Apples

I have a dwarf apple tree which this year has so many fruit on it the branches are bowed under the weight so I have begun thinning them out to 2 apples per bunch. It seems such a waste of fruit but I know if I leave them the fruit will be small and next year there will be almost no fruit. I do not want the tree to develop a biennial habit.
I am getting ready to do a summer prune on the tree to keep it at its current height, 4/5ft, removing all vertical new growth and thinning out any crossing branches as it has developed quite a thick, dense head. As the fruit does not store for more than a few weeks it is pointless having masses of small apples, I prefer fewer large apples to eat immediately.

 

Would you use the thinnings/excess for jelly-or Cornish scrumpy !

 

Hardly worth the effort, the apples I am discarding are miniscule. About the size of a walnut.

 

I have been deliberating when to summer prune my apple cordons and boldly decided to do it today. A wheelbarrow load of material shredded and composted and at least i can now actually see the fruit to do some thinning out myself . It should be a good harvest this year

 

The rats in our area are ruining every single apple. Even the cookers. They take a bite, decide it’s too sour, move on to another one to see if it’s any better, nope, try a third, and then shift to a different tree to do the whole thing again. And that’s after they stole every single broad bean and pea (kindly leaving us the empty pods but at least eating the beans and peas inside.) The only things they won’t touch are the outdoor tomato plants.

 

I've often tried summer pruning, but I think I've always done it too early as I dont think you are supposed to get fresh growth afterwards, which I always do, even if I do it mid August.

 

@pete . This has been my dilemma , i planted these as whips in December ‘20. There is so much leafy growth you cant see the fruit so its got to come off so the dog can see the rabbit so to speak. The stems i cut were all 12”-30” long and were semi ripe where i cut and really going woody so i reckon it was ready to do. Last year i waited til August 15 , excellent crop last year and this year even better so i shall see what happens next year but my gut tells me i am doing the right thing.
@Tidemark i can empathise with you , last years excellent crop was massacred at Xmas stored in my garage by rats that had gnawed their way into the garage during a mild spell and the fruit must have been irresistible to them , multiple trays were decimated and the mess was appalling. Two days work to clean and sterilise the large area affected so i have no qualms about treating them harshly , hence several rat bait boxes and a welcome sign to the local cat and stoat populations.

 

@shiney i agree , the thing is with cordons its the summer pruning that is crucial. I am really pleasedthat pruning on August 15 last year has provided a great crop this year and i can see the fruit to thin and let light and air get to this seasons crop. I will be very interested to see how next years crop will be affected by pruning on July 30 this year . It just feels right , the feel of what i have cut off and how the trees look. I dont really touch the cordons in the winter so i am learning that for conventional trees its an entirely different method of coaxing apple trees to perform compared to the cordon method. I love the fact that in a very small space i have 5 different apple trees producing different fruit albeit that i have chosen them all to harvest around the same time. I know apples mean a lot to you and i really enjoy the different varieties that i am growing

 

I prune now for fruit and ,perhaps, Dec-Jan to shape tree and shorten any excessive growth from the summer prune. Would also do a winter wash if one could source a suitable substance.

 

We do a summer prune, when needed, on our apple and medlar. My understanding is that pruning in summer is less stimulating (re new growth) than winter and as we are pruning to control their size that suits us. Both always crop prolifically, whether pruned or not.

 

@Butterfly6 Size control is exactly what i need from summer pruning the cordons. I am trying to keep them around 6’ tall ( but growing at roughly 45 degree angle) but my 5 cordon trees are in a narrow bed 15’ long , so they take up very little space . I also deliberately ran them south- north so that the sun hits both sides of the cordon. I have learned a lot about apples in doing this and it is very satisfying to see the fruiting spurs being created through pruning by removing the growth stems. I havent reached the overcrowding stage yet but that will no doubt come and i will need to learn about how to manage this element too.