Apple and pear trees should be pruned every winter to ensure a good crop of fruit the following season.
Trees that are not pruned become less productive and congested with old branches. Pruning is not difficult and the aim is to create an open goblet shape with a framework of about five main branches.
- Never remove more than 25% of fruiting wood each year.
- Always cut at a joint and allow the tree’s natural upward energy to feather out
- to its tips.
- The 3 Ds: remove Dead, Diseased & Damaged wood.
- Fruit grows from second and third year growth so aim to remove as large a piece of wood as you dare.
- Remember – least cuts for maximum effect.
- Take your time! An apple tree can live to 150 years, a pear tree up to 300.
Further links
- Apples and pears: winter pruning by RHS
- How to Prune trees by BBC