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With the advent of spring, all the trees in the garden go through a natural renewal process. New, young shoots appear on them, the movement of juice along the trunk and branches accelerates, and new buds are born, which will later become flowers, and then fruits. However, natural renewal of fruit crops is not enough; here, the contribution of gardeners is also needed. It is the mechanical elimination of old and unnecessary branches and shoots that will give the apple tree freedom for a better fruit bearing and heal the whole tree.
Why should apple trees be pruned in summer?
The most important advantage of summer pruning of apple trees is late flowering for the next season. This will protect future buds that have just started from freezing in case of late frosts or other adverse weather. In addition, in the summer it is easier to designate for yourself the scope of work on the formation of the crown. It is on a leafy tree that it is easier to make a bush form – the most convenient for harvesting and for the development of an individual.
more sun
By removing excess branches and shoots on a tree trunk, you will not only improve the health of a young tree, but also give new life to a perennial. In addition, thinning will give the sun access to the inner branches, which will affect the better ripening of the fruit and prevent the appearance of malignant microflora on the leaves.
Breaking out the excess
In addition to cutting off with a hacksaw or pruner in the summer, summer residents and amateur gardeners can easily break off unnecessary processes. These fractures should not be too chopped, with more even edges. The same “stumps” can be used in the summer season to pinch a different variety of apples, or even a different fruit crop. The main thing is to correctly make the clothespin itself and isolate the cut well – for better engraftment. There are hundreds of videos on the Internet with instructions on how to properly isolate, so it’s hard to go wrong. In the event that there is no need to make a clothespin, then the place of breaking must be lubricated with special garden mastic or oil paint.
Rules for summer pruning of apple trees
There are rules and guidelines for every process in this life. Pruning fruit trees is no exception. On the contrary, when removing excess branches and shoots from an apple tree, it is necessary not to overdo it, but also not to leave a lot of unnecessary.
Crown formation
The main rule for pruning apple trees in the summer is high-quality crown formation. Oddly enough, both the future harvest and the ability to bear fruit in general depend on this. The correct clipping pattern and sequence can be found on online tutorial videos. Although, gardening experts recommend using gentle kronoforming. Firstly, this method of removing unnecessary branches will not be too stressful, and secondly, until the fall, when the sap along the trunk slows down or stops, the apple tree will have time to recover and recover. It is best to start forming a crown on a young tree that is not yet bearing fruit. After, every summer, it will only be necessary to update the pruning a little. Also, this method is suitable for already fruiting trees, in the event that the harvest has become worse than before.
Rejuvenation
Experienced gardeners assure that even an old tree can be given a second life and help it bear fruit again. With the help of conventional pruning and crown formation, which is also carried out in a gentle mode, the fruit-bearing apple tree will be renewed and will begin to produce a high-quality, full-ripe crop. In addition, the percentage of ovary from flowering will increase significantly. Experts emphasize that such “rejuvenation” should be done at least once a year, and ideally in summer and winter.
Signs of success
A clear sign of successful pruning of an apple tree will be its external condition. First of all, it is the color of the leaves. It becomes more saturated, and the structure of the leaf itself becomes healthy, shiny. Also, an indicator of a successful procedure for removing excess branches and processes is the trunk, the bark of which does not have large cracks and does not look overdried, depleted. But, most importantly, a good fruit set is the surest sign of success.
Features of pruning young and old apple trees
There are several nuances in the rules for summer pruning of apple trees. They concern the age range of individuals. Oddly enough, this is an important element in choosing the right scheme for trimming excess and old branches, processes.
For young
Non-fruiting individuals should be cut to a minimum – to cause active growth. As for the scheme for removing excess, then skeletal branches should be taken as the basis. You need to cut off those processes that interfere with the life of the tree and clog the fruit bearing, be sure – at an acute angle. The skeletal branches themselves are laid at a low height. In a few years, when the tree grows, you will appreciate this contribution to the future – for harvesting you will not need to stock up on ladders and special devices with long handles. It will be necessary to more actively cut branches that interfere with the growth of the main ones in two or three fruit years, after the first procedure. This is due to the fact that the apple tree will grow more slowly, and the shoots will grow faster.
Thus, the crown will be formed correctly and the sun’s rays will be evenly distributed throughout the trunk. If this is not done, the fruits will grow small and with poor taste. For the same purpose, diseased and dry branches must also be eliminated. By delaying this, you will allow the frail shoots to feed on healthy ones, thereby worsening the health of the entire tree. You should also not be greedy with the harvest. In order not to overload the individual, with abundant flowering, part of the future apples must be removed so that fragile twigs do not suffer from their large weight.
For old
The main indicator that a perennial tree needs rejuvenation is that its growth is less than 30 centimeters. In addition, the yield is extremely low and of poor quality.
When rejuvenating, the main thing is to remove those branches that are at an acute angle to the main trunk. On those that grow vertically, it is necessary to cut off a two-three-year increase. Unlike young apple trees, more mature individuals need such a procedure no more than once every three years. The maximum term is six years, but you should not reach it.
Another way to “renew” an apple tree in the spring is by removing several young shoots for three or four buds. The next, after this year, new shoots and branches are removed to large peduncles. In the third year, the treated trees will already bring a good harvest.
Gardeners insist that old trees should not be allowed to grow upwards. This, according to experts, spoils the fruit crop and makes it impossible for summer residents to get a good, high-quality harvest. In this case, it is recommended to cut down branches that are more than three years old to stumps. When buds and shoots appear on these stumps from six to eight centimeters long, the main thing is to choose the strongest one to replace the removed part with it. Such a trick will allow you to have a young part on an already obsolete tree and get a good harvest of strong and high-quality fruits from it every year.
Graft
In addition to the elimination of bad parts for the normal functioning of the tree, summer residents have chosen summer as their grafting season. This, in their opinion, is facilitated by both the weather and the opportunity to feed the individual with additional fertilizers. Before any grafting, the main individual, where the new crop will be pinched, is prepared – carefully watered, loosened and fertilized the soil. After that, a place for a future vaccination is chosen. Most often, these are skeletal branches or thin parts of the trunk. At the same time, both the surface of the trunk and the surface of the “clothes” must be smooth.
After the introduction of a new culture into the dissection, the incision site is “bandaged” or smeared with mastic – for better engraftment. Whether the procedure was successful will become clear in just a week. The process will not lose its “trademark” appearance and will be fresh. Thus, several varieties can be grown on one apple tree. In addition, you can combine different cultures, the main thing is that they fit each other in terms of climatic conditions of growth and according to the rules of care. Apples, pears and, often, plums “take root” on one trunk. But, only large varieties.
How to prune apple trees in summer (video)
The video shows how to prune apple trees and other fruit trees in the summer