Trimming fruit trees is not that difficult, nor do you have to be an expert to do a nice job trimming your fruit trees.
All you need are the right tools, and a basic understanding of what the tree needs, and what you need as the person who will harvest the fruit.
Timing. When is the best time to trim fruit trees? Just about any time in the winter is good.
Early winter is probably better that way as spring arrives the tree knows where to make new buds. If you trim really late in the winter, the tree has to adjust bud production at the last minute.
Tools. What tools do I need? I’ll show you some photos. How’s that? I’ve got some favorite pruning tools that I use for all of my pruning needs. I’ll display them on this page.
Long handle looping shears are a necessary tool for any gardener that does any kind of heavy pruning. These are by-pass loppers meaning that the blades by pass each other as the cut is made.
By pass shears make nice clean cuts. The other type of shear is an anvil shear where the blade presses the branch against an anvil in a crushing motion. I don’t like anvil shears of any kind.
Think about scissors. All scissors are by pass shears for a reason. It would take an incredible amount of pressure to cut a piece of paper in scissors were made like anvil pruning shears.
The long handles give you all the leverage you need to cut heavy branches.
I love to have a folding pruning saw in my gardening tool box. My preferred brand of pruning tools is Corona. I’ve owned a lot of Corona pruning shears, loppers and folding saws.
I wish I had my Corona pruning saw back, but it got lost. When I was in the landscaping business I loved that saw because it easily fit behind the seat of my pickup truck and was always there when I needed it.
Notice on these pruning saws they have a unique blade design. They are designed to cut in both directions making them very quick and efficient to use.
These Corona pruning shears are my favorite pruning tool and I carry them with me daily. I really like the Corona BP 3160 for an all round pruning tool shear. I’ve been using these shears for 40 years.
I use them for pruning just about everything and I also use them to make tens of thousands of cuttings.
Back to pruning fruit trees.
The first step is to stand back and in-vision what you want the tree to look like, taking into consideration that you must be able to reach all of the branches with nothing more than a step ladder in order to harvest the fruit when it is ripe.
Looking at the tree from a distance, draw an imaginary line around over the tree and picture exactly what shape you’d like the tree to be when you are done.
So one of your primary goals when pruning fruit trees is to open them up so they are not a mass of entwined branches but instead have plenty of space in and around the branches.
This is really important deep inside the canopy of the tree because any branches or foliage inside of the tree serves no useful purpose.
Remember the imaginary line that you drew over the tree. Now it’s time to start cutting back any branches that exceed that dimension.
But as you do that you are not only cutting them back to the imaginary line but you are very selectively pruning them in such a way to create the correct amount of air space at the tips of the branches as well.
You have to open them up! Let the sun shine in! And let them feel the summer breeze!
As you prune the tree you will remove any branches that reach outside of that imaginary line. But before we do that, let’s stick our head inside the tree and see what’s going on in there.
Keeping in mind that any small branches inside the tree really serve no useful purpose because they will never receive adequate sunlight to perform as they should. Nor will they bear any amount of quality fruit for the same reason.
So let’s start by first removing any really small branches inside the tree canopy that are likely to be sunlight starved. While you’re in there, look for branches that touch, cross, or generally interfere with one another.
In most cases, one of those branches must be removed.
When you are pruning fruit trees there are several objectives that you are trying to achieve. It’s important that fruit trees be open so all the fruit that is produced receives adequate sunlight and air circulation.
Both sunlight and air circulation are critical to the production of good fruit. Both sunlight and air circulation work to create an environment that is good for quality fruit production.
The fruit needs sunlight to develop properly and the combination of sunlight and air flow work to stave off fungal diseases that can damage the fruit or it’s production.
There are two things to keep in mind when doing this. One, you want sunlight and good air circulation around the ends of those branches, but you also want to reduce the amount of branches that can produce fruit.
Your goal is a supply of healthy fruit, not a ton of fruit that nobody really wants. A fruit producing tree can only produce a limited amount of high quality fruit. But the tree doesn’t really know that.
The only thing the tree knows how to do is make a flower on every bud that it can produce, then later produce fruit for each flower that it makes.
So by reducing the number of end branches that can flower and produce fruit you are actually helping the tree to make really nice fruit.
Professional fruit growers actually thin the the fruit on their trees in an effort to get good quality fruit.
