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Thread: Pruning fruit trees the wrong time of year

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2010
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    Leeds County,Ontario,Canada
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    Default Pruning fruit trees the wrong time of year

    Sort of alongside same topic as another thread on apple trees. This year I decided to do some much needed pruning,especially on my pear trees which were breaking limbs with overloads of fruit,and of course the best and largest fruit were out of reach of the 6' stepladder and my 7' of length reaching with my arm extended. Didn't have time before Sugarmaking,so I did it after,though there weren't any leaves out,the buds were definitely swelling. Pruned everything down to reachable height,and thinned out crowded branches. Not only did I get no blossoms this year,some of the trees are just leafing out with new shoots now in the latter part of June!!!! Even my grape vines which were alive,as they bled all over me while I was pruning,are now sending new shoots up from ground level,it is like everything I pruned got shocked so badly that branches died off
    7th generation maple producer in sugarhouse built in 1892
    2x World Champion Maple Syrup Producer
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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2016
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    Western Ny
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    I don't think a normal pruning could have caused this to happen. Is there any damage around the base where rabbits, deer or something else got to it?
    2019- RO
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  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2011
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    Southern Ohio
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    I agree your pruning most likely didn't cause this.

    I have seen trees pruned clear up to total leaf out and blossom.

  4. #4
    Haynes Forest Products Guest

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    I was always told prune in the off season and if you do prune when they are leafed out make sure you sanitize after cuts. Many grafted trees will sucker out when in decline. Like a autumn purple ash hybrid when cut down will sucker back as a crab apple bush.

  5. #5
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    How do you sterilize cutters? A lot of pruning was done by sawzall,as there were a lot of large branches. Also considering maybe buds had been killed by earlier freeze / thaw , yet limbs weren't dead yet. We had some real mild weather before Sugarmaking for a number of days,then back down into deep freeze. Some ornamental shrubs in the yard are sending shoots up from ground,tops have all died back
    7th generation maple producer in sugarhouse built in 1892
    2x World Champion Maple Syrup Producer
    1250 taps on cv adapters
    Leader Vortex 3x14 with Max Flue and Revolution Syrup Pan,Enhanced Steam Away
    www.leggettmaplesyrup.com

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
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    It sounds like you over pruned the tree. If too many branches are cut off all in one year it will shock the tree. It is very common for the tree not to blossom much if any after doing this. Also if you had a good fruit crop last year the tree might be taking a year off from producing this year. This happens more often on trees that are less then 10 years old. My neighbor and I bought and planted our Honey Crisp apple trees 6 years ago. He did a very aggressive pruning in March and is averaging 10 apples per tree. I did a light pruning on mine and I am averaging 80-100 apples per tree. I was told by Jon at UMASS not to cut so many branches off. He said people tend to overthink the pruning and cut way too much off their trees.

    Spud

  7. #7
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    I also forgot to mention that if your branches are breaking due to so much fruit then your overcropping your trees. You should thin your trees early on to prevent this from happening. If you take 30-50% of the fruit off the tree when they are the size of a dime you will get much bigger and sweeter fruit in the fall. Space out your fruit on the tree. You can spray a thinner on your tree if you don't want to do it by hand.

    Spud

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2015
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    Thornton, NH
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    With the late pruning you may have also timed the new leaf growth very close to the first wave of pests.
    Matt Durrell
    2012 - 12 Taps hand me down 2x2 and made a barrel stove
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  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2011
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    Lancaster NH
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    Aggressive pruning in the winter triggers an aggressive growth response during the growing season mainly water spouts that produce no fruit. Sometimes its hard to tell what to prune in the winter with no leaves on the tree. While I do some pruning in the winter over the past few years I have had great success pruning during the summer. You see the shape of the tree better. If this scares you , you can mark the tree branches with tape to be pruned later when dormant.
    44 27'08/71 27'56
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