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Each plant has its own life span. So your apple trees have grown old, the harvest has decreased, the apples have become small. So, it’s time to rejuvenate them. The only way to do this is by cutting.
Pruning of apple trees is carried out correctly, otherwise you can simply destroy the tree. At the same time, each case will have its own characteristics, so the process should be approached creatively. But there are rules that must always be followed.
Basic pruning patterns
The best time for pruning is spring, namely March. At this time, the greatest amount of nutrients is concentrated in the wood, so the tree will endure pruning less painfully. Some stages of pruning can, and even desirable, be carried out in autumn.
- Pruning is always done in stages. If you cut off the entire crown at once, the tree may simply not survive.
- Always start pruning from the part of the crown oriented to the south.
- For tall apple trees, shoots are shortened to reduce the height of the tree by about a third.
- It is undesirable to prune the branches that make up the skeleton of a tree, this is an extreme measure, it greatly weakens the apple tree.
- Remove shoots that have stopped growing. All cuts are made at a 45 degree angle.
- When removing large branches, you need to remember that without harm to the tree, you can remove no more than 2 of them with a thickness of about 10 cm.
- All branches thinner than a pencil, and thicker with a diameter of up to 4 cm, are cut directly under the kidney. Slices overgrow best if the thickness of the shoot does not exceed 2 cm.
- Cut the shoots, transferring them to the side branch so that their growth is vertical.
- It is necessary to remove all knots and stumps.
- Subordination must be observed: the lower branches should not be higher than the upper shoots in height, lagging behind them in this indicator by about a third.
- Simultaneously with pruning, the roots of the apple tree are rejuvenated.
- Cleaning the cuts with a knife and smearing with paraffin oil-based garden pitch is a mandatory event after trimming. If the cut is larger than 5 cm in diameter, it is covered with a dark plastic film, which is fixed. In early September, the film must be removed.
- After pruning, only the strongest ones that grow outwards are left from the top shoots that have appeared on the apple tree, keeping a distance of 50 to 70 cm between them. The remaining shoots must be removed as soon as they grow 10 cm in length. Shoots are removed throughout the season.
In the photo, yellow arrows indicate the tops extending from the skeletal branches – red-yellow arrows.
If the tree was regularly cared for and crowned, rejuvenating pruning will be much easier. Sometimes, when the garden is left unattended, the apple trees are so neglected that it will take at least 10 years to bring them into proper shape.
We will listen to the recommendations of experienced gardeners and prune old neglected apple trees in accordance with all the rules.
What can be done in the fall: scheme
Beginning – sanitary pruning:
- Branches that have signs of disease, as well as dead, with damage, are removed. Pruning is done on a ring. In the branches of an apple tree, the ring is a wrinkled part of the bark at their very base. It is never cut. The cut is always made a little higher.
- Thin out the crown, for which, first of all, diseased and twisted branches are removed.
- Branches that form a small angle with the trunk are cut off.
- Cut off all tangled branches, as well as those that are in contact with each other.
- Carefully smooth all cuts. They are treated with garden pitch.
For more information about the autumn formation of the old apple tree, look at the video:
What to do with an old apple tree in spring: a diagram
The spring formation of apple trees is carried out before the buds swell. The branches above the kidney are shortened, the cut is made oblique, the upper side is at the same level as the kidney. For proper crown formation, the upper branches must be shorter than the lower and middle ones.
At the same time, in the spring, those shoots that are frozen are removed.
The length of the shoots left depends on the strength of the tree’s growth:
- in undersized and dwarfs, only the top of the shoot needs to be removed;
- in apple trees of medium strength, the shoots are shortened by a third;
- in vigorous apple trees – half.
All sections are treated in the same way as in the fall.
All the details of pruning and shaping old apple trees in the spring on the video:
Features of phased rejuvenation
The first stage of rejuvenation of the old apple tree begins from the southern part of the crown. After pruning, the remaining part of the crown should have a height of no more than 3 m, and the length of the branches should not exceed 2 m.
During this part of the pruning, the northern area of the crown remains unchanged, and the main fruiting will occur on it. Skeletal branches are not pruned without special need, but semi-skeletal branches of all branching orders are removed or shortened as much as is required in each specific case. After about 4 years, the overgrown trimmed part of the crown begins to bear fruit. At this time, they begin to rejuvenate the northern part of the tree crown, conducting it in the same order.
