Apple tree pruning

Happy New year all.

I hope somebody out there can help. We have an Apple tree which we know is in need of pruning now, but not really sure what best to do. Picture attached.

It has been neglected by past owners, but does appear to have been reduced at some point, which I'm guessing why it's overgrown.

Any help and advice on where to start and what to do is most appreciated.

 

I am no expert and others may do differently to me, my Apple tree pruning regime (same for my pears) is split into 2. Winter pruning is used to shape the tree and cut off bigger branches, this encourages lots of new shoots to grow (similar to what is growing at the top of yours) Late Summer pruning is when I reduce all the side shoots and newer growth (often created by the winter pruning) right ack to a couple of buds to encourage fruiting spurs to develop the following years, rather than branch growth.
So I would be cutting out lots of the newer shoots on yours to get the shape you want just now, then go back over it later in the summer trimming new growth back to a couple of buds and keeping the shape created. Just take your time getting the shape (you want an open goblet shape for good airflow) as you can take branches off but cannot put them back on if you cut off the wrong ones. That said mine are all on dwarf root stock so easy to do, yours would need a ladder and be trickier to get access to, especially in the summer when in full leaf and (hopefully) covered in apples so hopefully someone with experience of pruning larger fruit tress will be along to advise.

 

Go with Emptyheadtime. Cut it back to how far you can reach. Cut out any branches growing inwards. Going by the sloping ground I would employ a tree surgeon as it looks in a dangerous situation for you to be pruning. He/she could also tidy up other bits of the garden and remove all the cuttings.

 

I don't have a straightforward suggestion, but I have a huge Bramley tree with a structure very similar to yours, limbs up to about three meters and a further three meters of largely spikes on top. For ten years I tried to improve its shape and prune it relatively gently with a winter/summer pruning regime following all standard instructions. When I say gently I still pruned a huge amount of material (including larger branches) especially each winter as Bramleys are so very vigorous. In summer the issue is that visibility makes it more difficult to make good decisions and have access. With a lot of pruning the tree still did not attain shape and stayed huge. It has other issues, e.g. at least half of its humongous yield has brown rot and there is rot in some of the heartwood.

Two years ago I read something that basically said: "you can pollard apple trees". This does not apply generally I'm sure but it did seem appropriate for my many-limbed eldritch creature. In the first year I roughly pollarded 1/3 of the limbs. This year I've pollarded 1/2 of the limbs, next year I'll pollard the remaining 1/6.

It's too soon to say how well this will work, but I'm pretty hopeful it was a good decision. Pruning or pollarding has a rejuvenating aspect to it. The tree has less bulk to put its resources into. My tree already has some very old heartwood rot in some of the limbs, but its cambium is so vigorous that it can cope for the foreseeable future.

 

My previous local had a beer garden with an avenue of apple trees. He pollard them every third year with no apples after pollarding but a lovely crop the year after then pollard again. It also kept his garden neat.

 

I think all of the above replies are appropriate to some extent. The tree needs saving; from itself.
I consider its height to be a liability; the proximity to the building compromises tree and building. If it were mine, I should
1) reduce the rising branches from 8(?) to 4, removing worst for position ensuring that the cuts are done so as to encourage natural healing/reduce infection and remove any subsequent shoots from these truncated limbs
2) Remove majority of whippy growth from the remaining branches, cutting back to 2 buds
3)Prune these back to 1 bud in July, thinning any fruit gently. New shoots may appear meanwhile; review in subsequent years, with the option to pollard these limbs so as to reduce the height considerably .

Depending on other intentions for the garden, it could be argued to remove it completely and plant new tree(s) in better positions etc.
How good were its apples notwithstanding the brown rot ?

 

Sharing my monster. I don't mean to hijack the thread - we could al learn something. It has a goblet shape, but is otherwise probably far from ideal. Top right there is a bit that I'll tackle next year, it has a wonderful Mmne Alfred Carrière growing through. @infradig I have not cut back all whippy growth to 2 buds (and then 1), for two reasons. One it will be a lot of work, but maybe more importantly I worry the tree will respond by throwing out a lot more whippy growth - also based on past experiences. Incidentally, I'm the one who brought up brown rot. The rest of the apples are excellent (apple pies!). I'm happy with how the tree and I are getting along, but pretty sure there are gaps in my understanding, so all suggestions welcome. A lot of the knots were already present when the tree acquired us as its keepers, I've mainly cut back arm-thick branches thrown up on these knots or close to them.

 

@micearguers
My post was to the OP. I think he might aim to get to your example as his 2 year target, which looks to be a good result in the circumstances.
Bramleys can achieve great size. In a previous house I had three planted some time since 1928 between my and neighbouring identical house,which when picked from a ladder meant that I could see right over the neighbours ridge all the way to Brighton !! I quickly realised apples were not worth this feat, even when 75p /kilo

 

@infradig I understand. The brown rot came from my post I think. I responded to the whippy aspects as I find that probably the trickiest. There's often advice to prune back whips by a certain amount, which I did previously. I'm new to the pollarding approach. I will leave last year's shoots alone and see how it goes. Ideally I'd like to manage it by pollarding 1/3 of the shoots across the tree each year without much other pruning except damaged/diseased/crossing.

 

Many good points made already. Just to confirm, winter pruning is for shape, but it stimulates long whippy growth. Summer pruning restricts growth, and promotes fruit. Bramley apples do tend to get very big we also have one in our garden as they were often planted in gardens of houses built in the 20s & 30s. It may take several seasons to achieve what you want.

 

Good advice already in this thread. I've got 4 apple trees and the winter/summer split has worked well for me too - shape it now while you can see the structure, then trim back the
new growth in late summer to encourage fruiting spurs.
With one that's been neglected like yours, I'd take it slowly over a couple of years rather than trying to fix it all at once. Focus on getting the open goblet shape first - remove anything crossing through the middle or growing inward. You can always take more off next year.
One thing I've found helpful is taking photos before and after each pruning session - makes it easier to remember what worked and plan the next round.

 

Thank you for all the excellent advice. If it stops raining at the weekend I shall put this into action.

 

I meant to say before, the old books always said if you achieve the correct open goblet shape, then you should be able to throw your hat from one side, through the middle, and out the other side. Good luck.