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Young Crab Apple Pruning Advice

kkasparis1988kkasparis1988 Posts: 9
in Tools and techniques
Hi,

I got this crab apple free from the National Trust when it was just a twig wrapped in some newspaper. I plan on planting it one day. Until then, how do I go about pruning it? It has stems coming out lower down and none further up.

Any tips would be appreciated, 

Cheers

Posts

  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    For an apple you need to decide what shape you want first. Those lower branches may seem too low now, but as the tree grows they may well end up feet off the ground.
    The tall one is the leader. It needs cutting back to where you want the next set of branches to be. At that point next year it will grow a group of branches, from those you will choose the next leader, cutting back any branches that you don't want. But remember that any side branches you cut will regrow from that point, so be brave and cut back to two/ three buds for a good shaped tree. It will take three to five years to get a good shape/size tree, but will need to be in the ground sooner rather than later. Hope this helps. 🙂
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    If you want it to be a standard tree, leave the leader alone! The RHS advice for training a young whip/maiden tree into a standard tree is to prune off all the side branches on the bottom third of the main trunk, shorten the ones on the next third and leave the top third alone except for removing any dead/diseased/crossing branches, and repeat each year. https://www.rhs.org.uk/plants/types/trees/formative-pruning. For a branched-head standard, you remove the leader at year 4 (after training as above for three years). In either case by the end of the fifth year you should have something that's starting to look like a tree :-)
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    That is right @JennyJ if the poster wants a full sized tree. But not everyone has the room for a 20ft tree. I was trying to slow the growth down as they are planning to keep tree in the pot, and then give them a chance of a reasonable sized tree to look after. 
    My apple is on a dwarf rootstock and I still have to work to keep it to 10ft.
    This is last year , and it is 7 years old. ( plus bought as a two year whip)

    After and before pruning.
  • JennyJJennyJ Posts: 10,576
    For the potted tree in the first post, if the ultimate aim is to have a standard tree with a clear trunk, then the way to go is to remove the side branches near the bottom because the longer they're left, the more obvious the scars will be when they're eventually removed. Obviously leave them if a multistemmed tree is the goal. I assumed that the rootstock was right for the intended location/final height, or it'll always be a battle
    Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
  • kkasparis1988kkasparis1988 Posts: 9
    Thank you for the replies. I will remove the lower branches and leave the leader alone for a few years. Then I'll have a go at cutting the leader and forming some sort of tree shape.
    Thanks again for the responses, both very helpful and I am reasonably confident now!
  • purplerallimpurplerallim Posts: 5,287
    If that is your plan, then it needs to go in the ground now or next spring. It will not have enough room in that pot @kkasparis1988 remember to leave a three foot space between it and boundery for future growth.
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