Pruning the Apple and Pear Trees at the Farm
If you grow apple or pear trees, you most likely understand the importance of annual training and pruning. Without training and pruning, these fruit trees will not develop a proper shape and form. And, when trained and pruned correctly, the trees have a much better chance of producing a higher yield of fruit and also live longer lives. Once an apple or pear tree is planted, this training and pruning will help to develop a strong tree framework to support the fruit it bears. When pruning does not take place, these fruit trees grow tall, upright branches that can break when the fruit forms. Pruning also opens up the tree canopy, allowing more sunlight to reach the fruit. If you follow this blog regularly, you probably know that I have many apple trees and a small grove of pear trees. The time to train and prune is now, in late winter, when the trees are still dormant. SavATree, my arborists, do a fine job each year. Danny Broglino, a tree care foreman and specialist, has been caring for these trees ever since I bought the property. He recently Googled “Martha Stewart’s apple trees” and was amazed by how many images of my trees there are on the Internet. But hey - it’s no secret that I love trees and that I photograph them regularly.
1 The vigorous, upward-growing branches on these apple trees is all last year's new growth, which needs to be removed.
2 These trees are approximately 50-years old and Danny Broglino, from SavATree, has been pruning them ever since I bought the farm.
3 Danny is a 27-year veteran of SavATree, having been hired right out of college with a degree in forestry. He is also a certified arborist and a pruning expert.
4 In the springtime, apple trees flower and produce fruit on long-lived, stubby twigs called spurs, often referred to as old wood.
5 When pruning apple trees, there are a couple of goals. On young trees, pruning encourages a strong, solid framework.
6 On mature trees, like these, pruning maintains a desirable shape and encourages fruit production.
7 Dan and his team come each winter to prune. The best time to prune apple trees is in late winter or very early spring before any new growth starts.
8 One by one, those upright shoots are removed using sharp hand clippers.
9 The new growth should be pruned fairly flush to the branch from which it grew.
10 The idea is to leave slight stubs. By removing any more, the remaining branch has too much of an opening for disease to enter.
11 Larger shoots can be cut with a small handsaw.
12 You also want to remove rubbing or criss-crossing branches.
13 This apple tree had several low-hanging branches, which made lawn mowing difficult, and Chhewang, from my farm crew asked Danny if he could raise them up a bit.
14 For larger branch pruning, Danny uses a small chainsaw.
15 Chhewang shows potential in being a good pruner, so I asked him to have Danny show him the basics.
16 Danny explained to Chhewang that you can actually remove 1/3 of the growth from a healthy tree.
17 You want to favor spur branches where the apple tree flowers and sets fruit. Pruning encourages the tree to grow more of these fruiting spurs by removing competing suckers and unproductive wood.
18 Danny and his team moved to the pear grove. Pear trees have a tendency of growing more upright than apple trees.
19 A pole trimmer was used to reach the new growth at the top of the tree.
20 Danny pointed to a fruiting bud, the interior of which contains the future blossom. Branches with this type of growth are kept on the tree.
21 Rather than fruiting buds, last year's growth has only leaf buds. This growth is removed so that the tree can send its energy to the fruiting buds.
22 Again, using hand pruners.
23 Danny removed that upright growth fairly flush with just small stubs.
24 He continued by removing crossing branches and by thinning out new growth from the upper branches.
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Martha, I trimmed peach trees many years ago at Clemson University, but had forgotten what I learned. But, with this refresher course, thanks to you, I should try, again, on my son's fruit trees. Since he's been disabled, they have not been tended at all.
Thanks for another lesson,
Gloria G!!
Posted by: Gloria | February 11th, 2013 at 12:31 am
Hi Martha,
Well I googled your apple trees and saw all the entries plus this blog is listed already - it had been on there as of '25 minutes ago'. That's something else the way those branches grow straight up in picture #1. It makes sense though that the trees would produce more of those fruiting spurs after getting rid of the competition from the suckers. I remember a lot about pruning from your garden segments and of course from this blog when you have posts about your fruit trees. I never pruned my orange tree and now I wonder if it didn't get strong enough to withstand a hurricane because of my neglect. If that's true then I'm sad. I miss my orange tree. I cut my hedges down though because of your suggestions but unfortunately, this year they will need to be replaced. They were infested by the white fly and all along I thought it was from the cold weather that they looked so pathetic. You sure get a lot of apples from your trees so I guess pruning is the top secret. Thanks for sharing it. It's nice to know even if I do live in orange country. Have a nice day. Trish
Posted by: Trish | February 11th, 2013 at 12:48 am
Going to have to do this next year myself... planting some container trees on the 7th floor deck this spring.
