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This tutorial makes beginners fit for the perfect apple tree pruning. Practice-tested instructions explain the impeccable cutting care in every growth phase. Follow this educational trail from plant pruning to successful upbringing and high-yield maintenance to successful rejuvenation. Comprehensible information on the best dates, a perfect cut and recommended tools round off the basic knowledge in a meaningful way.

Pruning an apple tree needs to be learned

Table of Contents

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  1. Types of cuts and dates
  2. plant cutting
  3. education cut
  4. maintenance cut
  5. summer cut
  6. taper cut
  7. tool tips
  8. frequently asked Questions

    9. All types of cuts and dates in a nutshell

    It takes a few years to grow apple trees as a standard or half-stem Patience until the first harvest. Depending on the growth height and apple variety, the education extends over a period of 4 to 12 years. The effort is worth it, because with a well-formed crown, an apple tree will give you crunchy apples for many years without the need for extensive pruning. The crown is thinned out and the fruit wood is rejuvenated at intervals of 3 to 5 years. Fast-growing apple varieties benefit from a soothing summer pruning, which at the same time optimizes the fruit quality. Give an old, neglected apple tree a new lease of life with a strong rejuvenation pruning. The following table summarizes all optional types of cuts with hints at the right time:

    cut type goal/occasion best cut date
    plant cutting Building a stable, high-yielding crown after planting
    education cut Building a stable, high-yielding crown in late winter from the 2nd year to the 4th to 12th year
    maintenance cut Thin out dead wood, water shoots, preserve crown shape, promote fruit wood every 3 to 5 years in late winter from the 6th year
    summer cut Promote fruit quality and size if necessary from the end of June
    taper cut revitalize old apple tree in the winter

    The ideal pruning time for fruit trees is controversially discussed among experts. Winter pruning measures are viewed critically because plants are dormant at this time and injuries cannot or only slowly heal. From the point of view of labor economics and the Federal Nature Conservation Act, pruning care in winter is nevertheless obligatory, at least for extensive measures. This tutorial advocates the golden mean and recommends the profound one Maintenance and rejuvenation pruning for the wintertime. light grooming cuts to improve fruit quality are for the summer intended.

    Plant pruning - How to cut professionally

    Take your time when buying a young apple tree. A premium quality young plant will have a straight trunk with five to seven annual shoots that are evenly spaced. In this way, you retain the option of selecting the best shoots for the crown formation when planting. With the following pruning you set the course for a vital, high-yielding apple tree with a well-formed crown:

    • Identify a straight center shoot with 3 side shoots for the future crown
    • The ideal angle from the side stand drive to the center drive is 45° to 60°
    • Cut off all remaining shoots on astring
    • Cut back strong leading branches by a third
    • Shorten weak leading branches by half
    • A few millimeters above an outward-facing bud trimming
    • Prune the central shoot so that it is at an angle of 90° to 120° to the leading branches

    Gardeners often make mistakes when pruning plants. In most cases, too many skeletal shoots remain or the leading branches are not in the juice balance. Last but not least, the recommended angle of 90° to 120° is not observed, so that the central shoot is enthroned much too high above its main branches, resulting in a pointed, high crown that produces little horizontal fruit wood.

    Raise a fruitful apple tree crown

    The extent of the training cut depends largely on how your apple tree reacts to the planting cut. Please act according to the rule of thumb: cut harder when the shoots are weak, cut less when the shoots are strong. In a garden that is close to nature, we respect all plants as fellow creatures of nature, which react just as individually to external stimuli as humans, just more slowly. As a result, cutting instructions do not work like operating instructions for a machine. Rather, it specifies the optional framework conditions under which pruning care has a beneficial effect on growth and yield. Please evaluate the individual growth of your apple tree first and carry out the following upbringing based on this:

    • Cut off competing shoots with central shoot on astring
    • Remove inward growing shoots
    • Cut off steep shoots on the leading branches at the base without damaging the bark
    • Cut away branches that are sprouting from the central shoot below the crown
    • On all 4 scaffold drives previous year's increase cut back by a third
    • Important: Pay attention to the cutting direction on buds (3-5 mm above an outward-facing bud)

    As illustrated in the figure below, the training phase focuses on eliminating competing and steep shoots in favor of crown shoots and their flat side shoots.

