I've hacked down all the weeds on my plot, ordered some black plastic and am now thinking about what else I can do this weekend while I'm waiting for it to arrive. Apart from a huge bonfire, I started to think about pruning the apple trees I've inherited as their leaves have started to fall and they both look as if they could do with some attention. Beyond tackling anything "dead, diseased, dying, weak or wayward", I don't really know what I'm doing. And unfortunately I don't know their varieties either. One looks quite like Golden Delicious and the other a bit like Cox's but they could be anything... The one like a Golden Delicious had obviously had a good crop judging by the number of apples I was sliding about in on the ground. (I've also seen neat little piles of rabbit droppings and neat little rabbity teeth marks in some, but getting rid of rabbits is a whole new post.) The one that looks like a Cox's had a few apples left on the branches but they were pretty manky looking and mouldy and shrivelled.
I'm hoping that it's nothing serious and that a good prune, clearing away the stacks of wood round the trunk, lifting a bit of grass around the base and giving them a good mulch will help to rejuvenate them. Theory's all well and good but putting it into practice is a different matter, so any advice very gratefully received. When I cut off the smaller branches do I need to cut them right back to the main branch, or to a bud? And how mad do I go? I don't want to kill them off with the shock of some attention!
I'll be watching this thread... I'm OK with pruning the ones I planted, I can reach for a start... some big old trees need attention on the bottom plot but as they crop well I have tended to leave them alone..
???
Al I know is that there is a difference between spur bearing and tip bearing! This iste looks good
http://gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_september_2d_apple.asp#apple_prune (http://gardenaction.co.uk/fruit_veg_diary/fruit_veg_mini_project_september_2d_apple.asp#apple_prune)
It's a bit early to prune yet, I normally start in Dec/Jan. If they are old trees, I'd take out dead and diseased wood first, if that results in quite a lot of removal, I would wait until next year, perhaps taking a maximum of a third off in subsequent years.
I inherited two lovely old espalier apple trees in my old house, it took me about 5 years to get them fully into shape and fruiting well. This year (9 years on) by chance I met the people who had just moved into my old house, and asked how the apple trees were doing. "Apple trees? What apple trees?" I could have cried.... :'(
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles0202/winter_fruit_pruning.asp
http://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profiles1205/applepruning.asp
Here's 2 more pieces about pruning. If you do a harsh winter prune the following year's crop will not be too good, but future crops will be better. It has been a good year for apples this year.
Good luck,
T.
Thanks all for your advice. I've been reading up about it (good links!) and now that more leaves have fallen I'm starting to get a good look at the state of both trees. One looks better than the other: less congested and fewer brittle lichen covered branches. Deb P I'll take your advice and wait a bit longer before I start pruning - sounds like renewal pruning for both.
Thanks again!
They sound like old trees, so only take out a few branches a year; it's better to spread it over 3-4 years than kill the tree from the shock.