Help with my Apple tree
chicken chaser
Posts: 147
in Plants
I have an Cox's pippin tree in my garden which was picked up at some point last year (no idea whether it was a year or 2 old but it wasnt a bare root) and was transplanted into the garden earlier this year. I should have done it last year (i'm lucky that it survived a mild winter in its pot) but decided that the original location for it would be no good.
Unfortunately I had no idea that young fruits should have a level of pruning to them to help them flourish with fruit in later years.
As you can see, its quite spartan with long stems, and the higher stems are pointing up more vertically than the lower ones.
Whats the best way to prune it so I can have a decent yield next year? It gave one solitary apple this year.
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With a young tree like that, it's all[about formative pruning to create a good shape and a strong tree at this stage. One reason for doing this is that a large crop when too young will simply snap the branches (or even the main trunk!) so don't be too eager to let it crop heavily yet. See here for pruning advice with helpful diagrams:
http://gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_september_2d_apple.asp#apple_prune