Another Pruning Year, another pruning question...

[ducks4you]

I did some serious pruning this weekend. I sawed off 1/2 of the ragged edged limb (see above picture) on my old GD apple tree plus I sawed off a few feet on two other limbs. I'm glad that I did it bc I discovered holes IN the limbs, which can't be good.
But I made more cuts and got down to live wood.
There was one small limb growing on my old peach tree almost straight up, so I sawed it off, but took nothing else--PEACH tree pruning done for 2014!
I took off a vertical limb growing dead center on my healthy red apple tree and sawed and lopped off a few older waterspouts. Last year was the first year that I pruned any and some of these had gotten away from me.
I pruned sparingly on my two Mortmorency cherry trees. (If I had planted the older trees I would KNOW what kind they are! LOL)
I figure, with snow coming tomorrow and Monday, that I still have a short window to finish pruning my 7 fruit trees.
P.S. I had a really nice burn yesterday from my pruning, and the garden and pine needle cleanup made quick work of everything. This morning it was ALL ash.

 

[ducks4you]

I hope I'm not just writing this for myself. mmmm
Anyway, I sawed off about 1/2 of that big leftover of a limb (above), plus I took another, smaller limb 1/2 off--it had a small hole and I cut beyond the hole. I cleaned up where I had cut 2 other limbs a few years ago. EVERY cut revealed healthy wood. So...I'm crossing my fingers that this tree wants to revive itself.

 

[catjac1975]

I hope I'm not just writing this for myself. mmmm
Anyway, I sawed off about 1/2 of that big leftover of a limb (above), plus I took another, smaller limb 1/2 off--it had a small hole and I cut beyond the hole. I cleaned up where I had cut 2 other limbs a few years ago. EVERY cut revealed healthy wood. So...I'm crossing my fingers that this tree wants to revive itself.

Don't forget a wheel barrow load of manure at the base.

 

[ducks4you]

I DO use manure at the drip lines!!! How did you know?

 

[ducks4you]

MIdAmerican Gardener finally read my question on the air!! Wow, it's like being somebody in the phone book. =b
journey, I've been looking at a few older watersprouts on the apple tree to see what I might "train" to a new limb.
To be honest, since I might lose both trees, I'm now daring to cut more off of both.

 

[ducks4you]

MidAmerican Gardener had an expert on trees answer my pruning question. He said the following:
1) Cut off any dead wood
2) Prune off any watersprouts
3) Prune off, at the ground, any suckers
4) Where limbs cross, select one and cut the other
5) Prune at the trunk, or else the rest of the wood will probably die off
Honestly, that old apple tree is the only one not leafing out.
Mayhaps I'll have to cut it down and use it as jumping practice for my Quarter Horse!...or, we'll burn it in October at my "Salsa Party!"
(Gotta look on the bright side!)
I'm NOT putting another tree in it's spot--too close to the tool shed.

 

[Beekissed]

I finally finished up the pruning of the apple trees today, with a help from my youngest son. I had already removed most of what I could do with a hand saw and the rest I had him do with the chainsaw. These are 20 yr old apple trees that have never been pruned, so they needed topped out and drastic changes made. Four of them are a type of apple we don't really prefer to eat but since they are here we will try to improve upon them...they are useful in feeding the chickens, dog and deer if for not much else. We don't know the kind of apple the other trees are but I'm eager to find out.....the Oxford apple trees are very large compared to the others and Mom said they are a yellow apple, so I'm wondering if they are Grimes~they've never produced more than a couple of apples a year and not every year, so we're not sure what will happen with them.

I did what I could to let sunlight into the middle of the tree and to remove any branches that were crossing one another and those growing too upright. I pruned everything back pretty harshly and will be watching this summer for anything else that may need to be corrected.

I found one water sprout that was very large and looked like it could be trained down and outwardly for fruiting wood. I hung a weighted flower basket from that branch and will be eager to see how long it takes to redirect it.

Will try to spread old horse manure at the drip line on all these trees and then hope to get enough wood chips to do 14-16 in. of mulch across this whole orchard. I'm hoping after all this attention that these trees will do more for us than just get in the way of the mower and feed a few apples to the deer and squirrels.

Here are some pics of the extent of the pruning...keep in mind I had already removed a lot of limbs with a hand saw a couple of weeks ago, so the brush you see down here isn't all that has been removed from the trees. There are 8-9 trees featured in these pics...not sure exactly.

The water sprout with rope attached and already improving the angle of that limb to the tree. Before it was growing almost straight up and down, so I'll be eager to see its progress with the weight.

Well...now to wait until last frost before I get to prune the peach trees. They don't need much at all, just a few small branches here and there and some ends taken off.

 

[ducks4you]

Very jelly. DH is gonna help me prune this weekend. My young pear and young peach trees need shaping, especially.

 

[Smart Red]

Yep! That's something I should be planning on doing tomorrow. Better get my batteries recharged on the electric chain saw tonight.

Thanks for the reminder.

 

[Beekissed]

Literal fruits from the labor of pruning these long dormant trees...their first fruits, you could say.

And an added fruit of a different kind....