Kitchen Garden Forum

I have 14 Cordon Apples in my garden, which I've had for a few years (4 or 5) My problem is that I'm rubbish at prunning subsequently they are now showing too much branch and looking a bit bushy. All the prunning guides I look at show sections of tree and where to prune but what I need is an image of a complete tree before and after. Better still someone in the Tewkesbury Area who could show me how to prune cordons.

Ken

From memory the RHS Fruit Garden displayed has such images.

Remember your A. B. C. Remove Ailing branches, remove Broken branches and then remove Crossing branches. (but I do understand it can be daunting).

Cheers, Tony.

Sorry to be a bit late coming in on this one - I've been 'off forum' for a while. Yes, the RHS books 'The Fruit Garden Displayed' and 'Fruit' are very good on how to prune different forms of fruit trees, including cordons and espaliers. One of the key points is that, to get a good crop, they need to be summer-pruned. In print, it looks a bit technical - 'three buds after the terminal cluser', etc., but in fact it makes for a relaxing afternoon (or more, given the number of trees you have). I got a bit hung up at one stage about how you decided which buts were part of the terminal cluster and therefore how you decided on the right place to cut. However, someone on the Forum kindly pointed out that it is more art than science, so being a bit out won't make a huge difference. And summer pruning really does the trick - we've got a great 'set' of small apples this year from the pruning I did last summer.

I always summer prune through necessity cutting back new growth - I just use instinct as all this about fruiting spurs is like a foreign language. I've yet to meet a gardener who fully understands it all. We still end up with plenty of fruit!

Read an interesting comment in the cultivation guide that came with a cordon cherry recently, "If it looks like you have cut too much off it's probably perfect"