Posted by: Holiday Baker Man | February 11th, 2013 at 2:58 am
I really enjoyed reading about your fruit trees. Thank you for letting us have a peek into the goings on at the farm.
Posted by: Bethany | February 11th, 2013 at 3:36 am
Hello Martha,
Your apple trees are beautiful. They look so pretty in the pictures that you post , no matter what season. Pruning them looks a bit dangerous but the guys look very much at ease doing it. I hope Francesca is doing better. Today, a year ago GK won the breed at Westminster Dog Show. What a great day that was. We had a fantastic time.
Karen Tracy
Posted by: Karen Tracy | February 11th, 2013 at 6:12 am
Martha,
Thanks for sharing this blog.
Posted by: KLBrown | February 11th, 2013 at 7:11 am
I think it's amazing Martha that your apple trees are 50 years old, it's no wonder you photograph them so much, they're impressive! Great job Danny on taking care of them all these years!
I read your tweet about shoveling snow for hours this weekend Martha, are your arms still sore? I hope you and the farm faired well through the blizzard!
Posted by: Cindy F | February 11th, 2013 at 7:58 am
Hi Martha,
I had no idea about pruning and training apple and pear trees.It's interesting to see how the upright branches grow after a season and need to be pruned. It looks like a lot of hard work. Danny is a remarkable man with a very special talent. Please let him know I am honored to have met him virtually through your blog. We need more Danny's in this world. Caring for trees is a wonderful profession and I love SavATree. I didn't know about this organization but now will check it out and see how I can help SavATree.
Have a lovely Monday!
Lisa
Posted by: Lisa Gordon-Miller | February 11th, 2013 at 8:01 am
I have a very old sickle pear tree in the backyard, I can confirm the fact that they love growing high. This past summer we had to stand on chairs and shake the branches to get at the pears, even then some were not able to be harvested (much to the neighborhood squirrels delight). I think we collected over a hundred pears in total!
Posted by: Kristina | February 11th, 2013 at 9:14 am
Hi Martha, I absolutely follow your blogs regularly and really enjoy seeing your apple and pear trees when ever available! I recall seeing your wonderful home on Connecticut years ago and your apple trees, etc., were beautiful and being pruned many times, also! Our state grows lots of apple trees in eastern Washington and they are always famous and sold all over the USA! I am so glad to learn about how and when apple and pear trees are pruned to improve the production of apples and pears in each summer! I don't have an apple tree, but I do have a very old pear tree and now I know how to prune it for more pears this summer! Thanks so much for sharing this fabulous information! I love the SavATree website and will check it thoroughly later! Danny Broglino certainly is a great tree pruner and how nice that Chhewang is now able to prune your trees, also! All of these photos are outstanding and valuable to see! How is your farm and Laura's home after that heavy snow storm?! Loved seeing your tweet about going to the Ralph Rucci fashion show at Lincoln Center yesterday! How nice that you could get there safely! Hope you have another great day and hope Francesca is doing even better now! Off to see The Daily Wag where Sharkey is watching the pruning of the apple trees at the farm! Jan
Posted by: Jan Erickson | February 11th, 2013 at 9:14 am
A 1700's home near mine has an apple orchard which has not produced fruit in 2 years. I'll pass these tips along and hope to come home to a thanks in the form of a basket of apples later this year.
Posted by: Michael | February 11th, 2013 at 9:34 am
Thanks again Martha for another great lesson.Perfect timing. I planted 2 crabapple trees 2 years ago to make crabapple jelly and spiced apples.Only one bloomed, not sure why. Both have a tall centre shoot. Should it be trimmed?
Love this blog Martha.
