Pruning Apple Trees?

Should b fine.

 

I have a 100 year old Apple tree I must extreme cut. Is anybody on the site a professional Apple trimmer that could guide me with this if I furnish complete pictures?

 

Following

 

I was told by an old nursery guy, any month with an R in it.

 

To quote my grandpa... "Anytime when your shears are sharp."

 

April has an "r" in it. Doubt that April is a highly recommended month.
Maybe ending in "r" is the saying. ??
I like the suggestion of "anytime between Thanksgiving and Valentine's Day".

L & O

 

Dang, I have been searching and searching but cannot find the info I am looking for.

Not sure if it was in a link someone posted on here but more likely it was a research paper I read elsewhere a few months back, but I am quite sure that the study frowned on fall pruning. Don't quote me on this but if memory serves me fall pruning did not really hurt the tree itself, but it had a detrimental effect on fruit production for a year or so. The paper stated why that was so but I just can't recall the reasoning. I will keep digging and see if I can locate the info. FM

 

I know my apple and plum trees need pruning. I just don't want to make paths through the snow to do the work, deer like paths in the snow.

I'm assuming crabs need the same treatment, or is their any benefit to "bushy"?

 

I have found that you do not necessary have to get rid of your cut branches during the snow of early winter. The rabbits eat ALL THE BARK of the cut branches saving your other trees damage.

 

My guess this is an old topic that gets revisited, and this link is probably the same. January-April or there abouts as mentioned above.

https://www.canr.msu.edu/resources/... time of year,winter injury or delay dormancy.

 

My uncle is an apple farmer in Berrien County and they started trimming last week.

 

My uncle owned an apple orchard and always trimmed in December. Usually was done before Christmas... We rabbit hunted the branch piles in January and February. Rabbits had food and cover in a one stop shopping event.. He usually burned the piles in late March..

 

I have been pruning for 15 years. Winter is the time and take off all vertical branches growing up. I use hand pruners, loopers, hand saw, chain saw, and extended chain saw .

You want to tree to grow wide...not up.

However it really all depends on your wants and needs. !! Some like natural growing high trees.