LATE WINTER FRUIT TREE PRUNING

   With late winter here it is time to prune the fruit trees!
Apple produces, pears, quince, even crab apple and ornamental cherry need a good clipping. They benefit from the cold to keep the chance of disease down and not be clipping off ripening fruit.
Here are a few tips on pruning.

• Keep your tools sharp. Make clean cut don't tear the bark along the branch.
• Keep your tools clean. If you are working with a diseased area wipe down your tools with rubbing alcohol before you move to the next tree.
• Clear out the dead wood first, then you can see what you are left to work with.
• Cut off vertical suckers. Most fruit trees you wont to encourage horizontal growth(its easier to get at the fruit)so any thing that goes strait toward the sky is the next to be clipped out.

There are different ways to prune different trees so get a good pruning book for more details, but this is a good rule of tomb, and don't ever cut off more than1/3 of the tree off at any one time. More than that will stress the tree too much. People new to pruning tend to get a little clip happy and go to far so take your time and stand back often to see how it looks.

Before you know it you will have a beautiful tree that produces more fruit!

.