After the trees bloom and as the fruit starts being produced, they actually remove about 10% of the fruit that the tree is trying to produce so the tree will put all of it’s energy into a smaller amount of fruit.
I won’t claim to be an expert on all kinds of fruit production because I most certainly am not. But I’ve got friends in the apple business so I am familiar with what they do.
When the apples are about the size of a dime they spray the tree with something that knocks about 10% of the fruit off the tree.
But if for any reason they don’t get that spray on at the right time and it doesn’t work as they wanted it to, they have to go through the orchard and manually thin the trees.
So if you wonder why apples cost what they do, producing high quality fruit isn’t as simple as just planting some apple trees and raking in the money.
Let’s recap what I wrote.
1. Keep your fruit trees low enough that you can reach the branches to harvest the fruit.
2. Remove any and all small branches inside the tree, especially those that cross or compete with other branches.
3. Open up the tree on the outside for good sun penetration and good air circulation.
4. Reduce the amount of area where the tree produces fruit to reduce the amount of fruit that is produced.
Is there a right way and a wrong to make the cuts that need to be made?
The cuts should be smooth and clean, no frayed or ragged edges. Don’t leave strands of hanging or peeled back bark. Your pruning tools should be sharp and clean and of high quality.
The more you pay for pruning tools the better they work. Cheap tools leave a cheap looking job. Wipe them down with rubbing alcohol to clean your tools. Don’t leaves short stubs. Cut all the way back to a main branch.
If you leave short stubs the tree will make more, multiple branches on the stub that you leave, actually compounding the problem that you are trying to eliminate.
That’s it! Questions or comments? Post them below.
I need help and you are my go-to guy! We planted 4 cherry trees (5′ tall) that looked great for the first months then the leaves started to die. We added a fertilizing spike and I’m afraid we may have messed up the pH. I didn’t test it at the time. I just read your article and realize we did a lot of things wrong – and our soil does have high red clay content. I stopped watering them unless the meter said they are dry and all but one started growing NEW growth at the base of the trees. Originally I was removing the little sprigs because I understood it kept nutrition from the upper branches. Now that the upper branches have no leaves at all, I am afraid to cut any green limbs. One tree has no green at all, but I won’t let my husband dig it up yet. What should I do and when? We’re in Zone 7b.
Elizabeth,
Sounds like they have been too deep or too wet if they first leafed out then failed later. If it’s only been a few months you can dig them and raise them up if that’s the issue. The root crown should only have about one inch of soil over it.
Unfortunately, it’s been at least 6 months. Is it too late? If it has been, do I trim the new growth? One tree has suckers from underneath the ground. I guess those are from the roots. Two have sprouts above the graft, I know the suckers have to go, but do I leave any of the sprouts, or do I just mark it down as lesson learned and go spend another $400 on replacements?
Elizabeth,
The suckers have to go. I’d check the tree to see if any of it is alive and if so try raising the tree. This is how you test to see if a plant, or a branch on a plant has died. Just scratch the bark of your plants with your finger nail. If the tissue below the bark is green and firm your plants are fine. If the tissue is brown and mushy that part of the plant is dead.
Thanks! If there are sprouts above the graft line, then it’s OK to leave those? If the limbs above that are dead we just prune them – in the winter? Do we wait until winter to try to pull them up so they aren’t so deep?
Sorry for so many questions! I just don’t know anyone around here who knows anything.
Those sprouts you can leave. If you think it’s too deep I’d move it now, it hasn’t been in that long, just dig around the root ball, about 12″ away from the root ball.
Thanks Mike, good info
When I was a teen spending summers in California, I had a part time farm job.
We would take long boards like a 1×2 about 8 to 9 ft long.
We would go through the orchard and rap a sturdy rap on the branches heavily laden
with fruit. The fruit that wasn’t going to make fell off, leaving the remainder of the fruit
to grow to maturity larger and healthy.
Dan,
Without a doubt you have to get some of that fruit off of the tree so what’s left can mature nicely.
Thank you for your very useful tips about pruning fruit trees. I have a mango and avocado in my backyard and start with flowers in only one side of them. Now I know the reason. Thank you.
Lidia Hernandez
Dear Mike, I have a cherry tree in my small garden and want to keep it small. It is currently about 4-5 meters high and wide and would like to keep it that way. Is it true that a cherry tree should never be pruned, and that if you really have to prune it, you have to do it in summer after fruit picking, and not in winter? How do I see the branches and work with all the leaves on? Thanks! Elena from Italy.
