Prune Your Fruit Trees Right For The Best Results

Prune Your Fruit Trees Right For The Best Results

There are so many reasons to love Hallandale Beach, FL if you’ve never been there or are considering a visit during Spring Break. This is the choice place to visit if you need a getaway from the hustle and bustle of city life. Not only will you enjoy the breathtaking beach scenery, but you also get the added benefit of taking in the unique and beautiful buildings in the town on your way to the beach. Who wouldn’t want to have photos taken in front of a unique building? You can be sure the memories will catch your friends’ attention on Instagram!

You can be sure a lot of work went into the design and construction of those buildings. In the same manner, fruit trees are productive if they are well-pruned at the right time. In this post, you’ll discover the importance of pruning your fruit trees and also discover the right time and the proper way of pruning.

What’s the importance of tree pruning?

Pruning can be likened to training a wild horse. Those who train them attest to the fact that they break the will of the horse without breaking its spirit. The process teaches the horse to do as the trainer or final owner instructs it to do. Pruning also trains a fruit tree to be productive. Well, it may be difficult to liken a plant and an animal, so here’s a snapshot of the importance of pruning.

Therefore we prune to achieve one or more of the following:

• Keep the fruit tree small and highly productive

• Increase fruit size, fruit yield and accessibility to that fruit

• Improve the structural strength of tree limbs to better support fruit

• Remove diseased parts and damage

• Remove branches that cross each other and cause congestion

• Increase light and airflow to prevent fungal diseases related to excess humidity in humid climates

• Maintain soft green stems which are useful for propagation

• To remove a ‘leader’ (apical bud – the tallest upright stem) in order to remove apical dominance and to encourage the tree to grow outwards (lateral growth). Read more at Milkwood

You can be sure with all these, your fruit tree will produce healthy fruit in large quantities.

What is the right time to prune fruit trees?

You’ll be amazed that although trees are not animals, they too can be trained through pruning at an early age. And if that is done successfully, you’ll enjoy an easier time of pruning in later years.

Most fruit trees don’t need pruning annually once they have been trained. Initial fruit tree pruning is important to help young trees produce thick stems and open canopies where light and air can enter and promote flowering, as well as reduce fungal and bacterial diseases. The best time for pruning fruit trees is at planting and in subsequent years, in early spring before buds break and trees are still dormant.

Pruning should be undertaken at planting time where you cut the new stem off 24 to 30 inches (61-76 cm.) from the ground and remove any side shoots. This causes the new tree to grow low branches and balances growth and the root system to keep the plant from getting top-heavy during establishment. Read more at Gardening Know How

Well, you also need to manage your expectations because the first three years may not yield fruits. But the wait will be worth it in the end after investing in pruning in the early years.

What is the best way to prune fruit trees?

It’s important to note that tree pruning is also a skill. You don’t just cut away at any part of the tree. There are specific places to target as the following post describes:

What Parts to Cut Away

a: Chop off suckers that originate from below ground.

b: Chop off low-growing branchlets.

c: Chop off branchlets that want to compete with the dominant central trunk or leader.

d: Chop off branchlets that grow inward or rub against the trunk or other branches.

To keep a tree healthy and productive, these above-mentioned sections are the most important to trim off, even though it might feel like a shame to prune off healthy and good looking new growth. To do the job right, it’s important to know when to cut, what to cut, how much to cut, and how to do the cutting. Read more at Dengarden

Of course, you also have to have the right tools for pruning, otherwise, you may end up damaging the fruit tree instead of helping it thrive.

But then again, you don’t have to worry too much about your fruit tree pruning when there are professionals ready to serve you. If you’re at Hallandale Beach, FL, and looking for a reliable tree pruning service provider, EPS Landscaping and Tree Service is here for you. We’ll take care of all your tree care needs. We’re just a call away!

Published Fri, 04 Mar 2022 08:52:23 -0600