Sharon
Posted by: sharon | February 11th, 2013 at 10:00 am
Unfortunately Martha, Nemo "pruned" our apple trees
Posted by: nantucketdaffodil | February 11th, 2013 at 10:52 am
I have a very old apple tree that is in great need of help, I will follow your advice and begin to re-shape and keep it going for a long time.
Posted by: Lynn | February 11th, 2013 at 12:06 pm
Very interesting. So important to take good care of trees. I bet it is so nice to have a bunch of home grown apples and pears.
Posted by: Laura Dembowski | February 11th, 2013 at 12:27 pm
Very informative and useful post, Martha. Thanks for the instructions and for showing us detailed photos of how the little stubs should look like after pruning. I will try to do it myself on a young tree. Do you plan to post an article about pruning crepe myrtle trees too? I know that the time to prune them is the same as for these apple trees.
Posted by: laline | February 11th, 2013 at 1:27 pm
Dear Martha,
Of course!, I would find what I needed to know at the World's Largest How-To Library! Thank You! Martha! And Danny, a man who keeps looking up, will now see your apples trees all over the Internet and him doing an expert pruning job! (He makes it look so easy!)
I have been observing the trees; the new growth that contains no bud that I will remove, and the criss-crossing branches? I see, I see! Yes, but my citrus trees didn't call for a clearing out, so-to-speak, nor did they like mulch around them, I have learned. I think I was the one who murdered my blood orange tree and my tangerine...I'm blaming it on the new growing zone changes though; "it's too cold in No. Florida for citus." I didn't believe it so I planted them anyway.
One of the peach trees was bitten by a deer in the trunk. The deer pulled the tree out of the ground a bit but it seems to be recovering; although the connecting branches from the "deer-bitten" limb don't seem to be producing buds. It looks as though I may need to prune back a good amount of that peach of the old wood, or the whips? Obviously, the deer didn't want the peach tree, they prefer to eat the ends off of the apple branches. So I cover them at night with a bed sheet...the apples, not the deer!
I don't know why, but always, when I need to now something - like how to care for my newly planted peach and apple trees - you are always spontaneously blogging about the subject I need some education on! How do you do that? Thank you, again! The post is extremely helpful! Sorry my comment is so long!
So Long! And much love to all! And the animals! Thanks!
P.S. As I signed in, I listed my sites as requested but they are still under construction...like me and my garden!
Posted by: Tina Yoxtheimer | February 11th, 2013 at 5:29 pm
Thanks for this invaluable info on fruit-tree pruning, Martha.
Angela
Posted by: Angela | February 11th, 2013 at 7:59 pm
Martha, my husband wants to cut down my apple tree that produces apples for my yummy apple pies just because it looks bad. With your pruning tips I plan on saving it from the chainsaw! Plus I enjoy the 30+ deer that come in the fall for "clean up"! I hope I can do this! Thank you for the advice!
Posted by: Laurie | February 11th, 2013 at 8:57 pm
Hello Martha --
I just wrote another note on your blog about the downed trees on your farm. I'm just sorry I don't live closer. I would have loved to have gotten ahold of even some of the smaller branches! And about the new branches that shoot up from your apple trees...they are full of potential too. I've been able to carve many beautiful letter openers and "name logs" from pruned apple trees here in the Lancaster, PA, area. And some of the bigger branches that periodically get pruned can turn into kitchen utensil holders, coat and hat racks, and even some very nice branch roosters. One of my projects is featured on the DIY Network's original "Woodsculpting" series. In case you're interested: THE LITTLE BOOK OF WHITTLING, BIG BOOK OF WHITTLE FUN, and WHITTLING TWIGS AND BRANCHES are three books that give some fun ideas of what to do with all those before-they-get-ground-into-mulch twigs and branches.
Posted by: Chris Lubkemann | February 12th, 2013 at 2:35 pm
Thank You for all the fruit pruning procedures. I have 2 apple treesand one pear tree. I have not been able to find any info on the pear pruning. Because of this wonderful information and great pictures I know I have been doing it right.
Posted by: Norma Dwyer | February 12th, 2013 at 8:10 pm
Wow, you guys really did a great job. I just hope that I can get myself to do some tree pruning in Calgary this year. Thanks for the inspiration!
Posted by: Simon Martin | February 26th, 2013 at 2:38 pm