Elena,
I don’t believe that is true, all fruit trees are pruned for fruit production and the ease of harvesting that fruit. Me? I’d trim it near the end of winter.
Thank you Mike! I will do as you say. I can’t wait to see my tree with more air around the inside of the crown…
Thank you for your wonderful work, I love your posts and always read them and circulate them.
Mike you are the guru and I get a lot of good tips from you. That being so I hesitate to one-up you on pruning. You mentioned getting up on a stepladder and since having fallen off one and gone through another one that broke, ladders give me a chill. and I avoid them. You don’t don’t mention having a pole saw so I’ll guess you don’t use one. A pole saw is far and away the safest easiest way to deal with pruning above your reach from the ground. As it happens I just bought an 18 footer and I just cut a big branch that is over 20 feet off the ground. The most dangerous part of it was getting put of the way when it fell. As the most dangerous thing in the home, ladders deserve respect. Please be careful everybody. A decent pole saw is not that costly and they work well with your feet firmly on the ground.
George,
You are absolutely right, a good pole saw is a great tool to have around and it will keep you off ladders most of the time.
The cuts should be smooth and clean, no frayed or ragged edges. Don’t leave strands of hanging or peeled back bark. Your pruning tools should be sharp and clean and of high quality.the more you pay for pruning tools the better they work. Cheap tools leave a cheap looking job. Wipe them down with rubbing alcohol to clean your tools. Don’t leaves short stubs. Cut all the way back to a main branch.
Thanks
My grandfather is into fruit business and owns a fruit tree farm. He is looking forward to purchasing some new tools which will help him out in maintaining the trees and while researching for resourceful information about the same I came across this informative piece. This post has well educated me about tree trimming and tools needed. Thanks for sharing.
According to my professional knowledge i understand Besides a professional license, they should also have a license and insurance for their business. You don’t want someone trimming branches on your property unless they can pay for the damage if something goes wrong. They should carry personal and property coverage, and each worker on their team should be fully insured under their policy. Otherwise, you could be held liable if one of their employees is hurt on the job.
Thanks
Great advice!
I have a pecan tree that is more than 25 year old planted by my father. When he passed my mother hired a yard care company to help maintain the yard. They used a weed trim and damaged the bark around the base of the tree. Is there any way to repair the damage? Please help. I don’t want to lose the tree.
Bonnie,
All you can do is trim off the ragged edges of bark and make sure all loose bark is removed and it will heel.
Bridge graft
Here’s a few additional thoughts about pruning fruit trees:
– Depending on tree maturity and when, if ever, it was last pruned, you may have to do the necessary pruning over 2 or 3 years to avoid shocking the tree or generating a thousand water sprouts.
– When visualizing the shape of the tree, remember that the weight of the fruit will make the branches bend, so the fruit will be closer to the ground than what the bare branches indicate. High fruit will be lower and you don’t want low fruit touching the ground.
– Regularly check your trees .Thin peaches and nectarines to 3 or 4 inches apart. Peach and nectarine branches are somewhat brittle and may break causing loss of the entire crop on the branch (or trunk).
I am a devoted Corona tool user. I have the pair of Corona side cut pruners I got in High school working for the city parks and forestry division. I am retired and am still using those pruners. They sharpen easily and still make clean cuts. I do Bonsai so a clean pruning scar is important. I have other specialty tools but the Coronas are my go to for collecting and heavy cutting.
Thanks Zack, without a doubt, I’ve used a lot of pruners before settling on Corona.
There are some really good books on pruning fruit trees. Tips mentioned by Charline, Donna, and Athena about the cuts to make are good. No one mentioned ‘water sprouts’. perhaps it is an old-fashioned term but these I cut off back to the origin: they are completely vertical fat sticks going straight to heaven from the horizontal branches, with their buds way far apart compared to the buds and branches on the main horizontal branches.. Water sprouts are what I cut off first, before I even get to the bad crosses or damaged or diseased branches. Pear trees are notorious for making these. AFter the water sprouts are removed, the inside of the tree is naturally opened up anyway. They will come back quickly so keep at them. IF your trees have any sign of disease, wipe your blades between trees with Oxine diluted 1:60 (Oxine is like bleach but doesn’t discolor clothes) or else diluted bleach (which will bleach your clothes).
