Pruning a young apple tree

Bagpuss57

I need some guidance on when to prune my young Bramley seedling tree. It's quite small (approx 3yrs old) but I wanted to prune it this year to get a better shape. I read you can do it late winter to avoid frost damage but if I wait till march is that too late?. Last year we had our worst weather in march. Maybe I can just do it now? But if we get really cold weather will it affect it? 

Allotment Boy

This is an ongoing problem for all of us. The unseasonably mild winter so far is as confusing to plants as it is to us. I see  no problem doing it now though, the trees should be dormant. Don't go too hard though, remember the old adage, you can always take a bit more later if you need to, but you can't put any back once cut. Prune again in late summer to encourage fruiting spurs.

Pete.8

I've recently planted apple and pears and found the pruning suggestions helpful in these articles-
https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=858 a general guide

https://www.chrisbowers.co.uk/article/apple-trees-planting-pruning-pollination/ for a bit more detail

Do you know what the rootstock is? this will determine the ultimate size of your tree.
Also, Bramley is a 'partial tip bearer' rather than the usual 'spur bearer' trees, so it is pruned a bit differently - the RHS article mentions it
It's going to get cold in the next few weeks, so you could do it then, but you should be ok for a while yet.

Prune in winter to shape your tree and encourage growth
Prune in summer to restrict growth
A bit of both and you should get the tree you want
Good luck