Background
First grafts were made in China & Mesopotamia to help cultivars come true.
Wisley apples - earlies & 2nd dessert earlies & late desserts, cookers, eaters, cider types - connected to the Brogdale collection.
Wisley apples - earlies & 2nd dessert earlies & late desserts, cookers, eaters, cider types - connected to the Brogdale collection.
Care of grafted trees at early stages:
- Primary grafted trees (newly grafted trees) - 1m between budded & grafted
- Nick beneath top most bud end of winter before bud burst. Can grow a bit vertical. Reducing apical dominance (by reducing flow of auxins).
- Unfeathered maiden/ whip (1 year old tree without side shoots) - cut 1/3rd off to start encouraging it to branch/ 75cm up/ 4 good buds above graft.
- Feathered maiden (1 year old tree with side shoots). Cut 1/3rd - 1/2 off main stems, formative pruning to start creating frame work, don't want too vertical branches. Tipping - take 2/3rd off side branches to outward bud. Take branches off near bottom. Even if tip bearer - pruning for framework does not matter, in fact better for establishing at early stages. In the middle they can still fruit.The bigger they get the lighter the pruning - continuing to prune to 1/3rd - 1/2 again.
- Formative trees should have 3 - 5 branches, if only two - cut off and start again.
- Year 5 is when tree should have reasonable fruit harvest - they are slower than spindles. You can harvest before that but it has to be regulated cropping.
- Formative trees should have 3 - 5 branches, if only two - cut off and start again.
- Year 5 is when tree should have reasonable fruit harvest - they are slower than spindles. You can harvest before that but it has to be regulated cropping.
- Chip or budded trees make straighter trees.
- Double fruiting one like family tree but one graft on top of another.
- Pears rootstock is quince. Not all are compatible.
- Double fruiting one like family tree but one graft on top of another.
- Pears rootstock is quince. Not all are compatible.
- Best to lift trees after leaves have fallen. Possibly tie apart at the beginning to shape.
- If using rabbit guards - ensure a few buds are revealed below where it starts branching.
- If using rabbit guards - ensure a few buds are revealed below where it starts branching.
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| Photo 1 - Pruning of young apple tree in 3rd/ 4th year same as feather maiden, all side branches cut down to 2/3rd. |
Sizes of tree and M numbers:
Half standard (3/4 ft)
Standard (Jim size - 6ft plus)
M27
M26 - taller ones
MM106
M7
MM111
M25 cider apples
M letter is from East Malling research station.
MM is from Merton, John Innes, Kingston
Growing your own rootstock (if growing a lot of your own fruit).
- When established parent branches out, cut down to the ground, earth up soil early summer. Rooted shoots should appear on the stool (earthed mound) in winter. Tear a rooted off and transplant 45cm between apart and 1m apart between rows, earth up until midsummer. Following spring they will be ready for grafting/ chip budding in summer - stool method.
- Etoliation method (for plum rootstock 'Saint Julien A'). Strong shoots of plant laid down in shallow trench, covered with soil and earthed up. Side shoots should emerge similar to stool method.
- Hedge method - for easy to root cherry rootstock 'Colt'. Hardwood cutting taken from parent every autumn and planted in rows.
Unpruned trees (Photo 2)
- Good for diversity.
- Small & poor quality fruits though.
- Can be renovated over a space of 3 - 4 years. Have to feed regularly whilst doing so (e.g. Vitax 4 - 70g under canopy area. Remove a third each year. Leave long whips as they may produce when more light is able to get to them.
General pre-pruning notes
- Most important reasons for pruning is to help regulate trees, give light & ventilation.
- Tripod ladders are best & most secure - Japanese one (made in China),Welsh LITE ladders (sold by Kirkland in Kent, one from NZ too but not used here. Have pads at ends of feet metal/ rubber etc. to give more surface to legs to rest on and not go through the ground. Lightweight tubes, wind blows through them, so sturdy.
- Don't paint tree wounds - found ineffective
- Cut to a collar when using saw (2-3mm height left). A tight cut with secateurs.
- Thin spurs for better crop quality.
M letter is from East Malling research station.
MM is from Merton, John Innes, Kingston
Growing your own rootstock (if growing a lot of your own fruit).
