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Restoring fruit trees
100 year old apple tree pruned using renewal system
Trunk splitting as a result of long branches
Suckers from Rootstock |
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Fruit tree culture is considered to be a horticultural,
rather than an arboricultural, subject. Consequently, fruit
tree pruning tends to be excluded from most standard
arborist training courses. Bob Lever from the East of
England Apples and Orchards Project describes the
pruning methodology to cultivate and restore fruit trees.
Extracts from essentialARB articles:
If fruit production is a priority, then annual pruning using the
renewal system is probably the easiest and most effective cause of
action to take. Follow the procedure as for second phase
restoration, taking care to leave well-placed two and three-yearold
laterals that have started to form fruit buds, also leave fruiting
four and five-year-olds if there is room. Older laterals can be
removed as young shoots are selected to replace them. The object is
to keep a “rotation” of laterals of different ages, removing the
oldest and retaining young replacements. By a combination of
restorative methods and renewal pruning, it is often possible to
rejuvenate very old fruit trees.
When pruning ceases, the open centre tree form can lead to
structural problems. Upright growing laterals usually dominate the
tree, closing the canopy and causing lower branches to lose vigour.
Fruit production on vertical branches is often scant, and any
worthwhile fruit will tend to be at the top of the canopy where it
cannot be reached. Overgrown trees may become prone to windthrow,
while branches may grow overlong and heavy, causing the trunk to
split, particularly as the tree becomes hollow.
Some fruit tree species produce suckers from their rootstocks.
Prunus species are especially prone to this,
as are pears, which have been grafted onto quince stock. These will
need to be removed. In the case of
long neglected trees, the rootstock growth may form a very
considerable percentage of the tree. In all cases,
it must be removed before moving on to restorative pruning work on
the main tree.
Consult
full article pdf (692KB)
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