    Raise the crown on the apple tree in juice scales for optimal fruit yield. 3 leading branches gather radially around a dominant central shoot, the top buds of which are at the same height. Prune the central shoot so that its tip overhangs the leading branches at an angle of 90 to 120°.

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    Shape unwilling leading branch by spreading

    Popular apple varieties, such as 'Cox Orange', tend to have a tightly upright, cone-shaped habit. This has the disadvantage of shaded crowns with little horizontal fruiting and a very late start to the yield phase. By vertical leaders already in the abduct adolescence, increase the exposure area and direct the growth to a better angle for valuable fruiting wood with numerous flower buds. The wood of elder and willow is perfect for this purpose. Score the logs at both ends to keep them stable against the apple tree. Spread a leading branch that is too steep within an apple tree crown at an ideal angle of 45° to the central shoot. Pay attention to the juice scale and the recommended angle of 90 to 120° from the central shoot to its leading branches.

    Carry out a maintenance cut every 3 to 5 years

    Fruit wood in premium quality is found on the apple tree on 10 to 15 cm short fruit skewers, garnished with a flower bud and carried by perennial, oblique to horizontal fruit branches. In the course of the following years, the fruit wood branches out more and more, but bears flowers and fruit every year. After 3 to 5 years, the fruit wood in the apple tree has exhausted itself, hangs down unmistakably and is rejuvenated with the help of a maintenance cut. Since the crown has now branched out intensively and numerous water shoots sprout, leafy branches shade each other. The pruning measure thus aims to promote young fruit wood and light-flooded growth. How to cut exemplary:

    • The best time is in winter on a frost-free day
    • Thin out deadwood beforehand, including all inward or steeply growing shoots
    • Do not cut branches growing diagonally
    • Scaffolding shoots with heavily branched tips lead to a lower-lying, young side shoot
    • Rejuvenate recently removed, hanging branches by means of fruit wood pruning

    The figure below illustrates the incision as an example. It depends on your individual assessment of how intensively you intervene in growth with scissors and saws. In the end, your apple tree should present itself with a light crown that has a balanced relationship between a load-bearing, long-lasting structure and a sloping, horizontal fruit tree. The rule of thumb here is: a fruit shoot is no more than half as thick as its supporting skeletal shoot. The late winter cutting time has the advantage that you can clearly see the swelling flower buds so that you do not cut at these points.

    Every 3 to 5 years you subject your apple tree to a bold pruning. Remove deadwood, vertical water shoots, and inward-growing shoots. Drooping, heavily branched fruit wood is rejuvenated by a derivation cut.

    This is how the professional fruit wood cut succeeds

    In the last step of the late winter preservation, the cut is dedicated to the removed fruit wood. While thinning out dead wood and unfavorable shoots is easy to do, pruning fruit wood causes headaches for beginners. For this reason, the important cutting technique is explained in more detail below:

    • Old fruit wood can be identified by its distinctly hanging growth
    • For the point of intersection, choose a rider pointing diagonally upwards in the rear shoot area
    • Cut at the junction of old and young shoots

    To avoid damaging the young fruit wood, please cut a few millimeters into the old fruit shoot. The cut should not leave a long stub of more than 1 centimeter, as this could become a focus of infection for pathogens. The illustration below shows the correct cut.

    Fruit wood on the apple tree is not forever young and productive. After a slanting-upright phase of youth, over time it bends downwards under its sweet load. At the same time, diagonal young shoots form further back on the shoot near the apex as future fruiting wood. Where old and young fruitwood fork, the rejuvenating fruitwood cut begins.

    Best fruit quality thanks to summer pruning

    Towards the end of June (around St. John's Day on June 24th), trees and shrubs take a short break from growth, only to then sprout again with reduced force. The following rule of thumb applies to pruning apple trees: winter pruning stimulates growth - summer pruning has a calming effect on growth. If strong growth is no longer desired on older apple trees and the focus is on the quality of the fruit, a summer pruning has proven itself in practice.

