Narrow, V-shape crotch angles in the limbs are an open invitation to disastrous splitting later on, particularly when your apple tree is supporting a large fruit crop. If you keep up with your pruning and shaping each year, it will be a reasonable task mostly involving small, easy-to-heal cuts. Stark Bro’s apple trees are pruned in the nursery row for proper shaping to get you started and corrective pruning must continue at home. The natural shape an apple tree takes on is not always the best for its maximum fruit production. Shape and StructureĮqually as important to the benefits above, your apple tree needs to be pruned to provide a strongly structured shape. After a single growing season, an apple tree you prune will be bigger with stronger branching than a matching, unpruned apple tree. In addition to the survival benefits, pruning an apple tree stimulates stronger, more vigorous growth from the remaining buds. A good reference book, such as Pruning Made Easy, can be invaluable for providing additional visuals and answering questions you may have during the pruning process. In Zone 6 and north, you should wait until late winter. Plan to prune your apple trees every year during their dormant season. The only pruning necessary at planting time would be to remove any broken or damaged branches and roots. Because of this, you do not need to prune them again at planting time. When your bare-root apple tree arrives from Stark Bro’s, our professionals have already pre-pruned your tree for you. Pruning, in this instance, helps balance the top growth of your tree with the root system, giving the roots time to re-establish in your yard to support existing top growth and new growth. These hairlike, delicate roots are important to the process of absorbing moisture and nutrients in the soil. When your apple tree is dug up from our fields to be shipped to you, and any time a tree is transplanted, the root ball loses many of its fine feeder roots.
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