If you have an apple tree in your garden, there’s a high chance that you want to make the most of its bountiful fruit with baked apple crumbles or maybe even your own apple sauce. But if you want to keep it fruiting year after year, you need to know when to prune apple trees.
Sure, knowing how to prune fruit trees - and how to prune apple trees specifically - is a great way to keep it happy and healthy at the bottom of the garden. But while you may have the best tools for the job and may have mastered the technique, pruning apple trees at the wrong time could spell disaster for your tree.
As Petar Ivanov, Fantastic Gardeners' gardening and plant expert, explains, 'Like with many other ones, pruning apple trees is a crucial step of their care to make sure they are in optimal health, provide the best fruit production and have an overall good structure.’ So this is when to prune apple trees.
Winter pruning standard apple trees
Most apple trees fall into this category. After all, the standard apple trees are relatively small and ideal for the average UK garden.
Ideally, pruning apple trees would stand as one of the jobs to do in the garden in December before it gets too cold. However, the answer isn’t as black and white as you’d think, as you do have a fairly large window to complete this job throughout the winter months - as long as you get the job done before the spring.
This is echoed by Peter, who says, ‘The best time is normally during late winter or early spring while the tree is still dormant just before new growth begins, between late January and early March. The exact time will depend on your specific climate and location.'
In some cases, it would be best to prune an apple tree right when it stops producing fruit, which is around November time. But, anytime between November and spring is better than never getting to the job at all.
'Pruning during this dormant season minimises stress on the tree because it's not actively growing and this allows it to focus its energy toward healing and preparing for the upcoming growing season,' explains Petar.
'It also reduces the risk of disease spread because many pathogens are less active or are also dormant themselves,’ he adds.
The aim of pruning apple trees in winter is to open up the tree's crown to improve airflow and allow more sunlight to come through to the inner branches - especially during the gloomier winter months. This should then improve the health of the tree year after year. And while winter pruning is essential for all apple trees - it’s not the only pruning time you need to consider.
Summer pruning larger apple trees
If you have larger or trained apple trees, it’s probably worth adding another pruning session into the mix. This second prune is more for cosmetic purposes than anything else, so you still need to prune in the winter for health purposes.
Morris Hankinson, Managing Director of Hopes Grove Nurseries, says, ‘If you have trained apple trees such as espaliers or overgrown trees, these can be pruned in the summer until the end of August.’ So, you can add this to your list of plants and trees to prune in July.
He also adds, ‘Pruning trained apple trees in August helps to tidy up any messy/twiggy branches. You may notice some shooting up which are known as ‘water shoots’. These don’t produce any fruit and use precious energy needed for fruit to grow. They can also cause overcrowding and reduce airflow to the tree.’
Because of this, it’s worth removing or cutting back these water shoots so that your tree can focus its attention on fruiting instead.
And as Tom Kitching, executive chairman at Henchman Ladders, explains, 'Fruit trees can become too tall and unwieldy if left unpruned for an extended period so annual pruning helps manage their size, making it easier to harvest fruit and care for the tree.’
This is why taking on the task of pruning an apple tree – and knowing when to prune an apple tree – is crucial knowledge to keep in your back pocket if you've decided to plant a fruit tree in your garden.
What you'll need
A telescopic pruner is ideal for those hard-to-reach areas when pruning your apple tree. Always use a ladder if you need one, though.
Before pruning your apple tree, you should always clean your tools. This can prevent the spread of disease - especially during the winter months.
As well as having a larger pruner, having some smaller secateurs to help prune your apple tree is always a good idea. With these, you can get smaller water shoots.
FAQs
When should you not prune apple trees?
Where possible, avoid pruning your apple trees outside of its dormant season. This could prove detrimental to your apple tree.
'Timing is crucial when it comes to pruning fruit trees. Doing it at the wrong time of the year can have harmful effects on your plants,' warns Tom Kitching at Henchman Ladders.
'Trimming your fruit tree during summer or autumn can stimulate new growth that doesn't have time to harden before winter, making the tree more susceptible to frost and cold weather, which can weaken the tree in the long run.'
And while winter pruning is key to a happy and healthy apple tree, you should avoid pruning in the dead of winter when it’s too wet or frosty, as this will expose the tree to diseases, and the cut will take way too long to heal.
Because of this, it’s extremely important to understand when to prune apple trees and get your timings right.
Can you control the height of an apple tree?
Apple trees are vigorous growers, and if you don’t keep an eye on them, they can grow out of control. However, if you can start pruning an apple tree during its early years, you should be able to control the height. You’ll just need to prune a little off the top every year.
If you have inherited a large, overgrown apple tree, however, it’ll be a little trickier. You should never prune too much of an apple tree at once (in fact, you should never cut off more than ⅓), so it may take you a few years to bring the height down.
Now you know when to prune apple trees, it’s time to get pruning!
