Allotments 4 All

My apple tree has had no fruit this year. I have been advised to Autumn prune it. I can't work out how to prune it correctly. I have looked on you tube but still can't work out what they are showing me.

it sounds as if your tree is doing the biennial fruiting thing - the cooker in my garden did that when we first moved in and so we pruned it quite severely- it was a little neglected but had a very good over all shape it is an old tree estimated to be planted when the houses were built or just after in about 1913. we pruned all the growth that had shot upwards including some larger branches - we left a few of them until the next year so not to shock it too much. it then stopped fruiting biannually and even had apple in 2012 when many trees did not.
is your tree mature or just a baby - apple trees are quite hardy and respond well to pruning - you need to aim at a tree with an open middle and branches the form the shape of an umbrella - much easier to pick from - the first few years of pruning can be used to achieve this.
autumn pruning wont harm the tree if it has no fruit.
hope that helps
Nora

Is this an old tree, or a young tree that has not fruited at all yet? If it is older, I would wait until winter and look at it then, you will be able to see the shape much better with the leaves off.

Then start simply, remove completely any dead branches or twigs, any branches rubbing against each other or crossing each other, and any diseased wood.

Stand back and look at your tree after that. If you have a lot of long thin upward growing branches these are water shoots which do not have fruit buds or spurs growing on them yet. If you leave them they will encourage the tree to put all its energy into growing, not fruiting which may be why your tree hasn't fruited this year. Cut them back by at least a third, but try and keep the centre of the tree free from crossing branches. The old saying is a pigeon should be able to fly through the middle of the tree without touching any branches! This helps air circulate and cuts down on the chance of diseases which like wet damp thriving on your tree. If you have done a lot of pruning by now and have a pile of branches at your feet, I would leave it until next year before doing any more, established trees like to recover a bit. If you go a bit mad, most trees will recover from a drastic pruning, but may sulk and not fruit well, so you are unlikely to do more harm than good. Hope this was helpful?

I think we need a little more information before making suggestions. For example has the tree fruited well in the past but suddenly stopped? Is the tree the usual bush shape or some special form? Does it have masses of lengthy new shoots all over it, or is there very little shoot extension? Did it flower this spring but not produce fruit, or did it just not flower? Will it flower next spring, we do not want to prune off flower buds, do we? If you know the variety that might help.

Hi, thankyou for the replies. I am going down to the allotment this afternoon so will have a good look for the long shoots growing upwards. I planted it about three years ago, was given it by someone who'd kept it in a pot. I don't know the age of it or the variety. They are eating apples as I had some fruit on it last year.