When and how to prune and rejuvenate apple trees, crown formation scheme
Growing garden trees means constant care, care and a lot of attention to the seedlings. Without these components, tree health and high yields are impossible. Without a doubt, the apple tree is one of the most beloved fruit trees, which provides gardeners with fruits of different colors and tastes. To obtain juicy and healthy fruits, pruning of apple trees is periodically required - an important process that, with the wrong technology, can do a lot of harm.
Why prune young apple trees
Carrying out such garden work is an important part in the process of growing a fruit tree. They are carried out for many reasons that affect the fruiting and health of the shoots. Removing the central branches is necessary to form the correct crown of the apple tree. Broken, diseased and damaged branches are removed in order for the correct development of new processes to occur. Competitive processes that take away strength and nutrition are also necessarily removed. Thus, the apple tree prepares for the long winter period.
Pruning apple trees
Before starting work, you need to familiarize yourself with the different ways to eliminate unnecessary branches on an apple tree. With complex care, fruit plantations will delight you with a rich yielding return every year.
Taking care of this tree consists in performing several activities: applying fertilizer mixtures, loosening the soil, weeding and watering, as well as an extremely important procedure for eliminating unnecessary branches.
Methods and degree of pruning apple trees
It is possible to carry out a shaping, sanitary, rejuvenating and regulating procedure. Formation is required to create a strong skeleton of a fruit tree, on which only strong and healthy branches will grow. Sanitary procedures clear the plantings from cross-growing and down-growing branches. With rejuvenation, old branches are eliminated, and with regulation, the growth of the fruit tree is inhibited, shading is removed.
It is also sometimes necessary to carry out a pinching, which is weak, medium and strong. This action is carried out if active development of green shoots has occurred. With a weak nip, one quarter of the skeletal branches are removed, with a medium one - one third. This only applies to mature fruit trees that have been growing for more than five years.With strong pruning, many of the central branches are completely removed for rebirth, and the lower branches are also eliminated.
Required tools
Without the necessary set of tools and materials, it will not be possible to carry out any garden work. You will need the following tools:
- Hacksaws with teeth in different sizes.
- Manual pruning shears - for removing small shoots.
- Leather gloves - to protect against mechanical damage.
- Ladder - for tall fruit trees.
- If needed - an electric saw.
You also need to remember that all tools must be clean and sufficiently sharpened. It is not recommended to leave uneven incisions, as such wounds will take a long time to heal. They can also easily enter bacteria and harmful insects. After work, all tools and the surface of the notches must be processed.
How to properly prune an apple tree
The branches are removed according to the standard scheme. During the first run, you need to eliminate all broken, damaged processes and dry branches. The crown of the apple tree is also thinned out a little - the upper part of the large trunk with other shoots is cut off. The cut is performed along the bead ring.
You should try to carry out this action so that the apple tree can heal the wound with its bark in a certain way. Otherwise, hemp may remain, which will dry out and rot over time. And in the voids, fungus and harmful insects can easily settle, which contribute to the development of diseases.
And it must be remembered that after all the work carried out, fresh cuts are processed using antiseptics.
Pruning by seasons
In addition to important knowledge and skills, you need to know the specific deadlines for which all garden work is carried out. Work begins in the spring, around April, and lasts until the buds open.
On a note! In early summer, it is better to carry out sanitary disposal. Autumn is also considered a good period, when there are no leaves and fruits.
In the spring
If you carry out the spring work correctly, then in the new season the tree will be distinguished by good fruiting. The formation of the apple tree must be carried out as follows:
- remove frozen and broken branches;
- eliminate branches that are affected by diseases;
- remove cross branches that grow inward;
- rejuvenate old trees;
- adjust the growth of the upper branches - they should be shorter than the middle and lower ones.
If last year the tree did not show a large harvest, then the pruning should be done quite strong.
Summer
Summer pruning of fruiting trees is not recommended, since harmful insects are extremely active during this period. Therefore, only light work is allowed at the very beginning of summer or the end of May, to eliminate competing shoots. To do this, you need to eliminate all immature shoots that are located at the very top of the old branches. The processes that are located slightly lower must be left for the future skeleton. Extra details need to be removed.
Sick and cracked branches are also removed. With the right work, you can achieve a high yield. Pinching is necessary to weaken and stop the growth of shoots that are more than 15 centimeters in length. The folding method can have a positive effect on the fruiting process.
