Tree Pruning
- Saturday, April 16, 2016, 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Wilder Farm
Backyard Fruit Growers Apple Tree Pruning Class and Demonstration
Date: Saturday, April 16th
Time: 10:00 AM
Location: Almanzo Wilder Homestead Farm (boyhood home of Almanzo Wilder, as depicted in the book, Farmer Boy, by Laura Ingalls Wilder; author of Little House on the Prairie) 177 Stacy Road; Malone
Cost: There is a $10 fee for this workshop.
Registration and Information: Call Cornell Cooperative Extension at 518-483-7403 or online at https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/appletreepruning_216 Please pre-register by April 14th.
Caption: An Empire apple tree - Source: Cornell Cooperative Extension
Apple trees (or any other fruit trees, for that matter), if they’re going to produce quality fruit, require regular maintenance. Pruning is fundamental. We prune to improve structure, flowering, and fruiting. And most commercial orchard owners will tell you that no other practice improves the health and well-being of fruit trees more than proper pruning at regular intervals.
Appropriate pruning can restore the vigor of an older tree or aid and support younger trees with their development. And employing proper pruning practices will increase the yield and improve the quality of the fruit that trees in all stages of growth produce. At the same time, selectively pruning out weak limbs will enable the tree to better support more bountiful loads of fruit. Suitable pruning also reduces the likelihood of pest problems, and makes any tree easier for its owner to work with.
If there’s one thing this North Country has plenty of, it's apple trees that haven't been maintained in years. More often than not, the trees bear fruit, but the apples are small, misshapen, and scabby. And homeowners and landowners often call Extension to ask about pruning their older, neglected yard and landscape apple trees, in order to revitalize them.
You can significantly beautify a yard or landscape by properly pruning and shaping unkempt fruit trees to make them more attractive. And fruit trees make wonderful additions to any site or setting. After all, is there any more beautiful harbinger of summer than properly cared for apple (or cherry) trees covered with blossoms? But, attempting to restore old, uncared for fruit trees is a labor-intensive process, which involves renovation followed by renewal of fruiting wood. Pruning older trees is best done prudently, over a two or three year period, in order to avoid possible injury from sudden over-exposure to sunlight. And, while employing proper pruning practices will increase the yield and improve the quality of fruit of trees in all stages of growth, the fruit quality of older trees is usually not as good as that of similar, younger trees.
When to Prune
People often contact Extension to ask about pruning trees in autumn, after the leaves have fallen. And while it is true that it’s easy to determine the shape of a tree and identify disease and insect problems at that time, and that the weather is often ideal for outdoor work then too, pruning in the fall could leave wounds, which are very much susceptible to freeze damage and require time to heal, exposed to the elements throughout the winter.
Others ask about pruning later in the spring. But when warmer weather arrives, apple trees which, like all perennial plants, have spent the entire winter resting, in preparation for the growing season, start to use stored energy. Dormant buds develop into clusters of leaves, at the center of which a small flower bud forms. If you prune after that growth has started, the trees will have expended a great deal of energy unnecessarily, producing new growth, which is then removed.
By contrast, when we prune just before the season of active growth, the trees are able to break dormancy and, with all of their stored energy intact, start healing the pruning injuries, while leafing out. Dead, broken, or hazardous limbs are an exception to the rule and can be removed at any time, during the year.
Pruning removes unproductive wood, eliminates limbs that are unnecessary, maintains optimum vigor in productive wood, and encourages development of new bearing wood. Proper pruning improves sunlight penetration and air circulation, allowing trees to maximize use of the sunlight available to them, and leaves to dry efficiently, after it rains. Proper pruning also promotes better spray coverage, when necessary.
To assist homeowners interested in backyard apple production, an apple tree pruning class and workshop, designed to help would-be tree pruners learn how to do it right, is being offered, in April, by Cornell Cooperative Extension of Franklin County. The workshop is co-hosted by the Almanzo and Laura Ingalls Wilder Association.
Fee
$10.00 Online Payment Available
Learn More
https://reg.cce.cornell.edu/appletreepruning_216
Location
Wilder Farm
177 Stacy Road
Malone, NY 12953
Last updated April 13, 2016