trees in summer:
How to prune apple trees more than 8 years oldThe tree has now reached its prime, and it has attained its mature structure. At this stage, winter pruning maintains desired tree size. Summer pruning prevents overcropping, creates healthy spurs and darts, and keeps the tree structure open to sunlight, for optimum fruit ripening. Winter pruning apple trees over 8 years oldFree-standing apple trees can be pruned in winter every year to reduce excess old wood. Winter pruning can be performed from November to early March, though we recommend pruning in early March, just before growth recommences. Here are the tips on winter pruning apple trees over 8 years old:
Watch a video tutorial on winter pruning a mature apple tree. Summer pruning apple trees over 8 years oldRegarding pruning apple trees over 8 years old in summer, it is important to summer prune every year, because this enables the tree size to be controlled. Winter pruning increases tree size. For summer pruning, timing is critical. In addition to controlling tree size, summer pruning improves the colour of the fruit. This is best achieved from 10 to 14 days before the fruit is picked. As a general guide, summer pruning should be done in the period June-September. Here are the tips on pruning apple trees over 8 years old in summer:
Watch a video tutorial on summer pruning apple trees. How to prune tip-bearing apple treesMost apple trees are spur-bearers, producing fruit bud on two-year-old wood, and on the short, wrinkled spurs that develop on older wood. Examples include Cox’s Orange Pippin, James Grieve, Sunset, Emmeth Early, Greensleeves, Lanes Prince Albert and others. A few varieties are tip bearers, in which fruit bud grows at the tips of 2-year-old wood. Examples are Irish Peach and Cornish Gillflower. Pruning true tip-bearing varieties requires care because it is easy to remove all the shoots that will produce next year’s crop. Here are the steps in winter pruning a tip-bearing apple tree:
Summer pruning on tip-bearing apple trees can be performed as for spur-bearers as detailed above, taking care to preserve the shoots that will produce fruit over the next two years. How to prune espalier apple treesEspalier apple trees are pruned in summer, typically in late August. Here are the steps involved in pruning espalier apple trees:
Pruning apple trees to promote tree sizeNormally the objective in apple tree pruning is to keep the tree to a manageable size. If on the other hand we want a large tree, the pruning technique will be different. Here are some tips on pruning apple trees to promote size:
How to prune young, over-vigorous apple treesIf soil conditions are favourable and the trees are growing very strongly, any type of pruning will further delay getting the trees into cropping. Encourage the development of the central leader by light tipping, to stimulate the tree to make useful short side branches. This will encourage fruit bud production. Remember that the energy needed for growing one pound (half a kilo) of fruit is equivalent to the formation of 3 feet (90 cm) of growth. Therefore a regular crop is the best way of controlling excessive wood growth. Follow the instructions for pruning apple trees in the sections above, and help reduce tree vigour by also following these recommendations.
How to prune young, under-vigorous apple treesFollow the instructions in the sections above for pruning apple trees under 8 years old, with these extra considerations to promote growth:
How to prune apple trees that have gone out of handFollow the instructions in the sections above (pruning trees over 8 years old) with these extra considerations:
Watch a video tutorial on pruning a 50-year-old Bramley tree. View our site map, an index to the content on this website. |