The main purpose of autumn pruning of fruit trees is to stimulate the exchange of nutrients that the tree needs. It affects the growth of branches and the root system, as well as the metabolism between the crown and roots. There are several methods of crown formation, including shortening, that is, removing parts of a branch, and thinning, when entire branches are removed to form a crown of the correct shape. Pruning when shortening makes it possible for new buds to appear. Thinning makes the crown less dense and allows light to reach the fruit.
The value of autumn pruning
Without enough light, fruits lose their taste. Light shade is considered optimal for a good harvest. Formative pruning should be carried out two years after planting young seedlings, or after one season. You can start such pruning when the apricot has successfully wintered. They make it for the convenience of harvesting fruits. The crown is made low so that you can get the fruits from the top step of a portable ladder.
Care must be correct so that there are no disappointments when harvesting. We do not recommend neglecting the little things, since the apricot is very capricious. This operation is carried out both in spring and autumn. In spring, the peach is pruned to form a natural crown, so that it is comfortable to look after the tree, spray and collect fruits. What are the benefits of pruning? Thanks to her, the fruits grow large and appetizing. 
For successful cultivation of a garden apricot, it must be properly looked after. It is important to know that apricot is very photophilous. It has thick branches that remain very flexible. In order to prevent the tree from growing crown, pruning is carried out as quickly as possible. Sometimes the procedure is done on an already adult tree. This procedure is carried out to rejuvenate the tree, preventing the crown from becoming oversaturated with new branches. How to prune correctly? The process is shown in the video below.
Some tips:
- It is best to trim after moving the juice.
- Hemp should not be left, they can become pathogens.
- The choice of tool depends on the size of the tree. You can use a pruner, hacksaw, or knife, but the wood should not be torn or cut with a dull knife.
- When removing old branches, the places of cuts are processed with garden pitch.
Before that, he is heated in a water bath. A mature plant must be thinned out, and then sprouts that develop incorrectly should be removed. Young sprouts are cut in the spring, up to half, and the procedure is repeated in the summer. If the crown is dense, then incorrectly growing parts are removed.
Tool
Rejuvenation of an old tree can be a difficult task, since the fruits mainly grow only at the top, and in that place the crown is very dense, the branches may be diseased or dry. First, extra branches are removed and the crown is freed from glut. Thus, the light falls on the fruit-bearing part of the tree. For full-fledged work, and this is especially important for an old tree, which can be very difficult to cut, you need to prepare the following tools:
- Garden shears or knife
- Secateurs
- Garden Var
- Device for warming garden pitch
- Hacksaw
- Ladder
With such tools, it will be much easier to work, and there is no better way to form a crown and help a tree develop properly than preventing crown density and pruning work. You need to do this with a healthy plant, where the summer growth is from 40 cm. You can make sure that the described tools are used correctly for your garden in the video at the end of the recording.
Trimming pattern
Formative pruning makes it possible to give the crown a certain shape. It also stimulates the activity of branch growth and makes it possible to get fruits earlier than usual.
Apricot crown formation scheme
Regulatory pruning maintains the yield at the previously obtained level. Anti-aging pruning is done to enhance the growth of branches, stimulate the appearance of young shoots, and normalize the load by the crop. It also protects the fruit from deterioration in quality.
Apricot pruning scheme by year
Restorative pruning is used to protect the tree from mechanical damage or from freezing during the cold season. Very often, different schemes, methods and types of trimming are combined to obtain the highest quality result. The main purpose of cutting branches from an apricot tree is to form a crown. New shoots are removed every year. Any method of pruning must be carried out according to the established scheme, and each of these schemes must be known to the gardener.
If most often a sparse-tiered method is used to form the crown, then there are cases when another can be used. One of them is a method in which a crown is formed in a limited area. This method is also called flattening. The formation of the crown is done by growing 5-7 branches at a certain interval. Flattening is activated when it is necessary to get fruits from an apricot very early. The exact sequence of actions is shown in the video.
Apricot differs from other crops in that it does not shed the ovary on its own, and the fruits ripen from a larger number of inflorescences. The peculiarity of a fruit tree can cause congestion with its fruits, and as a result, and after some time, the culture is depleted, and the branches break off. To maintain balance in the fall, excess outgrowths are removed. Both the shaping and rejuvenating procedure for creating a crown will work on its own in this case.
In autumn, pruning is done in mid-October. Autumn is the time when not all varieties of apricot are cut, but only the earliest ones. To restore growth, a strong pruning of perennial wood is carried out. In the second or third year after planting, one third of the branches are removed using a sparse-tiered system. Also, gardeners recommend pinching the main branches as soon as 12-15 leaves appear on them. The longest fruit branches are shortened, their length should be 50 cm. A knife or a saw is taken for cutting, and the cuts are made very carefully. After pruning, the places are treated with garden pitch.
Video “Apricot rejuvenation pruning”
A note on how to properly prune an old tree to prolong its life and improve its yield.
