James Fidell writes
K wrote:
Dwayne writes

Keep in mind that
apples grow on second year wood. If you remove off all the new growth
(which is pretty hard to do), you wont have any apples the following
year.
It's true that they don't fruit on first year wood, but not true
that if you remove all the new growth you won't have apples the next
year. On second year and older, apples build up fruiting spurs, little
stubbly branches about an inch long, which is where the flowers sprout
from year after year. It's these you need to be careful of.

Isn't there some complication where some apples (and pears) are spur-
bearing and others are tip-bearing?

Yes, forgot to mention that. Cliff's covered it well. The overwhelming
majority are spur bearing.

. Once that is sorted I'll try to work out which are spur-
bearers and which are tip-bearers, but as I have no idea what variety
most of them are, that'll have to be done by inspection, I guess.

One of the best ways to learn gardening is 'by inspection', taking time
to observe your plants and the effect of anything you do to them.


--
Kay