In autumn
Autumn work in the garden is carried out after the leaves have fallen, and the tree begins to winter. The main scope of work is the removal of damaged and old branches. Also, all branches on which there was no fruiting, if there were few fruits or they were of poor quality, are removed. You should also eliminate the branches that cause shading, and those branches that have sprouted at an acute angle. After all the work, the cuts are treated with a special pitch or oil paint.
Nuances of pruning apple trees of different ages
When pruning a young fruit tree, you should set yourself the task of providing good conditions for the further development of the apple tree. Pruning of old trees is carried out to enhance fruiting, eliminate crown defects and conserve strength for growth. It is also carried out to eliminate diseases and insects.
Annual apple tree
During this period, the gardener faces several tasks: periodically pruning the central shoots to restrain their growth and the correct development of the lateral branches. And also the lower section of the trunk is formed. The first pruning is done one year later. After cutting off the central shoot on the "crown", the growth of lateral branches begins to increase. It is necessary to shorten the long skeletal branches by 15 centimeters. Then you need to start forming the correct bottom section. All young shoots that grow 40 centimeters from the ground must be removed.
Biennial apple tree
Pruning in the second year is required to form tiers of skeletal branches. If you have not cut off the branches yet, then on each tier there will be at least two large branches, and the distance between them is about 50 centimeters. It will be necessary to shorten the skeletal branches so that they are approximately at the same level. If the gardener wants to form a rounded shape, then the removal of the central shoot will be required. You need to cut off above the first branch.
Adult apple tree
To rejuvenate an adult apple tree, you will need to shorten the branches. To begin with, sanitary disposal is carried out. After cleansing the apple tree, you need to rejuvenate the fruit tree. Cut off old branches that no longer produce high quality apples. It is also required to remove vertical shoots that do not benefit, but only take away strength. Crossed branches, root growth and branches growing down are then removed.
The final action consists of shortening the trunk. Tall trees can be shortened up to 3 meters.
Attention! If the tree is more than 8 years old, a similar procedure is spread over a couple of years.
Features of pruning a dwarf apple tree
If you produce a stock of a dwarf apple tree, then such a tree will give bountiful harvests and begin fruiting much earlier. If you do not prune a dwarf fruit tree, then the total period of its fruiting is often reduced to 3-4 years.
In the first year of life, the formation of the skeleton of the crown occurs, which is facilitated by trimming the trunk. The height of the cut directly depends on the variety of the fruit tree, but often the cut is no more than 70 centimeters. It also requires cutting off the side shoots so that the tree looks like a ball as a result.
The upper branches usually need to be shortened to facilitate the growth and development of the central shoots, since the branches begin to develop more strongly at the top of the fruit tree. However, on dwarf rootstocks, branches are almost never completely cut if they are healthy. They need to leave several kidneys. It is also worth remembering about the fruiting of the tree - during this period, the whole process should be carefully regulated and some buds should be removed. Otherwise, you can overload the apple tree and allow the branches to break off.
The specifics of pruning an apple tree of a columnar variety
The columnar apple tree has an unusual crown shape. Typically, the width of the tree is about 50 centimeters. Regular pruning is not required, but sometimes it is worth doing. A common problem is damage to the top of a columnar apple tree due to frost or pests. In this case, you need to find a replacement for the central shoot - choose a strong branch. Other vertical shoots will need to be cut along with the crown. To avoid this, the center is wrapped up for the winter.
In the first year, as a rule, no intervention is required.However, as it grows, young shoots appear that compete with the fruiting branches and take away nutrients from them. At this time, the intervention of a gardener is required:
- young shoots are pinched at the same distance from the trunk (20 centimeters);
- as it grows, the pinch is 35 centimeters;
- from the fourth year old branches are gradually being removed.
The specificity of pruning such an apple tree is that with periodic pinching, pruning is not required. This process is gentle, the tree is not stressed.
Further care
After pruning actions, fruit trees need to be provided with watering and complementary foods. During spring pruning, fertilizer mixtures are introduced into the trunk circle, which include nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus.
During the autumn pruning period, complementary foods are introduced, which contain potassium and phosphorus, since the tree will need healing and strengthening. Mixtures with nitrogen are not added during this period.
When making fertilizer mixtures, you will need to follow all instructions and rules. If you add too much fertilizer, then the tree will suffer more harm than good.
