when do you know plants are dormant ?

Depending where you are in the country it could be another 2 to 6 weeks. Need some cold weather.

 

I dont know what kind of apple tree i have but i hope it will loose its leaves to show its dormant.

Ive checked through my emails and the blueberries are tophat ones which are apparently deciduous so i guess i just need to wait until they loose their leaves though they are showing no signs of that happening anytime soon

 

Im not sure that link is helpful for my tree as the branches on my one are a max of 6-7cm. It doesnt really have a lot of leaves compared with my other plants on the garden

 

Sounds like you have a columnar variety in which case pruning it will interfere with its natural growth and form. Leave well alone.

Apples and blueberries are deciduous so you need to learn the gardener's greatest asset - PATIENCE!

 

Yes i think it is columnar but its just getting to tall so needs to be cut down . I'll just pick the fruit maybe next week and be patient until the leaves fall

In terms of blue berries if got more than variety and im pretty sure the other is evergreem

 

If you cut the height you will change how the tree's hormone's behave - research apical dominance - and make you tree more bushy and in need of regular pruning to promote fruiting spurs so you definitely need to read up abot proper pruning.

You may well have a variety of blueberry that is evergreen but the vast majority are deciduous. Evergreens slow down in winter so use the deciduous variety as your guide and re-pot them when those leaves have all fallen.

 

i cant just leave it as its too tall , such that when the wind blows it cant stay vertical which is another reason why i need to report it as its barely upright . Any solutions ?

 

Larger pot with John Innes 3 compost.
Probably better to prune in summer rather than winter. See RHS info on pruning columnar apples. Or this:
"This simple pruning is always carried out in the better summer months and you will normally start in late June in the South of the country or July in the North.
If you watch the trees from June onwards it is soon obvious what has to be done. Once the new side growths are 9”-12” long they need your attention. You can pinch the soft shoots out with your finger and thumb or use secateurs.
Shorten the new growth back to about 4”-5” cutting just above a bud. That is all that has to be done. Any shorter growths that are less than 9” are left until next time. It is best to check your trees about every three weeks until the seasons growth has finished in the early Autumn.
Always try to shorten the growths to about the same length and this will maintain the perfect column.
The leader itself should also be shortened by a few inches as this induces better spurring lower down. This should be done every season in late Summer. A new leader forms just below where you cut. Once the trees are fully established in 4-5 years then it largely becomes unnecessary.
If fruits are produced the first summer after planting there is no need to remove them as you would with an ordinary tree. Super columns are capable of fruiting from the first year and, depending on the variety will often settle down for regular heavy cropping from the second or third year onwards. Full cropping is often achieved by the fourth year.
Growing in containers is a simple matter, choose a container of 20 litre capacity and use a loam based proprietary compost."

 

I've been looking at this for several days to try to understand how it applies to me. The tree is already in a 50L post so i cant increase the pot size. There are definitely no 9” new growths but i think i will shorten the leader and chop off the new growths back to the main trunk . Im happy with the quality of fruit that was produced. As i say my issue is that its just too tall

 

Really? I have roses, shrubs and trees in temporary pots that are bigger than that.

Surely you can stretch to a 60cm high and wide pot.

 

If you chop off new growths to main trunk, you will not have the spurs where flower and then fruit form. So no fruit next year.

 

In my opinion having a columnar tree in a larger pot looks a bit odd

 

Most of this years apples werent on the new grows to the main trunk though. Are you saying those wont have any apples

 

How long are your side shoots?

Where were this years apples? A picture would help.
Are you using a soil based compost or a peat free compost?
Columnar and other restricted forms of apple tree bear fruit on short spurs that develop on the branches or trunk.

 

@hi2u_uk what I mean is, don't cut them flush with the main trunk. If it is meant to be columnar, then you need those little side branches to mature and form the fruiting spurs as @NigelJ says.