01/08/2026
Pruning Apple trees is not as difficult as often thought. The aim is to encourage the tree to make little fruiting spurs. These stumps of wood bears the blossom and then fruit.
At this time of year, we want to prune all the long growths from this season to leave only two sets of two leaves. Any recent growth that crosses over this year prune that out too, as they will probably rub other branches. Look for diseased wood too and remove too.
Now the hard bit. Removing excess apples. It appears counterintuitive to remove the excess, but you will have better quality with fewer apples than lots of small, underdeveloped apples. So remove the 3rd in each cluster, or if you have plenty remove the two and leave just one. Don't worry if they fall off by themselves; this is often the windfalls and it is normal for the trees to shed excess fruit.
In winter, the pruning will be to remove any crossing, congested and damaged branches with the aim of opening the interior of the tree to resemble and maintain the goblet shape, allowing air to flow around the branches.