    • The best time is mid to late July
    • Postpone or cancel an appointment if birds are nesting in the apple tree
    • Cut off steep shoots that are growing towards the center of the crown
    • Do not cut horizontal young shoots as future fruiting wood
    • Tear off wild shoots from a base or on the trunk with a twisting motion

    A date in July is well suited to positively influence the quality and size of apples. During the so-called June fall, an apple tree independently sheds fruit that has not been pollinated or has been insufficiently pollinated. If there are still too many fruit plants on the wood, your intervention is required. The most promising apple is usually found in the middle of a cluster of fruit. Break out all the remaining fruits of the bunch. On this occasion you select the best fruit sets within the entire treetop at one Minimum distance of 3 centimeters. Cut off all remaining and damaged fruit.

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    Turn sterile shoots into fruiting wood without pruning

    The growth law of apex promotion teaches us that overhanging, curved shoots sprout most strongly from the buds at the apex. Strong, sterile wood shoots without flower buds sprout in these places on the apple tree. Eyes positioned lower are disadvantaged by sap pressure, so they turn into flower buds due to poorer nutrient supply. By doing one tightly upright new shoots and on his Connect horizontal guide bar, apply the law to transform sterile wood into fruiting wood. As illustrated in the figure below, the shoot in question must not be tied off too deeply. Rather, the targeted buds should be slightly above the horizontal.

    The promotion of valuable fruit shoots is also possible without pruning. In March, bend down a healthy side branch and tie its end to the horizontal leader. The lowest set eyes turn into flower buds that will bring you juicy apples for a year or two.

    Rejuvenate an old apple tree - this is how it works

    If an apple tree is not pruned for maintenance over many years, the crown turns into an impenetrable network of old and young shoots. The inside of the crown is permanently in the shade, so that hardly any leaves thrive here. Formerly vital fruit shoots overhang massively and bear few or no flowers or fruits at all. Revitalize your sluggish apple tree with the following rejuvenation pruning:

    • The best time is between November and February in frost-free weather
    • Remove deadwood, weak and inward branches to give a clear view of the crown
    • Define a new framework from a central drive and three evenly distributed leading branches at the right angle
    • Thin out all other knots on the astring
    • Cut crown shoots back by half, ideally by diverting them to a young, diagonal side shoot

    Do you feel compelled to cut out more than a third of the crown? Then we recommend a step-by-step rejuvenation cut over 2 to 3 years. This has advantages in several respects. Above all, an old tree copes better with the radical cut. Furthermore, a less strong budding sets in, which you can control better.

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    Heavy pruning triggers massive sprouting - don't panic

    The more radical you are with the rejuvenation cut, the stronger the subsequent budding will be. The massive growth causes concern among those new to pruning apple trees, because countless new shoots sprout from revitalized sleeping eyes. Instead of panicking and circling the scissors, you should use the fresh growth for a new construction. In the following late winter, remove half of all steep and inward-facing new shoots. Oblique to horizontal shoots leave as future fruit wood stand. In the second winter after regeneration, remove the remaining shoots. Now lead the cut maintenance into a maintenance phase at intervals of 3 years, supplemented by a light summer cut, as explained in this tutorial.

    Recommended tool - tips for the basic equipment

    Safety is key when pruning apple trees. The premise applies equally to gardeners and trees. High-quality branded tools guarantee smooth cutting work and leave smooth cuts on the wood. Illnesses and pests have no surfaces to attack if cutters, blades and saw blades are meticulously clean and disinfected. A stable ladder takes the fright out of climbing to lofty crown heights. The following basic equipment ensures a smooth cut in the apple tree:

    • One-hand secateurs for shoots up to 2 cm thick
    • Optionally as bypass or anvil scissors, for left- or right-handers
    • Two-handed pruning shears for drive strengths of 2 to 4 cm (ideally with a power-boosting ratchet gear)
    • Sword or hacksaw for drive thicknesses of more than 4 cm
    • Telescopic pruning shears for work up to 4 m high apple tree tops

    You cannot always master the cut in tree crowns from the ground with telescopic pruning shears. In this case, you should have a stable stepladder or folding ladder with two legs that you can fold apart. This ensures more safety compared to a conventional leaning ladder, which only has one leg. Special fruit tree ladders consist of a leg and a leg as a support. Leg and post feet are fitted with metal spikes to anchor the ladder firmly to the ground. An integrated sliding element allows it to be extended to the tip of the crown. Thanks to their conical shape, fruit tree ladders are suitable for uneven terrain and are also popular for trimming hedges.

    frequently asked Questions

    Our apple tree bears many fruits every year. Unfortunately, he sheds all of them in June and July. What to do?

