"Glen Able" wrote in
:

Hello again!

My new garden has 4 apple trees which I've finally gotten round to
looking at. (I'm assuming they're all apples, when we looked round
the house in Feb, one of them still had lots of fruits tenaciously
clinging on!)

I guess I should snip off all the little weedy shoots that're coming
out all over the shop, and clear the thick weeds/grass round the base,
right? One's also covered in ivy, is that a bad idea?

This is the wrong time of year for pruning apples. If there were fruits
on them last year, you may well get some this year too - even if they do
need pruning, fruiting can still be pretty good! (believe me - my apple
trees were pretty neglected too!)

I'd pretty much leave them as they are for this year. Clear away any
suckers coming from the base, maybe give them a mulch and clear the base
of the trunks. Take the ivy off if it looks like it's going to
overwhelm the tree, (or if you don't like it), and chop off anything
that's clearly dead or diseased.

Chop back anything else that might be shading them - apples don't like
to be fighting for light, and just cutting back a shading hedge a bit
can make a big difference.

Then this winter you can take out the crossing branches, branches that
go straight up, and branches that are just in the way to create a more
open structure.

It's worth bearing in mind that most apple trees have blossom/apples on
side branches (spurs), not on the tips*. So you aren't aiming for a
long straight branch with a few twigs on the end, but plenty of well-
spaced side shoots so each apple has a bit of space and light to grow.

You'll probably find that next year you get a whole bunch of new 'water
shoots' trying to go straight up again after your pruning, and will need
to chop these to encourage the fruit bearin spurs.


(*there are a few tip-bearers, though and sod's law says you've got one.
If they flowered this year, take a really good look at any young apples
on the branches now and try to work out which each tree is. Spur-
bearers are more common).


this doesn't seem
like the textbook shape at all but, unfortunately, textbooks only seem
to say, 'Do this in year 1, that in year 2 etc.' and not how to deal
with someone else's mess

I know what you mean! Mine were just the same.


--
gardening on a north-facing hill
in South-East Cornwall
--