pruning fruit trees

[lorihadams]

I am new to fruit trees....I have 3 apple, 2 pear, and 2 cherry. What do I do about pruning them this fall?

Can anyone point me to some basics about pruning?

I'll post pics if anyone wants to see the trees and offer advice on what to get rid of. Thanks!

 

[bills]

A lot of the pruning methods for fruit trees have to do with the age of the trees. Training them a particular way, is often done in the first few years. Older trees often just need maintenance pruning.

Any idea how old they are?

 

[jojo54]

I am new to fruit trees....I have 3 apple, 2 pear, and 2 cherry. What do I do about pruning them this fall?

Can anyone point me to some basics about pruning?

I'll post pics if anyone wants to see the trees and offer advice on what to get rid of. Thanks!

We were told to prune them in the winter or spring before they start growing. We've only been here two seasons and are still learning about our fruit trees as well.

The first year we had a neat old guy from Portugal prune ours. He used to live here and when he retired he moved back home to Portugal but came back every spring and stayed for about a month or so and pruned many of the trees in the area. My husband spent 2 days following him around our yard watching, listening and trying to learn pruning. We were lucky to have him as a teacher and inspiration. That was the last year he came back as he decided he was getting too old for it. He was amazing!! He was up and down the ladder so many times in a day. No one could keep up to him - I want to be like him when I grow up!

 

[lorihadams]

I bought them this spring from a local greenhouse. They are about 6-8 ft tall and the pears are closer to 10 ft. The pink lady apple had about 10 or so apples on it when I bought it but they looked like they had some sort of black spots when I checked them this past week so I chucked them. I don't like to spray anything, I'd prefer organic methods for pest control but we'll see.

 

[bills]

Hard to be sure how old from the sizes you mention. They could be four year olds, and have had some training already, or three year olds with none. Then again, perhaps they are a dwarf variety and are older still, and have never been pruned..
Usually the nursery will let you know the age, and type.
The younger the tree the better chance you have to get a fruit tree growing the shape it should for best health, and fruit production throughout it's life.

I found these videos very educational, with a good explanation on how and why you train a tree. They cover different ages of trees as well.

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7224124031635129593#

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7224124031635129593#docid=1403503476216135178

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7224124031635129593#docid=5839165356263658674

Hope that helps

 

[Greenthumb18]

We were told to prune them in the winter or spring before they start growing. We've only been here two seasons and are still learning about our fruit trees as well.

The first year we had a neat old guy from Portugal prune ours. He used to live here and when he retired he moved back home to Portugal but came back every spring and stayed for about a month or so and pruned many of the trees in the area. My husband spent 2 days following him around our yard watching, listening and trying to learn pruning. We were lucky to have him as a teacher and inspiration. That was the last year he came back as he decided he was getting too old for it. He was amazing!! He was up and down the ladder so many times in a day. No one could keep up to him - I want to be like him when I grow up!

Hi jojo,
I'm Portuguese myself and know how great they are at taking care of their gardens so well, pruning trees as well. They know a lot about pruning, they seem like pro's at it. I have some portuguese people in my family that love to garden as much as i do, and have amazing fruit trees and such. I have a cousin who lives in North Carolina, and I get to visit their gardens every now and then and every time i go, i get motivated and inspired and want to have gardens like them one day. They really do know their gardens and are great at doing it. I'm happy to have them in the family, when i get a chance to visit them, we always seem to discuss gardening and learning some things from each other. It really does help to know someone who gardens, they can have a lot of useful information to offer.

 

[jojo54]

We were told to prune them in the winter or spring before they start growing. We've only been here two seasons and are still learning about our fruit trees as well.

The first year we had a neat old guy from Portugal prune ours. He used to live here and when he retired he moved back home to Portugal but came back every spring and stayed for about a month or so and pruned many of the trees in the area. My husband spent 2 days following him around our yard watching, listening and trying to learn pruning. We were lucky to have him as a teacher and inspiration. That was the last year he came back as he decided he was getting too old for it. He was amazing!! He was up and down the ladder so many times in a day. No one could keep up to him - I want to be like him when I grow up!

Hi jojo,
I'm Portuguese myself and know how great they are at taking care of their gardens so well, pruning trees as well. They know a lot about pruning, they seem like pro's at it. I have some portuguese people in my family that love to garden as much as i do, and have amazing fruit trees and such. I have a cousin who lives in North Carolina, and I get to visit their gardens every now and then and every time i go, i get motivated and inspired and want to have gardens like them one day. They really do know their gardens and are great at doing it. I'm happy to have them in the family, when i get a chance to visit them, we always seem to discuss gardening and learning some things from each other. It really does help to know someone who gardens, they can have a lot of useful information to offer.

How true you are. Its better to learn from someone who has done rather than read from a book. That is another reason I love this forum. People help each other with what they know.