Pruning Apple Trees

Retired UT Extension Agent Mike Dennison shows how to prune a three year-old apple tree. The first thing to do is to prune scaffold limbs – The limbs coming out of the main trunk or central leader – to one whorl of limbs every 18-20 inches going up the trunk. Mike talks about why he chose to cut the limbs he did. After that he looked for any crossing branches or branches growing back toward the center of the tree. Finally, he tipped or headed back about one third of last year’s growth by cutting just above a bud that was pointed in the direction he wanted the branch to grow.

Related Videos:
Apple Tree Diseases
Fruit Tree Pruning
Pruning Nectarines, Peaches, and Plums
TWIG–Tools for Pruning Trees

Related Resources:
Home Tree Fruit Plan
Pruning Neglected Fruit Trees
Pruning & Training Apple & Pear Trees
Training and pruning apple trees