1. PV orchard aerial view 03

2. TRAINING AND PRUNING
FRUIT TREES
Michael G. Janik
ISA Certified Arborist
www.michaelsapples.com

3. Training vs. Pruning

4. My Favorite Pruning Books

5. Right tool
for the right
job
Loppers
Pruners
Saws
Clean
Sanitized
Sharp

6. Anvil vs. Bypass Shears

7. Pruning
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

8. Firewood pruning ‘03

9. Firewood Pruning ‘04

10. Firewood Tree ‘05

11. Firewood Tree ‘08

12. Firewood Tree
2010

13. Shade Apple
Open to allow
sunlight and
airflow

14. Starling Special
Dwarfing
Rootstocks
Genetic Miniatures

15. Upright growth
Acute limb angles
Spring
Bare root trees
Horizontal Scaffold
Limbs

16. Scaffold limbs, fruiting shoots

17. HUH???
Need low,
horizontal
scaffold limbs
Do not plant
on easements

18. Garden,
Orchard
or
Yard?

19. Topping x 3

20. Natural
Target
Pruning

21. Proper pruning cut, before

22. Proper pruning cut, after

23. Well-sealed pruning scar

24. Cut back to a branch or bud

25. Open to infection

26. Natural Target Pruning II
• Always cut back to a bud or branch
• Always angle the cut away from the bud
• Choose growth direction

27. Angle cut away from bud

28. Select bud growth direction

29. Cut to a Branch, Bud, or Fruiting Spur

30. Apical Dominance
• Apical dominance is a tree’s response to
a pruning cut
• All pruning cuts cause the same
reaction in a tree
• Proper pruning uses apical dominance
to shape trees

31. Apical Dominance

32. Size control using rootstocks
• Standard—25 ft and up
• Semi-Dwarf or half-standard
– 8 to18 ft apples, pears
– 15 to 20+ ft stone fruits (cherries, plums, etc
• Genetic Dwarf/Miniatures—5-8 ft
• Varietal vigor

33. Standard Semi-Dwarf

34. Dwarf Apple Tree (must be supported)

35. Easy access to harvest

36. Pruning
Forms
for
Fruit
Trees

37. Training a Horizontal Espalier
• Suitable for apples and pears
• Recommend 24-16-16-16 inches
• Opens tree to sunlight and air flow
• Easy to prune
• Easy access to spray, thin, and pick
• Easily covered with bird netting
• Aesthetically attractive

38. Pear espalier on south-facing wall

39. Training Anything’s Possible

40. 1st Year Horizontal
Espalier

41. Summer

42. Winter
before
pruning

43. Winter after pruning

44. 2nd Year Horizontal
Espalier

45. Water sprouts and fruiting shoots

46. Water Sprouts After Pruning

47. Before

48. After

49. 3rd Year Espalier

50. Apple Espaliers Third year

51. Mature Horizontal
Espalier

52. Espalier Pear Ohio

53. Mature Horizontal espalier

54. End of Row

55. Apple Espalier early summer

56. PV Orchard 2005

57. Informal or Fan Espalier

58. Candelabra

59. Training a Fan Espalier
• Suitable for all fruits
• Locate against a south facing wall or as a
hedge or fence
• Easy to prune, easy to care for
• Aesthetically beautiful

60. 1st Year Fan
Espalier

61. 2nd Year Fan
Espalier

62. Mature Fan Espalier

63. Plum Espalier

64. Renewing a plum espalier, before

65. Renewing a plum espalier, after

66. Training A Central Leader
Tree
• Apples, Pears, plums, and cherries
• Dwarf Pyramid or Pyramid
• French Axe
• Spindle Bush

67. 1st Year

68. Training Horizontal Limb Growth

69. Training using Clothespins 1st year

70. 2 year, etc; before
nd

71. 2nd year, etc; after

72. 2nd Year

73. 2yr dwarf
pyramid
pear

74. 3rd and Subsequent Years

75. Cut out vigorous growth

76. Vigorous growth removed

77. Regrowth
Next Summer

78. Always remove
one of any split
shoots

79. Split Trunk

80. Thin forked branch growth

81. Mature dwarf
pyramid

82. Central
leader pear
in bloom

83. Semi-dwarf
Central
Leader

84. Supported
French Axe

85. Central Leader Pears Oregon

86. Central Leader Pears

87. Summary
Training a
Central Leader

88. Training an Open Center Tree
• Stone fruits, esp. peaches, nectarines
• Lowest limb 12-18 inches
• 3-5 limbs at low angle form a vase
shape
• Allows sunlight needed to ripen fruit

89. Training an
Open Center
Tree

90. 1yr Open Center Cherry

91. 2yr Open Center Cherry

92. Open Center
oriental pear

93. Open center peach

94. Texas peach orchard

95. Texas peach tree

96. Peach tree at Monticello

97. Winter vs. Summer Pruning
• Winter (Dormant) Pruning
– Promotes vegetative growth in the spring
– Use to train young trees
• (Late) Summer and Fall pruning
– Reduces food storage in roots and hence
reduces tree growth in spring
– Use on older, overgrown trees to open and
rejuvenate the tree.
– Use to establish fruiting spurs

98. Restoring a Neglected Fruit Tree

99. Rejuvenating Neglected Trees
• Always
– Remove dead, diseased, and damaged
wood
– Remove crossing/rubbing branches
– Remove water sprouts at limb junction
– Remove suckers at the root junction
• Never
– Remove more than 20% green wood each
year
– Never fertilize

100. Arroyo 2004

101. Arroyo 2008

102. Arroyo Before After

103. 90 yr old Delicious

104. Quincy, CA apple tree
Heading Back, Apple Tree, Quincy, CA

105. Standard pear

106. Apple

107. Before After

108. After After
2nd year 3rd year

109. Semi dwarf, before

110. Semi dwarf, after

113. Red Del 09 Before

119. Apple, before

120. Apple, after

121. Pruning for Fruit
• Apples and Pears
– Spur bearing
– Tip Bearing
• Plums and Cherries
• Nectarines and Peaches

122. Pear flower buds on spurs

123. Peach flower on last year’s growth

124. Pruning for spur fruit

125. Fruiting spurs on mature tree

126. Renewal Pruning of Spurs

127. Pruning for Peaches & Nectarines

128. Peach flower and leaf buds

129. New and old growth on peach

130. Summary
• Apical Dominance
• Cut to a branch or bud
• Choose bud/growth direction
• Training vs. Pruning
• References, Google It!
• Buy a Pruning Book and Use It!