- The correction of pruning mistakes from the winter
- Direct the growth energy into the fruit
- Use the summer cut for care
- tips and tricks
The most important time for regular pruning of apple trees is the hibernation period between December and February. However, if necessary, a second cut should also be made in summer to regulate size and budding.
The correction of pruning mistakes from the winter
Winter is not only a very suitable time for pruning apple trees because of the sap dormancy. Without leaves, the course of branches and twigs can also be seen well, so that the tree crown can be optically well captured. However, sometimes wrong decisions made by the winter pruning only become apparent in early summer, which can then be corrected with the summer pruning. Signs of diseases such as powdery mildew should also be answered with immediate pruning measures in summer. In summer, even dry branches in the treetop can be recognized better than in winter and can be easily removed.
Direct the growth energy into the fruit
With a strong winter pruning, there is sometimes a strong stimulation of new shoots on an apple tree. This becomes evident in early summer at the latest, when sometimes hundreds of water shoots shoot up into the sky at the top of the treetops. However, this costs the tree a lot of energy, which it would also need for fruiting. If these water shoots are not needed as scions for copulation in the following winter, they should be removed as soon as possible in summer. At the same time, cutting back the water shoots encourages new buds and shoots to sprout for the following spring.
Use the summer cut for care
If possible, you should also use the erection of the ladder on the apple tree for the summer pruning for further care measures. In general, you should make sure not to carry out the summer pruning when it is too hot and dry, and you should also water the tree extensively afterwards. During summer pruning, look for and remove dense patches in the tree canopy and inward branches. In addition, fruit mummies resulting from fungal diseases can now be removed without much additional effort.
tips and tricks
When pruning in summer, you should also check the fruit on the tree. If there are a lot of fruits on the tree in one year, you can encourage the ripening of the remaining fruits by thinning them out or support branches that are too weak with a wooden support.