Fruit News
Fruit News
The First (and Worst) Pruning Cut
Don’t count on rootstock to control the size of a fruit tree. Fruit trees absolutely require regular pruning to keep them in line. Prune a newly planted sapling to knee-high when it first goes in the ground, a radical cut by any standard. By far, this is the most important and difficult pruning decision you will ever have to make, but it almost guarantees fruit tree success, whether you want to keep your tree at six feet or let it grow tall. This cut is critical, not just for size control and aesthetics, but for the ultimate fruit supporting structure of the tree—the scaffold limbs that develop from buds below the cut.
Sunday, February 26, 2012