Extreme pruning of an old apple tree
With age, in tall apple trees, fruiting is concentrated on the periphery of the crown. It is very difficult to harvest from such apple trees. In this case, you can try to carry out extreme pruning of the tree. Before starting it, we make sure that the tree trunk is in good condition, not damaged and does not have hollows or traces of disease. Pruning is carried out above the growth shoot so as not to completely expose the crown, reducing its height to 2 m. The tree forms a large number of young shoots, on which fruiting will then occur. It is possible to form a tree in another way, as shown in the photo below.
At the same time, the main skeletal branches are gradually shortened by half and transferred to lateral growth.
You need to remove it in the fall so that the tree can prepare for the winter. If you make such a pruning in the fall, there is a high probability of freezing of the shoots.
Rejuvenation of the root system
It is started 4 years after the rejuvenation of the southern part of the crown. At this time, the northern part is rejuvenated. On the side where the crown was cut, they retreat from the trunk of the apple tree about 3 m, dig a trench, 75 cm wide and deep, and its length should correspond to the cut part of the crown. The top layer of soil with a depth of a shovel bayonet must be folded separately. Bare roots are chopped with a sharp shovel, large ones are cut with a garden saw or chopped with an ax.
The dug trench must be filled with a mixture of humus with fertile soil set aside. Proportions: one to one. Wood ash must be added to the mixture, as well as complex mineral fertilizer. In the event that the soil for the most part consists of clay, it is loosened by adding coarse sand mixed with small pebbles. On light sandy soils, a mixture of peat and clay should be added to the trench. If possible, add compost, which has a lot of earthworms.
To make up for the damage caused to the tree by heavy pruning and to promote the rapid growth of new shoots, it must be properly looked after.
Tree care after anti-aging pruning
If an old apple tree has been rejuvenated by pruning, its near-stem circle needs to be fertilized. The amount of fertilizer applied depends on how the soil is provided with nutrients. If such security is average, the following is paid for each square meter:
- from 6 to 8 kg of organic matter;
- about 20 g of urea;
- from 16 to 19 g of potassium chloride;
- 13 g superphosphate.
Up to 250 g per square meter of wood ash is an excellent source of potassium, phosphorus and trace elements. Fertilize apple trees both in autumn and spring. To close up fertilizers, the soil is loosened with a pitchfork or dug up with a shovel, but not deeper than 15 cm. After the snow melts, the trunk circle is loosened so that moisture is not lost.
For a tree that is about 30 years old, about 20 wells will be required. They are drilled to a depth of 55-60 cm. Fertilizers must be applied to such wells in a dissolved state. The amount of fertilizer remains the same as for digging. If it is decided to fertilize the grooves, then they are arranged a little further than the outer border of the crown. The length of the recess is 40 cm, with a width of about 50. After top dressing, they must be covered with earth. The following year, the tree is fed from all sides. Summer feeding of the apple tree with complex fertilizers is necessary. If the tree is going to give a big harvest, foliar top dressing will be very useful. To do this, use a solution of 1% concentration of urea: 10 g of fertilizer is diluted in 100 liters of water. Carries out such top dressing in the middle of summer so that the tree lays a sufficient number of flower buds for the next year.
Tips for inexperienced gardeners
In order to distinguish fruit-bearing branches and not remove them when pruning, you need to remember that fruiting takes place on the following vegetative organs:
- ringlets – processes no longer than 5 cm with ring scars on the cortex and apical bud;
- spears up to 15 cm long, located at an angle of 90 degrees to the branch, and having often seated buds and small spikes;
- fruit twigs – branches of a rather large length, which can be either straight or curved.
The most rich in fruits are ringlets.
For those who are just starting out in the garden and do not have enough experience related to pruning, the following tips will help:
- For pruning, they use a special garden tool: garden saws, pole pruners. Tools must be sharp and free from rust.
- We must not forget about the disinfection of the tool, otherwise you can infect the tree with pathogens. It is carried out either with a special antiseptic or medical alcohol, preferably after each cut, in extreme cases, proceeding to pruning the next tree.
- Remember to treat wood cuts immediately after trimming and stripping so that they do not dry out.
Pruning old apple trees is a long process that requires a lot of work and effort, but it will help prolong the active fruiting of the tree for at least 15 years.