Pruning?

[old3dogg]

Would it be okay to prune my apple tree this time of year? It already has blossoms on it.

 

I heard one should only prune during months that end in "r". True or old wives tell?

 

I was out mowing and noticed the tree needs shaped up.

 

Thanks.

[Petee]

You can prune any time of year but it could have detrimental effects in the form of disease, less or no fruit, and a general weakening of the tree.  If you gotta do it and the tree's not a treasure then go ahead.  Just don't do anything major that can be delayed till early spring, like Jan to Mar.

[old3dogg]

You can prune any time of year but it could have detrimental effects in the form of disease, less or no fruit, and a general weakening of the tree.  If you gotta do it and the tree's not a treasure then go ahead.  Just don't do anything major that can be delayed till early spring, like Jan to Mar.

I dont want to kill it. Pretty nice tree. It just need a little off the top.

 

As far as the apples? I feed those to the deer.

[Petee]

Every time you make an opening in a tree's bark at this time of year you are creating a wound into which disease could enter, and advertised wound treatments don't really work.  In the winter those diseases are mostly inactive.  You make larger wounds on a tree than on a shrub which can be pruned other times. If it's not absolutely necessary I would wait.  One corrective cut would be all I would try on a fruit tree at this time of year.

 

One of my pet peeves is people who top off trees.  They should just chop them down and be done with them.

[old3dogg]

Thanks. I will leave it be until fall. Hope we have one this year.

[Guest tompepper]

there are no months that end in r,but you can safley prune or transplant a tree or shrub in any mth which contains an r,Sept thru april.trans planted plants seem to do better when done while it is raining

[lavender]

This is a bad time to prune an apple tree. Prune it while it is dormant. The tree is in active growth and will put out new growth and new leaves to replace the lost mass, weakening it. It may have little effect if the tree is healthy but you never know.

The only flowering trees/bushes that you prune in the summer are things like lilacs and rhododendron's that set flower buds before fall. Those you prune after they bloom.  This insures that you will have blooms for the next season.

[geezerwriter]

On our drive through virginia we see a huge apple orchard off I-81 with trees that are no more than 12-15 feet tall. I don't LIKE tall apple trees. But I can't top off one; it's at least 40 feet high. The apples wither in the high altitude. I do trim grape vines and lilac bushes now, though I usually wait until just after the lilacs bloom.

[Harvey Mungaknuts]

there are no months that end in r,

 

SeptembeR, OctobeR, NovembeR, DecembeR

[lavender]

On our drive through virginia we see a huge apple orchard off I-81 with trees that are no more than 12-15 feet tall. I don't LIKE tall apple trees. But I can't top off one; it's at least 40 feet high. The apples wither in the high altitude. I do trim grape vines and lilac bushes now, though I usually wait until just after the lilacs bloom.

It's better to plant dwarf or semi-dwarf apple trees than to try to keep a standard sized one small. No point in working against nature be it trees or people.

Please continue to allow the upper apples to wither. We've had two people fall out of our old apple tree now. It's like Charlie Brown's kite tree except it goes after people.