Pruning fruit trees

Pam285

I recently moved house and the previous owners weren’t keen gardeners. There are three fruit trees. I’m not sure what fruit but they all look a little over grown. Need on advice on how and when to prune. Many thanks 

pansyface

Yes, three fine trees you have there.

Any chance of getting a little closer to them so that we can see what they are? 😁

A close up of a twig and a branch would be good.

Pam285

@pansyface - I’ll do that tomorrow. Been pouring down all day today. Many thanks

pansyface

Yep. Stair rods here too. ☹️

Pam285

Close up pictures of the three trees 

pansyface

Very difficult to explain without being there. You seem to have two main problems that I can see.

One is that somebody pruned the trees too enthusiastically some time ago and the trees then panicked and tried to regrow stuff to make up for their sudden loss. Hence all those long straight whippy growths pointing in every direction.

The second is that whoever did this hatchet job wasn’t very careful. So they left stumps, which have died back in some places and will probably allow canker to enter the tree. I have ringed the stumps in red.

If I were you, I’d wait for a really nice warm, dry sunny day and I’d get my cleanest sharpest pruning saw or loppers and I’d cut back to the green lines. I’d then take my cleanest, sharpest pruning penknife and smooth off all the saw cuts leaving no rough bits on the trees at all. Let the warm dry weather do the rest.

So far as the crossing over whippy its go, remove a handful each winter for the next three winters. Not too many or you’ll be back to square one with panic stricken trees.


Good luck.

Pam285

Many thanks Pansyface. A job for the summer then. Still there is plenty to be getting on with. We have a beech hedge that is badly in need of a trim that goes down the whole length of the garden so will take a while to tackle. There’s a foot path which it over hangs so trimming back will mean I can avoid walking on the lawn.