Pruning Advice

Good morning everyone,

When is the best time to prune a crab apple and Acer Sango Kaku?

I have searched online and get very different answers. Some people say now and some say in spring before growth appears.

I bought the crab apple last year and it has really grown well this year. I'd like to prune it into a half standard shape which will give shade to the bench area beneath. The RHS website mentions removing all side shoots in the lower third, reduce by half side shoots in the middle third.

Any advice is very welcome. I've submitted a photo of the crab apple.

Many thanks,

Ed

 

I can't see the picture of the apple but if it's a young tree then I'd consider keeping some of the lower growth on the trunk for a while. I say this because it helps to thicken/strengthen the trunk and add stability. Many standards are grown to quickly today and remain quite weak.
Apple pruning is generally recommended in winter for shape and summer for fruit, so any time from leaf drop till about March will be fine.

With acers, they tend to be better not pruned but you can do it from now until early febuary before the sap starts to rise if you want to cut off large branches, small stems can be removed pretty much any time.

 

Thanks, I've uploaded some images now. Hopefully you can see the tree, it's not that clear. I have actually been amazed at the growth this year.

With the Sango, yes I do generally just get rid of dead branches and tidy up so no major pruning there.

 

I would think any time while they're dormant is OK - that's generally the case for deciduous trees. It's Prunus (cherries and their relations) that you shouldn't prune in the winter dormancy period.

 

The crab looks like it has a decent trunk thickness so you could get away with removing some of the lower growth but it doesn't look to bad to me, as it is. I'd probably leave it if it was mine unless there are any branches that interfere with each other or areas where you want to stimulate growth, like tipping back a little to thicken the top growth.