Dormant Pruning

Did you know winter is the best time to work on your trees?  By pruning your tree in the winter you are doing minimal damage, there aren’t pests and pathogens floating around ready to enter the new cuts, and early spring is when the tree will seal the most around a wound.  The tree is still alive and it has stored almost of its nutrients in the roots for the winter.  There are so many advantages to working on a tree in the winter it is amazing more people don’t do it!              

If you look at any orchard, they prune their trees in the winter to get them ready for fruit bearing later in the season. You want to keep your fruit trees low to the ground and the center open so you can easily pick fruit and they ripen evenly.  Fruit trees produce the most fruit on branches that are angled up at 30-60 degrees.  Different types of fruit trees can handle different amounts of pruning.             

All trees react to pruning, damage, and other circumstances.  One reaction we encourage and enjoy is a fruit tree under certain stress.  By pruning the right amount of a fruit tree, it thinks it is dying, so it produces more seeds. The seeds are located in the fruit, so that means the tree actually produces more fruit!

A qualified arborist can properly prune your fruit tree for maximum fruit production, health and longevity.  We can also suggest solutions for other problems we commonly see, such as needed other trees for pollinators and damage from lawn mowers.  Contact us to learn more about your fruit trees today!