On 03/09/2012 08:41, Martin Brown wrote:
On 02/09/2012 16:36, miljee wrote:
In Hampshire. This tree produced well last year, but this year the few
blossom that set got no further than one inch big apples, the few that
then survived being nicked by the squirrels!

It looks healthy enough (sorry, I don't know the variety, but it's about
3m tall and produces medium sized, red and green apples) and I know some
apple trees produce well in alternate years. It has loads of new
shoots.

Can I get stuck in a give it a reasonable prune now or should I wait til
the 'correct' time, after the (non-existent!) harvest?

I reckon it is easier to prune when the leaves are off but if there are
obvious diseased parts or branches rubbing I can't see why not.

Bear in mind it has been a terrible year for apples and pears. I have
zero pears and just a few dozen apples on a big tree that usually has
stones of apples enough to have to give most of them away.

Next year they will bounce back and set too many fruit so you may have
to be a bit careful to avoid biennial fruit bearing in the future.


I would be very careful about pruning when there is no need. It is
normal for apple trees too crop heavily one year and almost nothing the
next,
One solution is in the year of plenty, remove a lot of the fruit early
to reduce the strain on the tree.