Thanks Bridget, great information.
What I can’t understand is I’ve seen a lot of trees at the orchard that have branches going every which way and just full of branches yet they bear lots of apples. I try to prune mine so that their is barely any branches in the middle of the tree for sunlight and no downward branches but I never get the amount of fruit I’ve seen on the trees at the orchard,.does anyone know why that would be happening ?I have never seen such awful looking trees with so many branches going everywhere
Darlene,
Orchards actually thin the fruit on their trees, removing up to 20% of small apples so the remaining apples mature nicely.
I’ve always heard from the old timers to prune fruit trees so you could throw a dead cat through it! Meaning to have the center of the tree pruned hard. Later I heard a Master gardener teaching a class tell us to have it pruned so you could throw your hat through it! Sounds more politically correct, I guess!
BettyKay,
Either way pretty much gives you an idea of how much air flow you need through the trees.
Any help on where to get the type of sand that you use for rooting….sand with some small pebbles? I’ve tried home depot but all they have is play sand which is very fine n sifted. Thanks
Marlene,
See this https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2015/10/exactly-what-is-and-where-do-i-find-coarse-sand-for-rooting-cuttings/
Hi Mike,
I just wanna tell u that Im super excited about finding your site! You’ve inspired me so much because I found I have a passion for plants and was doing some things just out of a love for plants and didnt know I could actually make money doing what I love!! I’m on track with the fruit tree prunings and the same lopper n shears that u use. I don’t have a saw because I didn’t know the reason for it. I have 100’s of cuttings in water from the winter(some already have roots) because I didnt like throwing away my plants when I prune them. I was planning to give them away as soon as they root but now I’ve found I can make money. I have some plants that I really dont know the correct name for…how can I figure that out. I wanna be able to label them correctly when selling.
Marlene,
Unfortuneately you cannot figure out the name of plants that you don’t know the name of, nor do you want to try. That is rant that I with members all the time. For years and years and years this has been my rant;
http://freeplants.com/rant.htm
Do you consider a flowering crab apple to be a fruit tree??
When should it be trimmed back?
We live in s.e. WI
also, some confusion on hydrangias.
should I have cut them back last fall??
Some neighbors do and some do not !!
Debbie,
Crabapples are fruit trees and should be pruned during the winter, but really they can be pruned anytime. See this on hydrangeas https://mikesbackyardnursery.com/2012/07/hydrangea-pruning-made-easy/
Mike, I always enjoy all the information I get from you. I learn something new with every email I get. I have been wondering how to prune my fruit trees and you answered all of my questions. Thank you.
Thanks Shirley, you’ are welcome.
Good information shared
One my friend say its just talking about tools,I want to say him that without information of tools you cant prune any tree.
Bob Fort ner in Feb
Hi Mike!
I have a pretty little 2-3 year old satsuma tree in my backyard. Come springtime, it starts producing little clusters of green shoots. For the most part, they seem to be growing straight up and the leaves on them are generally curly and ugly looking. They mostly congregate around the tips of the main branches, but single ones pop up all along the length of the branch. Do these all need to be trimmed off? Or do I select just a few to leave on?
Thanks for all the helpful tips!
Shelby
Shelby,
I don’t think they all need to come off. Just prune selectively.
came across your facebook page and have found this site very informative and down to earth:)
Superb Post,I have spent a lot of time to gain effective info,I liked it very much,Thanks for sharing this post.
I like to prune any branches that point downward from a ‘V’ branch.
Hello Mike and Friends,
Purchasing your pruning shears with consideration to practicality and your passion. Buy the best you can afford, I went through many cheap commercial ones before I settled with Corona, they included a holster and I pack them around all day, just to clip something along the way. Let me also include this tip; the sharp blade should be closest to the trunk of the tree, so as to leave the cleanest cut possible, and aiding in the best healing.
I am in the market to buy my first pair of pruning shears;but confused, should I go to Ace or sears or corona or felco or fiskar. can you make it simple.
Go to A. M. Leonard. They have several good ones, includintg the Corona brand Mike uses and I do also.
Hi Mike and Friends.
I had a lot of work this winter pruning fruit trees.
I really like the way you put it.
