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Apple tree pruning advice

tjpearce84_rbE2ZbRtjpearce84_rbE2ZbR Posts: 1
in Fruit & veg
Hi All.

I have moved in to a new house and inherited a few apple trees. see pics. I have taken away dead bits and got rid of a few watershoots from the middle. it is the mass of spindly week branches at the top that i am not sure what to do with. any advice would be welcome. i think the tree is too big at the moment, so would like to manage it's size down, is it possible to just shorten the spindly ones?

thanks a lot folks.

Tim.

Posts

  • Allotment BoyAllotment Boy Posts: 6,774
    Yes you can shorten the top thin growths but the usual advice is not to take more than 1/3 of all the growth at any one time.  Ironically winter pruning tends to stimulate growth,  Summer pruning is better for restricting size,  but large cuts do need to be done in the Winter dormant period.  Try to do this work gradually over several seasons.  The RHS website has good advice as does GW 
    AB Still learning

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