Apricot pruning: spring, summer, autumn

Apricot pruning is an important and useful procedure. It affects the condition of the tree as a whole and, ultimately, its yield, quantity and quality of fruits. The correct, timely pruning procedure allows you to form a beautiful crown, heal the plant and strengthen its immunity to diseases and pests.

Goals and objectives of pruning

Apricot pruning is a complex event that solves several problems. Its goals are the following:

1. Crown formation, without pruning, it will grow strongly.
2. Without pruning, the inner branches of the apricot quickly age and die.
3. Irregular growth of shoots leads to the fact that the fruits become small. Pruning allows you to get a better crop.
4. An abundance of apricots on an unpruned tree can lead to numerous branches breaking under the weight of the ripening fruit. Pruning normalizes the yield.

In addition, it helps to rejuvenate and extend the overall life of the tree.

Types

There are several types of apricot pruning. They follow the tasks that are put before the holding of this event, and are as follows:

• sanitary;
• restorative;
• regulating (normalizing);
• health;
• rejuvenating.

Each of these types serves a specific purpose.

Normalizing apricot pruning

Normalizing or regulating pruning is carried out in order to artificially limit the yield. Apricot fertilizes all flowers, and without such a procedure, the tree will be depleted very quickly. Rationing the crop allows you to save his strength, while increasing not only the mass and quality of the fruit, but also the years of productive life.

Apricot rejuvenating pruning

This type of pruning is used for old trees. It allows you to stimulate the development of new shoots on which the crop will be formed. In fact, rejuvenating pruning gives the tree a second youth.

Formative pruning of apricot in spring

Formative pruning allows you to make the crown of the tree such that all fruit branches have enough light. This is of great importance for culture. Usually pruning and shaping the crown of an apricot is done according to one of two types:

• sparsely-tiered;
• tierless (cup-shaped).

It is necessary to form the desired crown configuration from the first year of planting an apricot. When the length of young shoots exceeds 0,4 m, you can start pruning.

The sparse-tiered method consists in the formation of a crown from 5–7 skeletal branches located at a distance of 30–40 cm from each other. Pruning is carried out as follows:

1. In the first year, a quarter of the shoot is removed. In this case, you need to leave the two main branches at a distance of about 0,3 m from each other. The rest are removed under the ring. After that, the branches are cut so that their end is 0,3 m below the top of the whip.
2. The following autumn, the same procedure is performed with other side shoots. In this case, the ends of the branches should be cut at a height of 0,4 m below the top of the main conductor.
3. In subsequent years, this distance increases by another 15 cm.
4. The branches that reappear on the central conductor are generators. Therefore, shoots over 0,6 m are cut in half, short ones do not need to be touched. The branch that has grown above the whip is left, while the whip is cut out completely.

Weak side shoots with at least 10 leaves can be pinched until they take a horizontal position. Over time, they will also become part of the fruit-bearing crown.

The flattened (cupped) shape of the crown is used less frequently. At the same time, 7 skeletal branches are left at a convenient distance. In this case, earlier fruiting occurs, but the quality of the crop deteriorates.

Sanitary

Sanitary pruning is done twice per season. The first time it is produced in early spring, before the start of the vegetative period. The second sanitary is done in the fall, after the leaves fall. During sanitary pruning, dried and broken branches are removed. At the same time, the shoots are examined for infection with fungal diseases, the affected areas are also removed.

When to prune apricot: in spring or autumn

The culture is pruned both in spring and autumn. In addition, there is also summer pruning, the so-called chasing.

pruning apricot in spring

Spring apricot pruning is done before the juices begin to move, usually this is the period from the end of March to the beginning of April. In addition to sanitary, formative and supportive.

Apricot pruning in the spring, the scheme and procedure are presented in the video.

Video about pruning apricots in spring for beginners.

summer apricot pruning

Apricot pruning in summer is done in early June in order to rejuvenate the tree and increase the quality of the crop. It consists of two stages:

1. The branches of this year of life are shortened, leaving 20–30 cm.
2. After 15–20 days, 2–3 strongest shoots are selected from the formed young shoots, all others are cut out.

As you can see, there is no specific scheme for pruning apricots in summer. It is produced once every 1–3 years and stimulates the tree to increase its yield.

How to prune apricots in autumn

Apricot pruning in autumn is done in mid-October. At this time, broken and damaged parts of the crown are removed, and the imbalance between fruit and deciduous branches is corrected. The scheme for pruning apricots in autumn is very simple: all fruit shoots, with the exception of skeletal ones, are cut by a third. Work with large branches is postponed until spring. Apricot pruning in the fall for beginners can only be reduced to sanitary.

