"Martin" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 3 Sep 2012 13:48:22 +0100, "Ophelia"
wrote:



"David Hill" wrote in message
...
On 03/09/2012 11:20, Ophelia wrote:


wrote in message
...
In article ,
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.

Last winter, I pruned my rather neglected apple hard, because it
had grown so lopsided that I had to thin it by 80% to avoid branch
breakage. Not surprisingly, I have a lot of new growth and no
apples, and intend to prune to a reasonable shape this winter,
when I will shorten all of the long branches. I am not expecting
a huge crop next year, either.

Part of the problem is that it is on a dwarfing rootstock, as is
almost unavoidable nowadays, and those distort growth badly.

Does this apply to non productive plum trees too?

The problem I have with Plumbs is Bullfinches removing the buds late
winter for food, so very little flower.

Oh I have never noticed that! We didn't get a single plum this year so
I
did wonder ...

No parakeets? Our chestnut trees are under control since the parakeets
started eating the buds in spring.

Parakeets? In Scotland????
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