We also recommend learning more about the different parts of your fruit tree here and learning how to tell the difference between fruit buds and leaf buds here. Overall, pruning improves the quality of your fruit. This makes thinning and picking much easier. You can also make sure the fruit will form on branches that you can actually reach.

This is particularly important for the first three or so years after you plant a fruit tree, and it’s a specialised area of pruning called “establishment pruning”.įrom a practical point of view, pruning keeps the tree at the right height and shape for its location. The first and most important reason to prune your trees is to establish a strong framework for the tree. In fact, the fastest way to get a new tree to bear fruit is not to prune it at all.īut while it’s tempting to get fruit from your trees as quickly as possible, not pruning is a bad idea for lots of reasons.

Pruning is not actually needed for a tree to bear fruit. Photo credit: Janet Barker Why should you prune your fruit trees? Using principles instead of rules makes pruning fruit trees much easier.

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