Page 28 - Simply Vegetables Summer 2022

Summer pruning of
restricted forms of top fruit
GERRY EDWARDS FNVS
Apple ‘Crawley Beauty’ fan
If you are growing restricted forms of top fruit trees – cordons, espaliers, fans, pyramids, stepovers and bushes - you need to undertake your pruning in
the summer to help ensure maximum fruitfulness and vigour
as well as for keeping
your trees in good shape.
Additionally, the removal
and shortening of shoots
and thereby leaves will
allow more light to get to
the fruit which is essential
for late ripening varieties.
bud no more than one inch from last year’s growth or if new growth has grown from the trunk shorten to a bud at approximately six inches. If your cordon has grown to
the height that you want it to cut back all growth to one bud but if
Before I detail what you
should do, I would like to
help by saying that the
pruning of these fruit trees
is very simple indeed so
don’t be put off by those
who write huge articles or
whole books which lead
to confusion rather than
education! When I give talks
on top fruit growing, I make
it clear that pruning, generally, is one of
the easiest parts of fruit growing once you know what to do. So, this article is going to be a short and simple guide on exactly how to summer prune.
I’m going to start with apples and
pears as these are the easiest of all and
the pruning time for these is when the bottom third of new shoots become hard and woody. In the southern UK this will
be about the third week of July for pears and the second week onwards for apples. In more northerly areas you can add on between ten days and two weeks. In the case of cordon apples or pears shorten to a
Apple Discovery on arch
Step over trees
Each variety of apple and pear has its own growth pattern but generally prune back new growth by two thirds to a bud in these early years
you want your cordon to grow in length prune back new growth to one third to a bud. That’s the very simple one-inch (25mm) and six inch (150mm) rule and, yes, it’s as simple as that! In the case of espaliers, you have two things to consider -
for established trees that require no more layers simply apply the one-inch (25mm) rule to new growth and prune the leader to one bud. If you are looking for further layers you need to prune the leader off to a pair of buds at approximately two foot six inches (760mm)
from the previous layer. These buds will quickly grow outwards, and you can train them along wires. Treat stepover trees as single layer espaliers.
For the first three or four years after planting bush trees you will need to prune for shape as well as fruitfulness. Each variety of apple and pear has its own growth pattern but generally prune back new growth by two thirds to a bud in these early years until you are happy with the shape. In future years you will simply need to thin out growth to a bud or tip branches. In the case of less vigorous or more vigorous growing trees you can use your
own judgment on the amount to prune. You can decide the eventual height of your tree by pruning the leader in the same way that I outlined for cordons. And it’s as simple as that for apples and pears!
Incidentally always remove any dead, diseased, damaged or dying branches at any time of the year to prevent ingress of disease.
Plum cordons are pruned in a similar way to apples and pears although mid to
Espalier & Stepover Apples
Apple stepover - Greensleeves
28 Simply Vegetables