- When established parent branches out, cut down to the ground, earth up soil early summer. Rooted shoots should appear on the stool (earthed mound) in winter. Tear a rooted off and transplant 45cm between apart and 1m apart between rows, earth up until midsummer. Following spring they will be ready for grafting/ chip budding in summer - stool method.
- Etoliation method (for plum rootstock 'Saint Julien A'). Strong shoots of plant laid down in shallow trench, covered with soil and earthed up. Side shoots should emerge similar to stool method.
- Hedge method - for easy to root cherry rootstock 'Colt'. Hardwood cutting taken from parent every autumn and planted in rows.
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| Photo 2: An unpruned Blenheim Orange tree, purposefully left to demonstrate what happens when you don't do any pruning. |
- Good for diversity.
- Small & poor quality fruits though.
- Can be renovated over a space of 3 - 4 years. Have to feed regularly whilst doing so (e.g. Vitax 4 - 70g under canopy area. Remove a third each year. Leave long whips as they may produce when more light is able to get to them.
General pre-pruning notes
- Most important reasons for pruning is to help regulate trees, give light & ventilation.
- Tripod ladders are best & most secure - Japanese one (made in China),Welsh LITE ladders (sold by Kirkland in Kent, one from NZ too but not used here. Have pads at ends of feet metal/ rubber etc. to give more surface to legs to rest on and not go through the ground. Lightweight tubes, wind blows through them, so sturdy.
- Don't paint tree wounds - found ineffective
- Cut to a collar when using saw (2-3mm height left). A tight cut with secateurs.
- Thin spurs for better crop quality.
- You can sometimes carve out canker if not ideal cutting it out and if it is not more than halfway round. Can use a spoon carving knife to scoop out.
- Signs of powdery mildew - tips frayed/ like ears, lots of buds with shorter & shorter internodes towards the tip. Cut out where possible to next branch or to base. Mildew comes in August when the spraying stops.
- Cut out any brown rot Monilinia fruticola - premature shrivel apples still clinging to branches, and coated with a black powdery mildew like fungi. Usually powdery mildew is from dry conditions & scab from wet, though not strictly.
- Woolly aphids sometimes hidden underneath moss. Blow torch is used in summer to expose them. Encourage earwigs to eat them.
- Apple trees will stop & start growing from changes in weather or poss. anaerobic water logging.
- Tree variety can govern how to prune (e.g. too much height taken off Blue Pearmain it will react too much).
- Cut out any brown rot Monilinia fruticola - premature shrivel apples still clinging to branches, and coated with a black powdery mildew like fungi. Usually powdery mildew is from dry conditions & scab from wet, though not strictly.
- Woolly aphids sometimes hidden underneath moss. Blow torch is used in summer to expose them. Encourage earwigs to eat them.
- Apple trees will stop & start growing from changes in weather or poss. anaerobic water logging.
- Tree variety can govern how to prune (e.g. too much height taken off Blue Pearmain it will react too much).
- There's more than one answer.
- Rakes to be put heads up again trees.
- Rakes to be put heads up again trees.
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| Photo 3: The ones that I pruned - Miller's Seedling & Lady Sudely (Row 20 south). |
- Working clockwise if lefthanded and anti-clockwise if righthanded.
- Cut out any obvious including dead/ diseased, possibly crossing branches if really obtrusive and rubbing and overly tall branches out first.
- Cut out any growing towards the middle, but not all middle branches/ watershoots - leaving some for possible future replacement branches. Open but not barren.
- Watershoots not all cut out like in some instances. But if several growing from one point, the strongest & weakest ones are cut out (most vigorous & weakest less likely to produce fruit), mediocre/ medium ones are left with 4cm gap between them.
- Any that stuck out onto the path and in the way of tractor also cut out.
- Fruit spurs were thinned where clusters were too dense or if overlapping and shadowing another cluster too much, but to be conscious of spur or tip bearing fruiters.
- Cut out overly drooping branches - less sugar going to bud - lesser quality fruits.
- Cut off branches were placed in middle of path vertically along it, so can be shredded and left there as mulch.
Good apple pruning book by Matthew Withnal.