Stacey, Susan and Giselle after pruning apple trees in Ben Nobleman Park

Pruning apple trees can be very similar to pruning any type of fruit tree in terms of fruit tree structure – but when it comes to timing, apple trees may have their own needs.

And so, when three key volunteers of The Ben Nobleman Park Community Orchard spent time in the park this weekend, our apple trees were high up in our list of priorities.

As I teach in my online fruit tree pruning workshop, timing make a big difference when you’re pruning.

While winter pruning gives slow-growing trees like apple trees a burst of energy so that they will grow quicker and produce more fruit, summer pruning works best with vigorous trees like cherries and plums that quickly grow too big and become hard to handle.  Continue reading →