Tools and materials

To work, you will need the following tools and materials:

• stepladder – for working on the upper tier of the crown;
• garden pruner – for thin shoots;
• delimber for larger branches;
• hand saw (hacksaw) – for thick trunks;
• garden knife – for stripping and processing the cut;
• copper sulphate – for disinfection of the instrument and the wound surface;
• garden pitch – for final processing of the cut point.

Pruning apricot depending on the age of the trees

At different stages of the life of an apricot, pruning is done in different ways. Spring pruning of apricots is presented in detail below.

How to prune an apricot after planting

After planting, pruning and shaping a first-year apricot is done as follows:

1. If there are no side branches on the seedling, then it is reduced to 80–90 cm.
2. If there are side shoots, when pruning a young apricot, the most powerful ones are shortened by exactly half. The rest are cut into a ring.
3. The main conductor is shortened so that it rises 30 cm above the rest of the branches.

Throughout the season, thickening (crown-growing) shoots are removed.

How to prune a two year old apricot

The main purpose of pruning 2-year-old apricot seedlings in spring is to form new stem branches. To do this, do the following:

1. Several branches are selected at a distance of 30 cm from each other and from the last year’s shoots. They are cut so that the upper ones are shorter than the lower ones.
2. From the last branch growing to the side to the top of the conductor should be 40 cm.
3. Part of the shoots of the current year on skeletal branches are pruned. In fast-growing varieties, half is removed, in others – 1/3.

The shoots of last year, already pruned, are slightly shortened.

How to prune an apricot 3 years after planting

The third year of life is the time of formation of skeletal branches. During this period, the following pruning is carried out:

1. Repeat the same as in the second year, while the whip is cut off completely.
2. Overgrown branches that come from the trunk are cut off, but are not skeletal.

How to prune an apricot 4 years after planting

By the fourth year of life, the apricot crown should be fully formed. From this age, fruiting begins. For the next three years, only sanitary and health pruning will be required.

How to prune an old apricot

Once every 3-4 years, an adult apricot will need anti-aging pruning. On the old branches, fruiting completely stops by this time. The procedure is done as follows:

1. Only 20–30 cm are left from several skeletal branches.
2. If the fruits are tied only on the extreme remote shoots, all skeletal branches in the spring must be cleared of shoots. By the summer, new fruit shoots will grow on them.

A video about pruning an old apricot in spring is presented below.

How to prune a columnar apricot

Columnar apricot needs mandatory pruning. Otherwise, it will quickly lose its decorative effect. From the moment of planting, all activities will be aimed at the formation of a non-tiered straight crown. Pruning a columnar apricot is done like this:

1. The seedling of the first year is shortened to 0,8–0,9 m from the ground.
2. Lateral branches are cut off, leaving 3-4 shoots growing along the main trunk. They are cut so that they are 20-25 cm below the conductor.
3. All shoots that form on branches at an acute angle are removed in the summer.
4. In subsequent years, a column is formed, cutting the main shoots.

After that, the annual shortening of the shoots by 15–20 cm. In addition, sanitary cutting is performed, and branches are removed on which fruits are not tied.

Crop care after pruning

After completion of work, all sections must be treated with garden pitch without fail. It can be purchased at specialized stores or made independently. The easiest way is to take wine alcohol and mix it with fir resin and yellow wax heated over a fire (proportions 1:10:1). You can apply this var with a brush. Its viscosity is independent of temperature.

Instead of garden pitch, you can use oil paint based on drying oil. Sometimes sections are simply covered with clay. However, care must be taken to ensure that the putty is not washed away by rain before the wounds heal.

Watering, fertilizing and loosening the trunk circle will help to quickly restore strength after the pruning procedure.

Secrets of the correct pruning of apricots, or 8 useful tips for beginner gardeners.

1. Do no harm. The first pruning should be done with an experienced assistant or study the issue well in theory.
2. All is well in due time. Each event must be carried out on time, otherwise the tree may simply die.
3. Better less is better. Too much pruning can lead to a long recovery.
4. Cleanliness is the key to health. The instrument used for the operation must be disinfected with copper sulphate. They are also treated with cuts of a tree, then the wounds are covered with garden pitch.
5. Hurry up and make people laugh. Don’t be in a hurry to cut. All cuts and cuts must be made carefully, trying to cause as little damage to the tree as possible.
6. Seven times measure cut once. Accurate pruning is the key to a beautiful crown.
7. Help the weak. Pruning for a tree is a lot of stress. Do not forget to carry out restoration measures after pruning, feed and water the apricot.
8. As it comes around, so it will respond. If the procedures are done correctly and on time, the tree will generously thank you with a good harvest.

Conclusion

Apricot pruning is an important part of the agrotechnical work carried out with the crop. Without it, the tree will hurt, the yield will drop dramatically. Pruning is the key to a long life of an apricot, do not neglect this procedure.