Pruning Apple Trees & Crabapple questions

[lupinfarm]

We have quite a few Apple trees now, were all bought from Canadian Tire and other garden centres over the last year and a half. This summer will be our original 2 trees second year in the ground here and they have grown. Our others will be a year in the ground.

When do you start pruning?

And Crabapple! We want to add some Crabapple trees to the orchard to use for cooking/baking. Which varieties are best for this?

 

[GardeNerd]

I started pruning my semi dwarf apple trees when I planted them to encourage a nice shape, and I have pruned every year in January since then. I espaliered them against a south facing wall. I think most people prune in winter during the dormant season. I do a second light pruning in summer after harvest to keep the espalier flat against the wall and prevent the trees from growing too vigorously out of its allowed space.

These were planted in Jan. 2000 so even though they look small they are 10 years old and pretty productive. Anna is on the left and Dorset Golden is on the right. When they were three years old I got a dozen or so apples on each tree, but now I get two crops on each tree (one heavy in July and one light in Dec. or early Jan.) with about 30 to 75 apples each crop, depending on how heavily I thin them when the fruit is still tiny.

I can't help with the crabapple varieties since I haven't grown any.

I believe the first three years are the most critical years in pruning for most fruit trees to develop a good shape. Keep as many horizontal branches as possible since those will have the most fruiting buds or spurs.