Have I murdered my apple tree?
I am worried that I might have trimmed my apple tree toooo much. My neighbour certainly thinks so.
My wife and I recently bought our first home which included an apple tree in the back yard. It really needed a major trim according to everyone who looked at it, including my father-in-law.
Anyway I did some research and the results are in the photo attached. Have I gone too far? So it ain't so!
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(post #12699, reply #1 of 11)
Ouch! It looks like an old tree though, and definetly off balance with that big limb; jutting off to the right. If it were mine Id probably cut off that whole branch to the main trunk; Then if it survives that you could trim up the remaining branches next year to get it to grow out a little more instead of being so tall and gangly. Now, i'm not arborist, this is just my opinion. But you want the treee to look nice as well as bear fruit. If yuou dont care how it looks, it's probably fine like it is. It's grown that way up til now so it would probably keep bearing fruit. I would just personally want to shape it a little for aesthetic value too. But do it while it's still dormant.
(post #12699, reply #2 of 11)
Soooooo clooooooose. Generally you don't want to exceed removing about 1/4th each year. Lucky for you, apples are quite forgiving if they are otherwise healthy. Don't cut any more this year, even if it is still dormant. Wait till next year to complete shaping it. You'll probably get a lot of sprout growth this year as the tree tries to recover top-growth to balance the root system. I have seen apples pruned by a third and still doing fine, and I don't think you've killed yours........yet.
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
Marty
"The plants have been good to us." Lester Hawkins
(post #12699, reply #3 of 11)
Hi Dean,
I have owned a commercial apple orchard for 20+ years. Though mine were all M-9 size "full dwarf" apple trees basically respond the same to pruning.
No, you didn't kill it. Apples respond to pruning by putting up new growth to make use of the nutrients coming from the existing root system. The harder you prune the more vigerous will be the new top growth.
You have some large ugly stubs on the right limb in the pix & possibly others. You will want to cut them back to the limb. Don't take off the whole limb unless it is in your road and a nusience. and in any event if the tree is out of dormancy dont prune the big stuff until next winter.
You left some down hanging smaller limbs; those will be unfruitfull and waht they do have will tend to be small and ripen late. You should cut those back to a larger flat or up-angled limb next dormant season.
This growring season you will get vigorous new growth; some of it will be what are called water sprouts (shoots growing streight up in the center of the tree). The best treatment for these is to use your hands and tear them out at there base (don't cut or break them. This will cause the tree to put growth potential into healing the wounds instead of into new growth.
You will also get multiple new shoot growth near the previously pruned limb ends. Next dormant season select the best one of those from each cluster to save and prune the rest back to the limb. The ones to choose will be at a 30-45degree up angle. And ones from verious clusters should be chosen to fan sideways to evenl fill the sky.
A good concept for fruit trees is that in summer, if laying on your back at the base of the tree, you should be able to see some direct sun up thru the leaves. If you can't see it then lower limbs are not getting enough sunlight to set fruit. If you see mostly sun you don't have enough limbs and are loosing fruit potential.
Try not to loose that Russet; they aren't that common any more and are great flavor late in the season.
Jim
(post #12699, reply #4 of 11)
Thanks Jim, very educational info. on apple tree pruning. Many of us novices would be benifited from your advice. Many thanks.
(post #12699, reply #5 of 11)
I planted a dozen apple trees last spring and all except one thrived - so I ordered a replacement for the one - we had late snow and trees were fine before snow when snow melted I had about 5 girdled apple trees from the ones that were just planted a year ago - also one of the older trees was girdled as well - so were some small lilacs well away from apple trees - I tried painting the girdle with liquid bandage for people - it might help and it couldn't make things much worse. Have you tried this or know anyone who has? I will let you know if I have any success with this and I guess I am looking at putting some kind of wire fencing around trunks for next winter - but I have been growing all sorts of things zone 5 for 40 years and have never had this kind of damage.
(post #12699, reply #6 of 11)
By girdled ,I assume you mean by rabbits or voles(mice). If done by rabbits the damage is probably worse as they tend to also pull back so bark is stripped up the trees. In eather event you have some chance of them recovering if a small strip of bark and cambium remains to bridge the damage. If none remains intact the trees are probably lost. Not because of the bark but because there is no cambium to bridge the gap. Painting with thick undiluted latex paint will help keep the wound from drying out.
You can also help a little by getting some of the 1" wide surveyors tape and carefully wrap the wound. It can be found ar farm stores or hardwares. DO NOT USE AN ADHESIVE TAPE OF ANY KIND AS IT WILL STRANGLE THE TREE.
The best thing we found to protect from voles was a family of outdoor cats and a mowing program that keeps thick weed & grass away from the tree area.
A good way to discourage both rabbits and voles is to late in the fall spray the trunk 4 ft or so up with a latex paint thined 50% with water to which you add the fungicide THYRAM which has a bitter taste the rodents leave alone.
I tend to dislike wire around the trunks as it 1) makes it harde to control suckers and 2) tends to be a haven for uncut weeds.
I really dislike the black plastic tubes & white trunk wrap for the same reason.
(post #12699, reply #7 of 11)
Thanks for the advice - I think that the damage was done by mice or voles and in most cases the trees were completely girdled - we are expecting more snow day after tomorrow so in between I will try to wrap some plastic tape around trunks and see if I can prevent any further damage - I agree about wire cages and the like but will try your suggestion about spraying in the fall. I've never had this problem before so am truly at a loss and shaking my head and all that.
(post #12699, reply #8 of 11)
Remember don't use any kind of tape that is adhesive. The light weight surveyors tape will stretch, plastic tape will not. Also the adhesive will pull the thin bark/cambium layer off the tree when removed.
Good luck
(post #12699, reply #9 of 11)
If the trees are completely girdled, they may leaf out some this spring but are probably doomed.
(post #12699, reply #10 of 11)
You may be right - I used new skin and plastic tape and I think that of the 6 girdled I have lost one - the others seem to be doing ok. Local grower says that anything that will cover the girdling like tar or other sealant will save the tree - I think that my liquid bandage and plastic tape may have saved 5 of the six so I can't complain.
(post #12699, reply #11 of 11)
I hope you are correct, but sometimes trees will leaf out and appear OK, but are dead the next year. Keep your fingers crossed.