Photo: (Hans Hillewaert), CC BY-SA 3.0 · source
Pruning guide · Fruit tree
Apple tree: when and how to prune
Malus
Prune an apple tree in winter, in December–March (not in frost), and if needed again in summer, in July–August.
Winter pruning shapes the tree and spurs it into growth; summer pruning slows growth and lets light reach the fruit.
| Pruning months | July–August and December–March |
|---|---|
| Nesting season (15 March–15 August) | Take care in March and July–August |
| Flowering | April–May |
| Good for bees, butterflies and birds | Yes, for bees, butterflies and birds |
| Native to Belgium | No, naturalised |
Apple tree: when to prune it?
Winter pruning is done from December to March, when the tree is bare: you can see the shape of the crown and the fat, round flower buds. Don’t prune in frost: frozen wood splits and splinters.
Summer pruning is done in July–August, when the new shoots stop growing. You remove water shoots and shorten long shoots: that slows down an over-vigorous tree and gives the fruit more sun.
Rule of thumb: the harder you prune in winter, the more strongly the tree grows in spring. So prune an over-vigorous tree less in winter and more in summer.
What else to prune in those months? January · February · March · July · August · December
Apple tree: how to prune it?
- First look at the whole tree: which three or four main branches carry the crown, and where is the fruiting wood, the short spurs with fat, downy flower buds?
- Remove dead, diseased and broken branches. Cut branches with canker back into healthy wood and disinfect your secateurs afterwards.
- Remove water shoots (thin shoots growing straight up), crossing branches and branches growing inwards: the crown must stay open to light and air.
- Shape a young tree: shorten the leaders of the main branches above an outward-facing bud, so a strong, open crown develops.
- Keep the short fruiting spurs; thin out old, crowded clusters of spurs a little.
- Cut a branch off just outside the branch collar, without leaving a stub; saw a heavy branch off in three cuts.
How much to cut, and how often?
- Remove no more than about a quarter of the crown a year. Take off more and you get a thicket of water shoots and fewer apples.
- Renovate an old, neglected tree over three winters: each year part of the branches that are too thick, too tall or crossing.
- Summer pruning is light: the water shoots and the tips of long shoots, nothing more.
What does it mean for wildlife?
- Apples flower in April–May: the blossom is a feast for honeybees, bumblebees and solitary bees, and without them there are no apples.
- Winter pruning falls outside the nesting season, but summer pruning in July and early August does not: chaffinches, blackbirds and tits like to nest in fruit trees. Check first for an active nest in the crown, as disturbing it is against the law.
- Leave a few windfalls in autumn: blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares and redwings feed on them well into winter.
- Holes and dead wood in an old standard tree are nesting places for tits and woodpeckers and food for beetles: only remove them if they are dangerous. The prunings can go on a dead hedge.
Common mistakes
- Taking off too much at once, so the tree responds with a thicket of water shoots.
- Cutting off all the short spurs: that is exactly where the flowers and apples come.
- Leaving a stub or sawing flush with the trunk instead of just outside the branch collar.
- Pruning in frost, or not disinfecting the secateurs after cutting out canker.
- Letting the crown get so dense that the sun no longer reaches the fruit.
Caution: Don’t prune in frost, and disinfect your secateurs when cutting out canker or fire blight.
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Plant profile: Apple tree · Pruning calendar and basic rules