I planted 2 liberty apples, a lapin cherry and an Italian plum about
two months ago. They all seem happy, the apples even bloomed, and my
wife and I spotted several tiny apples growing. Beginners luck. ;-)

When I purchased the trees I was told not to prune any of them for
this season. Browsing the internet I have found quite the opposite
advice (do the 1st pruning right after planting), so I was wondering
who is right, or if there is a more general rule.

Also, can anyone recommend a good book on the subject?


TIA,
Luca
zone 6b

All of the fruit trees I have bought have been pruned by the grower and did
not require pruning the first year.......if there are any broken 'limbs'
they should be taken off but otherwise suggest you leave well
alone........HW.
"Luca" wrote in message
...
I planted 2 liberty apples, a lapin cherry and an Italian plum about
two months ago. They all seem happy, the apples even bloomed, and my
wife and I spotted several tiny apples growing. Beginners luck. ;-)

When I purchased the trees I was told not to prune any of them for
this season. Browsing the internet I have found quite the opposite
advice (do the 1st pruning right after planting), so I was wondering
who is right, or if there is a more general rule.

Also, can anyone recommend a good book on the subject?


TIA,
Luca
zone 6b

In article , Luca
wrote:

I planted 2 liberty apples, a lapin cherry and an Italian plum about
two months ago. They all seem happy, the apples even bloomed, and my
wife and I spotted several tiny apples growing. Beginners luck. ;-)

When I purchased the trees I was told not to prune any of them for
this season. Browsing the internet I have found quite the opposite
advice (do the 1st pruning right after planting), so I was wondering
who is right, or if there is a more general rule.

Also, can anyone recommend a good book on the subject?


TIA,
Luca
zone 6b

See if you can find a Lewis Hill book about pruning. He's a good writer and
knows his stuff.

Pull the little apples off your new trees. They suck too much energy off
of young trees. Don't let them produce fruit yet. They need to grow first.

And *don't* fertilize the trees later than mid season. They need to go
dormant for winter and if you feed them too late in the season, they'll still
be trying to grow when they should be shutting down for the winter.

Jan

I prune my apples and peaches in late winter before pink bud stage. The ideal
of pruning is to remove any branches growing inward or directly upward (also
known as waterspouts) and to shape the tree like an upside down umbrella. That
way sun can reach the inside of the tree as well as the outer tree foliage.

A simple search at www.google.com will bring up tons of websites. Try to find a
Cooperative Extension in your local. Put you county and Cooperative Extension
into the search engine and it will come up.


On Mon, 02 Jun 2003 21:26:44 -0700, Luca wrote:

I planted 2 liberty apples, a lapin cherry and an Italian plum about
two months ago. They all seem happy, the apples even bloomed, and my
wife and I spotted several tiny apples growing. Beginners luck. ;-)

When I purchased the trees I was told not to prune any of them for
this season. Browsing the internet I have found quite the opposite
advice (do the 1st pruning right after planting), so I was wondering
who is right, or if there is a more general rule.

Also, can anyone recommend a good book on the subject?


TIA,
Luca
zone 6b