    The dilemma described is typical of a tree with too many apples. Next year, remove half of the fruit set and check whether the other half of the apples are left hanging until they are ready to be harvested. In addition, please ensure that the soil is sufficiently moist. Fruit drop can occur after a hot, dry weather period.

    My apple tree will be 3 years old in October, has never bloomed and is already there with dried leaves early in the summer. is the tree dead

    You can check that by scraping off a little bark. If the tissue under the outer bark is still green, then your apple tree is alive and has just begun its hibernation. Brown tissue indicates the tree has died. As early bloomers, apples form their flower buds in late summer in order to unfold them in spring. For this reason, a winter cut should be carried out carefully. Furthermore, it can take up to 8 years for tall trees until an apple tree blossoms and bears fruit for the first time. Experience has shown that the flowers and apples appear as spindles or bushes from the second year of growth.

    Can I put an apple tree in a large pot on the balcony?

    In principle, there is nothing wrong with keeping an apple tree in a pot. Popular varieties such as 'Weißer Klarapfel', 'Gravensteiner' or 'Cox Orange' reach a height of 2 to 4 metres, which can cause space problems on a balcony. Furthermore, pollination is problematic, since suitable pollinators should be 5 to 30 meters away. A columnar apple or dwarf apple is better suited for the tub on the balcony.

    5 years ago I planted an apple tree and had it pruned every year. Unfortunately, only leaves and no flowers are still growing. Is the problem in the cut?

    After planting and pruning, an apple tree should be allowed to grow so that it can develop naturally. The pivotal point is that the shoots are raised as horizontally as possible so that the fruit wood can form on them. Instead of cutting, you should spread or tie down the branches. A clearing cut every 3 to 5 years is sufficient. From July onwards, the fruit wood can form on the main branches, on which the flowers and fruits thrive. When the yield phase begins depends, among other things, on the trunk height. An apple tree with a standard trunk takes 6 to 8 years, sometimes even 10 to 12 years, until the first apple harvest. Development takes 3 to 6 years on half-trunks and 2 to 4 years on bushes.

    3 years ago I planted an Elstar apple tree. He is carrying so many apples now in August that his branches are bending to the ground and I have to support the branches to keep the tree from falling. When and how to prune the apple tree?

    In order for the crown to branch out well, we recommend a strong pruning in February/March. In this way, the tree builds a stable framework. It is important to note that you cut out branches that grow inwards. The remaining branches are shortened in length in such a way that a stable, pyramidal crown is formed. Always cut 0.5 to 1 centimeter above an outward-facing bud. So that the branches don't break off under their weight this year and cause irreversible damage, we recommend shortening the shoots slightly now to relieve the apple tree.

    The 3 most common cutting mistakes

    An apple tree with dense foliage and few blossoms or fruits suffers from a classic pruning error. The following overview names the three most common mistakes when pruning apple trees and gives useful tips on how to avoid the mistakes.

    cutting error damage picture prevention
    too steep leading branches dense, shady crown, few flowers and apples Spread the leading branches at an ideal angle of 45°
    cut too much and too often many leaves, few flowers and fruits Grow apple tree, pruning every 3 to 5 years
    never thinned out and fruit wood rejuvenated senile crown, old, rotten fruit wood Thin out at least every 5 years and carry out fruit wood pruning

    We don't want to hide another typical beginner's mistake from you here. The joy of a lush fruit set is great, but unfortunately often results in premature fruit drop or puny apples. Even if it is difficult, you should thin out a too dense fruit set to a minimum distance of 3 centimeters.

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    tips

    Don't cut every water shoot out of an apple tree crown in winter. The potential for fruit wood resides in a vertical shoot. The weaker the growth, the more likely it is to motivate a water shoot to flower by tying it down into the diagonal position.

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