Pruning young fruit trees and choosing the right shape for your needs will keep them manageable, will allow a yearly crop and better fruit size and will keep your tree healthy and productive. In this video I cover all the essential information you need to shape and train young fruit trees, in the first years of development, so you end up with a balanced and productive fruit tree. If you like my work, LIKE, Subscribe, Share the Video and leave a Comment to help me make more. I will try to answer as many comments as I can.
Just found your channel and I'm a subscriber now, thank you for such great videos. For 10 years I've been creating a food forest on my backyard and this video made me change some of my previous views about trimming trees. Thanks. Have you got videos on soil biology and its importance for tree's health? I searched and didn't find any. I'm a portuguese nutritionist and would love to visit you and your trees. And if you ever think doing a video about composting I would love to help you out with it, I've been experimenting different methods and different materials with very good results. Looking forward to your next videos.
I did the open Center type because of advice ...now after 20 years of growth The Hot Sun and dryness burns the Topside of branches til they snap the cambium open and dies😥😥😥
It took me a few years to realize that PRUNING is essential for Tree health and Fruit Production. Don't be too cautious or afraid to prune, your trees will thank you ! Mr JS , you are a great teacher. I pray for your good health, my friend .
Thank you J.S. for all the serious work that you do! I worked on an 80 acre farm in Western Colorado 6 years ago.They had various fruit trees like: Apple,apricot,peach, cherry and pear.I learned the basics as you have presented here.The orchard was about 65 years old and the trees had not been cared for by the previous owners in 20 years so there wasn't much we could do for some of them since mold,parasites and infection had devistate almost one third of the trees! I also worked in the 3 large greenhouses on the property.We/they grew salad greens like:Bibb lettuce,radichio, spinach,endive and arugula.The soil was depleted of beneficial earthworms, the whole place was infested with rats and since they were slack and didn't put the amount of effort into the farm I left after 3 months! I want to get back into agriculture and have found a couple of prospects around here in South Eastern Colorado where I now live!
Thank you JSacadura, I especially like that in your videos you show the growth of the same tree over many years. Most other video makers only show them pruning the trees but never come back a year or 2 later to show how it grew on from there.
Thanks for the comment. That one of the reasons I do this videos. I always found annoying that those that publish pruning videos on RU-vid never did a follow up of the pruned tree. One of the most important points is seeing the results of the pruning jobs, the following year, so you can decide which techniques are most suited to your particular situation. That's why I try to follow up on the same trees, year after year, so viewers can see what to expect when using these pruning techniques. It requires lots of work and dedication but I believe the result is worth it.
There is so much from to learn from you, thank you for being a great teacher! you make it sound so easy. With your guidance I have chosen the open centre system for my little Gala apple tree. It gave me 55 apples last autumn but I will now confidently improve its care by giving it a good rest with some choice snips. ✂️
Love your videos. I've learned so much from them. I have a small urban orchard (about 15 trees) planted around my home. They're not producing yet but hope to have some fruit this year. We're also in the process of starting a larger orchard on rural acreage we own. You're videos have given me the knowledge and confidence to take on this task. Thanks.
Thankyou fir so many good tips, you have changed many wrong ideas I had, as I don't live in a comercial fruit producing area, but apples, plums, pears and cherries grow very well, though not spectacular but healthy and sweet A big hug from south of Chile, beginning of Patagonia
So very informative! Thank you. I only have a few young trees so I will use this for them. Unfortunately I inherited some very old trees that were not maintained. I was only able to do limited pruning on a few of them (we have over 20) in February because it was so cold at that time we couldn't stay outside for longer than 15 minutes. All the old trees need a lot of pruning and shaping.
Most of my fruit trees start open center, but I usually let the center fill in since we have such brutal sun (7000 ft elevation here). I'll whitewash the trunks, too. Seems to help a bit. Appreciate the tips, as always! :)
In New Zealand, the commercial type of pruning systems are center leader or French Axis for pip fruit (apples and pears) and multi leader or vase shape for stone fruit (peaches,nectarines and apricots etc)..some Espalier has been used but its not widespead..we certainly dont use untrained sprawling systems..
I've been pruning for 15 years....well done video. I agree with your methods and I apply the same technique, except....those water shoots you cut, I take them out completely all the way back to the stock ring leaving no stubble, otherwise new water shoots will come from the same spot the following year. Water shoots do not produce any good if at all fruit buds. In fact I dont usually cut them, I tear them out late spring so as not to leave a stub.
Thanks for the comment. I agree with you. I also try to cut water shoots to the stock ring with no stub. They do tend to grow again in the same spot, that's why heading them back to just a few buds is an alternative control method, even if they don't produce the best fruit buds.
I use an open-centre approach to my c.80 heritage apple orchard, mostly planted 2013 on M25/MM106. I've recently moved to Telegram (Saddleworth Orchard). Nice video...👌
I love the Open Center System, even for apples and pears that have a vertical growth habit. After you "tame" them, the adult trees are quite easy to manage, productive and i can reach every fruit easily.
Nice vid! I love your videos and would like to request a video on how to grow and prune espalier fruit trees if you have the time of course. It would be awesome to know about techniques to grow fruit trees in small spaces like espalier.
Super clear and very informative! I have two questions: why the first tree with thinner trunk you cut it to knee hight, but the second tree with thicker trunk you cut it to the waist level? also when you cut the top off, you cut it to an angle, why don't you cut it flat? many thanks!
Different rootstocks may require different heights depending if they are going to be supported or not. Cutting at a slight angle allows the rain water to escape, so it doesn't have a chance to rot the top of the cut.
