Topic: When can I prune my fruit trees?

[kt.]

I have 2 apple trees (5yr old), 1 pear tree (5yr old)  and 1 cherry tree (3yr old in a pot).  I am looking to prune them all back by up to a third.  Is this to hard a prune and is it the right time to do it?

[manicscousers]

Don't do your cherry, Kt..stone fruit get pruned in summer  :)
Bob flowerdew says to prune apples and pears when there are no more leaves on so you can see the shape. We cut our big apple tree by 1/3rd one year, it hasn't bothered it, I suppose it depends how mature they are  :)

[Digeroo]

Depends on the type of apple.  With tip bearing varieties it is rather difficult not to cut off next years fruit.  Golden delicious is a pain that way.

[Russell]

I am concerned that you feel the need to prune hard trees which are so young. I suspect that  hard pruning may not be the best solution to whatever the problem is.
I agree its best to leave pruning stone fruit until the tree is growing strongly (May/June) because of the dangers of silver leaf disease, however it is better still not to prune stone fruit at all. A 3yr old in pot surely cannot be so big that it has outgrown its space, if so you should consider relocating it to somewhere it has room to reach its natural size.
If you have to prune your apple and pear trees hard then now is the least worst time to do it, but apple and pear trees should not be pruned hard unless it is absolutely necessary, every bit of tree cut off is that much less tree to bear fruit. 5 yr old apples and pears have probably reached less than half their natural size, if they have outgrown their space already perhaps you should consider re-configuring them. 5 year old apples and pears can be moved with care. One of the oldest pieces of advice I have had in cases of overcrowding consider removing alternate trees and it seemed to work. The ones I transplanted were 10 years old so it was a big job but it worked out OK for me: two years after transplanting (civil engineering) three pear trees and one apple fruited last autumn and are full of blossom bud for next year.

[kt.]

Forgot to mention - all trees are dwarf, not intended to grow over 7-8ft

[green lily]

If you want them to stay small prune them in the summer. Winter pruning stimulates more growth....Just cut any disease and broken bits out. Cut them now and they'll be stimulated to grow even bigger.. ::)

[Russell]

I support what Diggeroo has said, different sorts of apple react very differently to pruning. For example a James Grieve is very tolerant of ham-fisted ill-timed pruning and will continue to produce a crop despite appalling incompetence in management, whereas one false or ill-timed step with an Early Worcester will forfeit next years crop, sometimes two or three years. Pears are reasonably docile.
Green Lily is correct that the normal way to restrict growth is by summer pruning, there is an RHS fact sheet on it, the posh name is the Modified Lorette system. The system is reasonably straightforward and very successful provided that above all you don't prune too early in the season, early August is quite soon enough. This means your trees look untidy throughout June and July, so you have to make up your mind do you want them to look neat and tidy this year or do you want a crop of fruit next year.

[Robert_Brenchley]

In summer, the plant's strength is in the shoots and leaves, so if you cut them off you weaken the plant, which is what you want to restrict growth. In winter, it's all down in the root. If the plant can't use it growing leaves, it grows extra long shoots instead.