Pruening fruit trees

[billnorfolk]

Hi every one,this is my first post,am looking forward to learning from you all.
I bought 7 fruit trees Apple,Pear,Cherry and plum,the question is can i by pruening at the right time and the right way keep them at a managable size ie 6-7 ft.
I know i would cut down on there fruit bearing ,i am partly disabled and want to try and keep them under controll ,when is the best time?and how would i go about it .
Many thanks Bill

[Nature's Babe]

Hello Bill, and welcome, and good luck with your new venture. I am not an expert but experience has taught me the following. A lot depends on the vigour of the variety and the rootstock, so it's important to choose your trees carefully in the first place. Sometimes it is a case of hard pruning will produce more growth to compensate. Light prune any branches that cross into the centre to keep it open and when it does fruit after the june drop/ thinning, the weight of the fruit should pull the branches down to a level you can reach easily. If frost gets the blossom and that doesn't happen I would tie and pull the young branches down to a useful picking position. Remember a small tree can be trained as a step over or to a level that suits you, and there are patio type trees that remain small too, or along side a path or a wall,training as an espalier might suit keep any south facing wall for the less hardy fruit.

[Johnboy]

Hi Bill,
A hearty welcome to you.
I feel that espaliers might be the best for the apples and pears but it very much depends on the rootstock of the trees that you have bought.
If you could provide this information then I feel that we can certainly sort your dilemma out. Plum trees are the difficult one but a cherry can be grown as a fan shaped tree. I suppose at a pinch you could almost do the same with the plum. I have seen Apricots grown as a fan but it depends where the graft is situated on the plum tree as to what you can actually do.
JB.

[Tony Hague]

I agree with Johnboy, espaliers are a lovely way to grow apples and pears, especially if you have a suitable wall to put them against.

I'm sure that Geoff Hamilton described growing plums as a fan in The organic garden book. But how about a festooned tree ? If you don't know what I'm talking about, it involves using cords to tie the tips of the branches down towards the ground, forming a shape like a willow. The fruit is then borne more abundantly (so they say) and nearer the ground.

[Nature's Babe]

Hi Tony, I coukdn't remember it, but festooning is the term for what I was trying to describe, sometimes a heavy crop will droop the branches or if not, as you say, they can be tied down.

[billnorfolk]

Thanks for the answeres,i realy dont know what root type they would be ,in all honesty they came from Lidles very cheap i am pleased they have survived.I have taken 2 pieces out of my lawn to grow veg and they would shade it if allowed to grow big .I had some silverbirch at the top of my garden and had to take them down as casting to much shadow.


One of the cherry trees we have one cherry on this one and 4 on the other
I dont want these to get that big they overshadow my veg patchs.
Would it be a better idea to move them to the north end of the garden would let them grow bigger then if not able to keep smaller.thanks Bill

[Nature's Babe]

If you think they might grow large give them space, You could ring lidle and ask? Most are on dwarfing rootstock these days but they do vary. I smiled when i saw the orange peel, do you have cats?

[billnorfolk]

No but woman next door has 5 ,since starting to culltivate my garden have to clear up every morning.

[MikA]

Hi Bill

My advice would be to get hold of a book on pruning. We have one from the RHS which tells you everything you need to know for all sorts of plants including fruit trees.

However there is nothing like a bit of advice from people who know and some practical help from a good friend of ours who grows lots of fruit has given us a tremendously productive crab apple tree.

He suggested, as the previous posters have, to bring the branches to the horizontal by hanging bricks off them - taking care not to damage them. Layering them at different heights. So I have used tree ties.
You do this when the stems are new and soft and move easily. They will harden off eventually and stay where you have put them. You may get away with it on older hard wood stems but be gentle as they may break. (I did this a couple of times). Don't worry if it does, as that stem may have been in the wrong place anyway and you have just done a bit of impromptu pruning. Repeat on new growth next year a bit higher (or a different direction).

This year we have an apple tree in the early stages of training and I have attached a couple of pics which I hope show what I am doing.

I am training the tree into a triangular shape to fit the corner of the bed it's in. Some stems are being pulled sideways to form the shape.


On the issue of fruit types, pruning and rootstocks.

From your picture the flowers are growing on little spurs which are produced along the branches. This is called "spur fruiting" but the Worcester Pearmain apple that I am training in the photo has its fruit at the end of the stems so is called "Tip bearers" and on these if you prune the ends off the stems you will get less fruit. These are also the ones which will naturally bend over under the weight of fruit.


From personal experience I would suggest getting rid of the plum and replacing it with another apple or pear. We have a plum which needs to go. It grew to over 14 feet this year even though it was on a so-called dwarfing rootstock and our friend said this is the nature of plums.

[billnorfolk]

Thanks MikA ,looks like the way to go ,do have a part of the garden where plums could be left to grow ,maybe move them in the winter only planted in March so maybe not to established yet.
Might i ask how to get pics smaller as mine are oversized.
Thanks Bill

[alan refail]

Might i ask how to get pics smaller as mine are oversized.
Thanks Bill

Hi Bill

Just resize them to not wider than 640 pixels.

[ken]

Hi Bill, and welcome. I hope you get a great deal of pleasure from growing fruit. I agree with the comment above that a good book would help, but I'd suggest getting hold of one specifically on fruit - it will give you more detail on pruning, plus advice on feeding, watering, thinning the fruit and dealing with pests. I have one called 'Fruit' by Harry Baker of the Royal Horticultural Society which I would recommend, although I think it is now called 'Growing Fruit' (perhaps it has been updated). Amazon do it quite cheaply.

[billnorfolk]

Thanks Ken off to the library this morning to see what i can find.

Ordered 4 dwarf fruit bushes cleared an erea for them ,pot grown but should they be ok to plant straight into garden.