It takes some common sense… and a couple of years of practice… you could really read tons of pruning advice, but it wont do much until you get your hands dirty!
Thanks again Mike
I’ll be sharing your article with my friends.
Mike is correct about the Corona brand. I have used them for years.
Athena, most tools, especially “edged” tools require maintenance-sharpening, cleaning, and oiling is a good start. Do you ever have to sharpen your kitchen knives? We have to, and it makes a big difference in how they perform. If you use a pruning saw, it will benefit from being resharpened if you are using an old fashioned one with the fixed in place blade. Many of the newer ones are built to easily swap the dull blade for a new factory supplied blade. It is very frustrating to use a dull tool.
Felco has a good reputation also. Remember, the basic law of economics: you get what you pay for.
Mike I Have about 30 high bush blueberry plants,I feed them with hollytone plenty of pine needles,and oak leaves for mulch,I was wondering the best shoots to propagate from .Some of the bushes are in their 4th year. Assorted varieties.I hopefully should get a good yield this year,before the birds get ‘Em thanks Bob
Bob, the best shoots for propagation would be the softwood that will appear this spring. Once the plants start to make leaves in the spring wait about 6 weeks. After six weeks the plants should have about 6″ to 8″ of new growth on them and just about that time that new growth begins to harden off just enough that it can stand on it’s own and serve as a softwood cutting for rooting. Use this method. http://www.freeplants.com/homemade-plant-propagation.htm
Your article is about tools, not really much on actual pruning or trimming. Try again! Good luck. Ron B.
read the article again…. you cant prune with your hands so… the tools are as important as the tree and the person in between.
thanks!
Too funny! Also true. But the delivery got me. Thanks, I needed a chuckle today!
I thought you said a lot on how to prune. It corresponds with what my dad used to say—- prune it so a bird ca fly straight through!
My problem is bugs ,worms and anything else that ruins the crop!
Nice and informative post indeed! I am grateful to you that you have found time to download some images of some of the mostly used tools used for tree lopping and trimming. But I am not sure what will you trim trees with thorns?
Rabbits ??? Im having a heck of a time with rabbits this winter.they are eating down a lot of my thornless blackberry canes that will make berries this spring.Any ideas ?? The thorny canes they leave alone ,it is the newer varieties of the thornless they go after.
Mike,
Still thinking about ordering your backyard growing system, but I just turned 70 and don’t have the energy I used to. I have cut down the work getting my vegetable gardens going this year by running my chickens in my garden. They have weeded it better than I ever could have so it should be easy to get ready to plant when the time comes. Thanks for the advice on pruning fruit trees. I have a few cherry trees that I haven’t pruned in several years. Guess it is time to get busy.
Hi Mike
I have four apples trees that i planted over the last ten years. I have never gotten a aplle off any of them. all of my other fruit trees product fruit like crazy, Cherry Pear Peach plums. What am I doing Wrong. I know that there suppose to cross polinate with each other. Help
Rich,
I am not an expert in the area of apple production, especially the cross pollination part. I’d have to research that. But my contention is that plants that produce flowers then fruit, that’s really only thing they need to do. So if the tree is happy and healthy where it’s at, then it should flower and you should be fruit. So the cross pollination thing could be your problem. If you have trees near by that the trees can cross pollinate with and or each other, that should happen automatically. Hopefully someone who knows more than I do will chime in here.
As a new member of Mike’s Backyard Growers, I am so excited about Spring… I have Butterflies in my tummy. I am filling myself full of any information I can get from Mike and his followers. Thank you so much eveyone.
A quick question, Just about everything I can find on pruning plum trees says to prune in the summer while the sap is flowing well to prevent “silver leaf” and other diseases. I have always thought, as you have stated to prune in the winter. What is the correct time, we have a Satsuma plum tree in the back yard approximately 4 years old.
Kelly, I honestly don’t know the answer to your question. But what I do know about gardening and plants is that there is never one hard fast rule for anything. There are usually many different ways to achieve the same desired result. Winter pruning is always the least stressful on the plant, but with that said myself and every other nursery person on the planet prune all year round, usually when we are walking by. So if you are more comfortable pruning in the summer, you certainly are not going to harm the tree. Not a very good answer I know, but it’s all I know about this issue.
I have a 10 year old meyer lemon tree and I
would cry if my husband would trim it.