Hello i saw your vedio how to start pruning young apple tree... I will start my plant young apple tree here in phillipines...i hope they' are growing ..i am excited..how to grow...first time to plant apple..
Hi, Nicholas. I'm glad you found the video so useful, that you think it justifies supporting the channel with a Super Thanks. You are my first viewer to do it. Thank you very much.👍
Parabens Sacadura!!! Excelentes as suas explicações / técnicas! Me tira uma dúvida, qual a melhor época do ano para fazer estas correções? Preciso aplicá-las em pereira ameixeira, cerejeira e pessegueiros.
Em pereiras, macieiras no final do inverno (com as árvores em dormência). Com ameixieiras, cerejeiras e pessegueiros é melhor esperar um pouco mais (pelo início da primavera, para contar com eventuais danos provocados pelo frio na extremidade dos ramos - se já estiverem podados ainda irão ficar mais curtos) ou podar depois da época (final do verão, início do outono).
Can you explain half backing watersprouts more thoroughly? Normally it's recommended we just cut these off. A before and after of new fruiting wood from half backed watersprouts would be a helpful explanation.
Muito bem explicado. Era mesmo desta informação que estava à procura. Tenho uma macieira que está muito fraquinha, com uns ramos que parecem uns gravetos. Precisa urgentemente de uma poda para a fortalecer. Obrigada.
Thank you for this and other well made videos you have produced. What can you tell me about when to cut a young tree back to knee high to start establishing an open vase shape? I am speaking about various stone fruit trees. I have tart and sweet cherries, peaches, plum, and apricots. All were purchased as potted trees and the branching structure was not very good and too high up. So my question is this, what time of year should this be done? What are the precautions? How can I tell if a dormant bud below the cut is likely to sprout? Have you ever used notching above a bud to increase the likelihood of a bud sprouting? Sorry for so many questions. I have put lots of effort into learning about Apple trees over the years and I'm having success with those. Now I am trying to get better with my stone fruits.
The time to cut back the trunk to knee height is when you first plant the tree and it is still dormant (hopefully). If some of the buds are waking up, you can still do it but you are taking away it's vigor since the sap has already started traveling up from the roots into the branches you will be removing. Hope that makes sense.
I wondered whether you had any information related to plum trees? I have some old and younger trees in my large garden but they desperately need proper pruning. Thanks.
Dear JSacadura: Do you have any experience with apple tree borer? I purchased 2 trees in Canada July 2019. In June 2020 both trees had borer damage. I cut away the damaged bark and killed the borer I hope. One tree received 50% girdle damage the other only 30%. If you have experience could you please produce a video on this topic? This year I painted the bottom 20 inches of the trunks. I love your very informative channel.
Great content as usual but I'd love to know what do you put on the cut ends after you prune or do you just leave them bare & let them heal over themselves naturally?
Do you do summer prunning for apples? I got old apples very leaves lots of fruit I want to learn more to prune them. 8 of my Fuji apples did not fruit this year after I prune them hard.
Thanks I am still trying to understand the timing aspect of pruning different fruit trees. Apricots Nectarines peaches (late summer?) Apples ((Dormant- late winter early spring) Plums ( ??) I also understand it is best to prune on a waxing moon ?? Cheers
Most trees can be pruned while dormant or when waking up. Apricots, peaches, nectarines should not be pruned while dormant (in the winter) since the cold tends to damage the tips of branches and they also are more prone to disease when pruned in the colder, wet weather, so they are usually pruned in the spring or after fruiting (late summer).
Very much informative on pruning methods. Thank You! I am from South India and can I use these techniques to grow different varieties of mango scions on 2-3 year old mango plants?
I'm interested to do grafting/to make another tree for the same fruit tree that they have at home which is Plumtree Italian but I'm not sure how to do it I have some shooting coming out from the ground can I use them for root stock? Where can I find more information about what you doing?
For a 2 year old plum tree, if I were to try to space the main branches apart to maximize strength, how many vertical inches apart should they be from each other? I read 6" so if they were 3" apart, is that too little to make a difference in strength?
I live in a very hot state, my citrus grew very thick leaves cover most of the tree branches and stump. It protect themself from the heat. The shape is tangle cross branches all over the place. It produce so much fruits for 15 years. I never touch it and never fertilized. This year january 2021 I decided to cut all criss cross branches and remove all dead branches, apply citrus food 10-10-10. It is now April 13, 2021. It produce no flowers. No new branch shoot, no fruits. What happen?
Every year the trees are starting to wake up a little earlier. Nevertheless, in most cases, its quite safe to do a small maintenance pruning job (removing watersprouts, and reducing vigor in a few branches, for instance). There's very little chance of a poor reaction for the trees, even if they are starting to wake up.
Hi Sir I just wanted to clarify something whats the paste that you use when you did prune grafts on entire branches and converted the particular variety, I tried the same thing without paste though which did work and grafts have shown success but still would like to know the paste ????
Thanks for the comment. I have some last year video footage on the subject and if I managed to get the time, I am planning a video on summer pruning in a few months. Thanks for the suggestion.
Thank you so much for enlightening me on basic pruning techniques. I have three small young apple trees and two small pear trees I planted last winter. Your explanation will surely help me to make hopefully the right pruning decisions. I’ll be looking forward to your next pruning video’s! Kris
Thanks for another beautiful, informative video! Always quality content. You are one of the best on the internet! I am curious if you ever use the espalier technique to train any of your trees? Thanks again!
Hi. Thanks for the nice comment. I have a couple of apple tree rows on a trellis and they are guided on the wires using a technique similar to the espalier. It does the job and the trees are quite productive and easy to manage. You can see them in my video about thinning fruits on the channel.
