It’s that time of year, where we need to think about pruning stone fruit trees in our home orchards. It’s best to prune stone fruits such as nectarine, peach, apricot and plum, in late summer or early autumn, once fruiting has finished.
Why to prune your fruit trees
- It’s important to remove dead or diseased branches to boost the heath of the trees
- Pruning allows us to maintain a manageable tree size for our space.
- A good tree size also allows us to harvest more easily, or protect our harvest when needed
- Pruning can promote an increased yield of flowering and fruiting through encouraging fresh new stems to grow
- To allow more sunlight and air movement into the plant to prevents disease problems developing
- More light exposure also encourages even ripening of fruits.
Bear in mind, there are many dwarf varieties of stone fruit now available which do not need much pruning at all. Minor pruning for these varieties is generally to maintain shape, remove any disease and improve air flow.
Specific Stone Fruit Tree Pruning
Plum trees
Plums produce fruit on the same spurs for several years. Once shape has been established, they require little pruning. Excessive pruning can over stimulate tree growth at the expense of fruit. Remove vertical branching and water shoots’ regularly.
Peach & Nectarine Trees
These trees flower on wood grown the previous summer, so prune hard to encourage lots of new growth. Otherwise, fruit will be produced further and further out on the branches each year. Don’t remove too many flower buds or the current season’s crop will suffer. Flower buds are plump while growth buds are flatter.
Cherry Trees
Do not require a lot of pruning, other than to shape and to remove dead or diseased wood. They happily fruit on the same wood for years.
Pruning Shape
Stonefruit trees are best suited to pruning into the open vase shape, due to their spreading tendencies.
The ideal shape is around 5 evenly spaced main branches which start about 1m off the ground. This means a relatively low centre of gravity for stability, ease of picking and netting from birds if needed.
Off the main branches, come secondary smaller branches. Both these types of branches produce lateral shoots that can flower and fruit.
How to prune your fruit trees
- Research your tree variety and the best growing shape for fruit trees i.e. open vase, central leader, trellis, fan, espalier or bush.
- Prune on a dry day, to limit the spread of fungal spores and diseases.
- Use sharp secateurs or pruners to make clean cuts on an angle, above a bud or branch.
- Prune lightly rather than excessively.
- When trimming or reducing the canopy, make cuts just above an outward facing bud.
- Cuts should always be on a 45 degree sloping angle so water doesn’t pool and allow fungal disease to enter the wound.
- When removing entire shoots cut close to the main branch, rather than leaving a stub.
- Remove all clippings and dispose of dead and diseased material.
- Clean tools after use.
- Seal cut wounds with a water based paint or pruning paint to prevent disease entering. I use Yates Prunetec
- Spray deciduous fruit trees in winter with a copper based spray to eradicate over wintering diseases.
- Cut just above each growth bud and when removing dead or diseased wood, always cut through the healthy tissue below the diseased section.