Every year I have a ton or two of great
lemons. The tree does great without being trimmed
and the more lemons I get the more I have to give
to people. Apple trees may be different. Thanks
Terry,
This falls into the category of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” Doing nothing is working perfectly for you, so I’d stay the course.
Mike, I have followed your instructions for years, you are the best.
Thank Kathy, I appreciate that. All I do is try and share what I think people will appreciate.
Hi Mike, I have a Washington navel tree(orange), I’ve had it for many years, at first it produced large oranges but lately it’s produced small ones also the leaves have gotten kinda yellow. What do you recommend as far as fertilizing it. Thank-you in return.
Pete, fertilizer might help, but maybe the tree needs pruning or has other issues. I’d fertilize it as you would any citrus tree, but I don’t know exactly what amount of fertilizer to apply.
just how a pruned tree should look at this time of the year after pruning
please show a newly pruned fruit tree picture
Hi Mike! I have 6 Satsuma trees that are almost 10 years old. After the first 3 to 4 years, the fruit was delicious from the limbs from the bottom of the trees to about 6ft up. From there on up the fruit looks like grapefruit and has notty places on them. The taste is horrible. Please tell me you know what causes this and how I might correct it.
Thanks for you help. Beverly
Be careful when you are pruning small inner branches to avoid knocking off stubby short branches. Those are fruiting spurs, and you want to keep them!
Is this true for citrus also? I have a declining orange tree which has out grown my reach, but was afraid to cut new growth off the top.
there was a big wild apple tree towards the back of my property. Lots and lots of small scabby apples each year. It looks now like the tree wasnt wild because after three years of pruning i get big beautiful apples. I.m not sure what kind of apple it is – red to yellow stripes on green and when ripe i have to pick right away – a few days later they are grainy. thanks for your help. Al
Mike :I have trimmed a couple of apple trees that were growing at the back of my property that were way overgrown but after 4 yrs of hard trimming they produce almost nothing I have trimmed them like you have written and do the trimming in late feb or early march when I see the orchard men down the street do there trimming
Tom,
This is the pruning schedule I use for my apple trees.
Winter pruning (late fall to late winter) promotes growth by directing energy to growth buds at the expense of fruit buds.
Summer pruning (from mid to late summer) reduces foliage and promotes the formation of fruit buds.
I only trim in Winter if absolutely necessary and almost always have apples.
Good luck!
Check the amount of sun they recieve and the amount of nourishment from your soil .
Great insight, and helpful hints. We all treasure our plants, shrubs; and fruit trees – thank you very much for offering your great expertise.
HI Mike,
We have a Mugho Pine (Pinus mugo). It’s starting to get out of hand sizewize. When and how would I prune this type of bush?
Thanks Mike.
Marge,
Now would be a good time to trim your Mugho Pine. Just trim away. Once spring breaks it will fill in nicely.
Thanks for the info, didn’t you say one time, not to let peach trees to grow over 4 to 5 feet? Had my first fruit last year and was so good, just pruned them back to right at 4 1/2 feet couldn’t remember what you had said about them.
I have a thronless blackberry and I take the long canes and bend them to a bucket put soil in bucket 3/4 full then I stick the cane in that bucket of soil and lay a brick or heavy stone to hold the cane down, and keep it in there till you see new growth, this is how you can start new plants to sell. People love to hear about {Thronless} blacberries.
Delaine,
You don’t say what zone you are in. Here in the north I’d pull the canes all the way to the ground and bury them. That keeps them out of the extreme cold over the winter. Plants root better with the more heat they have around the rooting zone.
Go to enoch’s berry farm.Order the roots .lot cheaper.cut the roots in half.1 per pot .they will pop up when the weather gets warm. Be ready to sell a month or so after that.I ordered 150.cost was 68 dollars shipping and all.It will pot out 300 pots. 5 dollars a pot.Or you can dig your own roots from what you have. But Enoch has a nice variety of the newest stuff out there.
Just remember that the newer varieties at Enoch’s are patented and a royalty should be paid to The University Of Ark. Enjoy
Hello Delaine I live in Canada on Vancouver Island B.C. and blackberries grow wild everywhere and visitors are amazed and delighted until they get scratched by all the thornes. I woul like to plant some thornless ones for the fun and joy of it. Do you have any suggestions as to varieties and sources??? I would love to get started as our Spring has arrived.
