![]() ![]() The trees have been hedge pruned, which has resulted in massive growth at the tops of the trees. You can clearly see it at work in these pear trees below. It’s important to understand this basic pruning principle. The harder you prune your fruit trees, the more the tree will respond by growing, to replace the wood you removed. It might be because of how you pruned them. From this uppermost bud, the new leader will emerge.Click here to get your FREE ebook 10 Key Steps to Growing Great Fruit ![]() Reduce the height of the leader by a foot or two, making your cut just above a bud. Cut right above the outermost bud that will remain. Reduce the length of each of the four scaffold branches by about half (but make sure each is left with at least a couple of buds). Together, they are said to comprise a "scaffold whorl," because they are primary (scaffold) limbs and form a circular arrangement of like parts. The "best" branches point upwards from the trunk at roughly a 45-degree angle, are well-formed and disease-free, and spaced at about an equal distance from each other on the horizontal plane (for example, think of a North-facing, an East-facing, a South-facing, and a West-facing limb).Įven on the vertical plane, these branches should not be too close together ensure 6 to 12 inches of space between them on this plane. These are the ones you will keep, pruning off the rest almost all the way back to the trunk, leaving just the branch collar. Look over the plum tree and determine what its four best branches are at a level of about 18 to 24 inches up from the ground. The next spring, you have three different pruning jobs to perform: Remove all but the best branches, shorten these "best" branches, and head back to the leader again. Create First Scaffold Whorl on the Plum Tree. ![]() The Spruce Home Improvement Review Board. ![]()
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