Gloucestershire Orchard Group

Conserves, promotes and celebrates traditional orchards in Gloucestershire

To fruit well, trees need regular pruning. When pruning you normally remove first the dead, diseased, damaged or dying wood. However, remember that a lot of orchard wildlife relies on dead and decaying wood, and rot holes, so bear this in mind if nature conservation is high on your list of priorities.

Summer pruning of Apple and Pear is done in late July, August, as growth slows down, and the tree is changing its priorities from growing to fruiting. This consists of cutting back the current year's growth on all laterals just above the sixth leaf from the base, ignoring the leaf clusters at the base. Leaders should be left until the winter prune. This summer prune lets in sun and air to the remaining buds, encouraging fruiting.

Winter pruning of Apple and Pear occurs when all leaves have dropped and the tree is dormant. The shoots already shortened in the summer to the sixth leaf are further pruned to three buds from the base. The leader of each branch should be reduced by between a third and a half of the season's growth, leaving the top bud outward-pointing.

Overcrowded and inward-crossing shoots should be cut out and thin shoots pruned to short spurs of one or two buds only.

Suckers from below the graft must be removed.

Winter pruning will encourage growth for the following year.

Cherries should only be pruned in spring, to avoid disease entering wounds. Growing tips should be pinched out when new shoots have made five or six leaves.

Plums, Gages and Damsons should only be pruned between April and September, NEVER winter, while dormant.

Walnuts are particularly subject to damage and dieback after pruning, and should only be pruned with caution. They should be pruned between July and Christmas because the sap rises early and they can bleed profusely.