Mike,
Great article, but when pruning any woody plant the cuts should by made all the way back to the branch collar, the ring around the base of the branch, not flush with the main stem. If the branch collar is left intact the tree will heel better. It is actually better to leave a small stump then cutting it flush against the branch.
Donna
You might also check “http://mtngrv.missouristate.edu/assets/publications/B39GrowingBlackberriesinMissouri.pdf”
Floricane: This is normally considered to be the fruit-producing cane and was a primocane in the previous growing season.
Lateral shoot: The leafy, green growth that develops from the lateral buds. Lateral shoots grow quite rapidly when the main shoot (cane) is tipped.
Node: The thickened portion of a shoot (cane) where the leaf petiole is attached and a bud is located.
Primocane: Blackberry plants have a biennial growth habit. The first-year growth is a green shoot that matures into a woody-textured cane late in the fall.
Primocane fruiting: Some blackberry varieties are genetically able to produce fruit on primocanes in the fall.
Pruning: Remove portions of blackberry plants to help maintain size, shape, and productivity.
Useful
Mike,
Thanks so much for the information because it is time for me to get ready for pruning my apples, pears, peaches, and grapes.
I watched your vedeo about how to make grapes cuttings. Is it OK for me to stick the grapes into dirty when I prune it?
Haiyan
Sure, you can stick the grape cuttings into soil after you remove them. They should root for you just fine.
i MOW mine down every fall an it works great
Mike, you’re kidding – Corona?!?! What crap. We’ve had a few Corona tools and they are utter junk – break easily, get dull, the by-pass pruners were so wobbly they twisted and split the cuts rather than cut them. If you have a broken tool YOU have to PAY to ship it back to the factory – not the place you bought it – and then they will consider whether it’s broken and what it will cost to get it fixed. I can’t imagine recomending them. If you think they’re good, look into some really good ones. Ace makes good one, Sears carries some good ones, and I challenge you to find a better hand pruner than Felco.
We have fruit trees and pruning them is a serious challenge. The problem with your recomendation is that if you cut back to the imaginary line, they will grow several feet OUTSIDE that line if you just cut back to it. You need to cut back to inside that line so when the tree grows it will reach your imaginary line. This usually meand cutting off all the long branches. Anyhow, virtually all of last year’s growth should be cut back by at least half – particularly if you’re working with semi- or dwarf trees, which I think a lot of home gardeners have planted.
Athena,
I stand what I said about Corona tools. Been using them for years, and yes I have owned Felco shears. The only difference in Felco is the much higher price. I know they’re good shears, but I like Corona because I replace them often. I’m hard on shears. I’ve never broken a pair of Corona shear. I’ve dulled them using them to cut roots etc. that are dirty, but for making cuttings etc they do a great job.
hello Mike would you explain to me how i can clone my moms rose bush its gettin pretty old and id like to keep it going
Peggy,
Use this system in June or July. http://www.freeplants.com/homemade-plant-propagation.htm
Athena….I don’t know how you actually feel but your mail to Mike sounds really rude. Using the word “crap” to describe someone’s favorite tool which has served them well over the years, well, I’ed take Mike’s advice over your simply becuse it sounds like you have an ax to grind.
Thanks for your information. I am wondering if you have
any information on how to prune blackberry bushes. Mine
are vining along a 5 foot fence and have very long shoots,
or strands. I am sure they need to be trimmed but I am not
sure how. Do you have any information on this ow where I
can go to get it. I have googled this and not really
sure how to do it.
Thanks for your help.
VerJean
Small bit of Info on Vesey’s website..not sure if its much help to you..
http://www.veseys.com/ca/en/learn/guide/fruitsber/blackberries
I have this one in my bookmarks I forgot about as well !
http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/1000/1431.html
Also.. here is some more Info !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1iHbSzM63Hs
I grow and sell blackberries on my property. You did not mention if yours are thornless or not. The variety i grow is thornless. Each year the plant will put out new shoots/stalks that are much larger then the others (these are the stalks that will produce next year) and at the end of the picking season the narrow stalks that produce are done. I usually cut these out in March (lower eastern shore of Maryland) and take the large stalks that came up during the previous summer and tie them to cables, this also is a great time to mulch the roots with pine shats. (they love the acid) Hope this is of some help.
And remember that those small internal branches are a good source of cutting material. I use them to propagate my fig trees.