When is the best season to prune fruit trees? When is the best time to prune in winter, summer and autumn?

Which month is best for pruning fruit trees?

Fruit trees can be pruned during both the dormant and growing seasons, but winter pruning is the main method, supplemented by pruning during the growing season. Pruning at different times has different tasks and has different effects on the growth of fruit trees.

Dormant pruning (winter pruning)

Dormant pruning is winter pruning , which is carried out from the normal fall of leaves in autumn to the next year before budding. At this time, the stored nutrients of the fruit tree have been transferred from the branches and leaves to the branches and roots and stored.

Pruning at this time will cause less loss of nutrients. And because there are no leaves, it is easier to analyze the tree's structure and pruning response. Therefore, winter pruning is the main pruning period for most fruit trees .

There are exceptions, for example, pruning walnut trees during dormancy will cause sap flow , so pruning must be done before the leaves fall in autumn or after budding and before flowering in spring. Grapes also have a sap flow period before budding , so pruning should be done to avoid this period.

Winter pruning effect

The main shaping and pruning tasks of fruit trees in winter pruning are to cultivate the backbone branches , balance the tree vigor, and adjust the subordinate relationship, so as to cultivate the fruiting branch group, control the auxiliary branches, and promote the growth of some branches or the formation of flower buds.

In addition, winter pruning is used to control the number of branches, adjust the ratio of growing branches to fruiting branches and the number of flower buds. At the same time, the size and density of the crown are controlled to improve the light conditions inside the crown.

Pruning during the growing season

The pruning of fruit trees during their growing season is divided into three seasons: spring, summer and autumn . Spring pruning, which is carried out from spring budding to before flowering, is divided into pre-flowering pruning and late pruning.

Pre-flowering re-pruning is a review and supplement to the winter pruning task, mainly to further adjust the growth potential and flowering quantity. For example, when the flower buds of apples are difficult to identify, you can consciously leave more "flower buds" during winter pruning.

Repeat pruning from the time when the flower buds open to before flowering to remove excess flower buds and shorten redundant branches. This is beneficial for controlling the amount of flowers, increasing the fruit setting rate and cultivating fruiting branches.

Late pruning refers to cutting back the buds after budding for varieties with low germination rate and poor branching ability, and cutting off the parts that have already sprouted. This "late pruning" measure has the effect of increasing the germination rate, increasing the number of branches and weakening the apical dominance, and is a common technique for early fruiting of young trees.

Summer shears' mission

Summer is the peak growth period for fruit trees, and it is also a good time to control their vigorous growth . Many fruit trees use summer pruning to control branch vigor and reduce nutrient consumption.

After pruning, it is beneficial to the relaxation of tree vigor, the formation of flower buds and the increase of fruit setting rate. It can also improve the lighting conditions inside the crown and improve the quality of fruit.

Common measures include branch support, branch pinching, branch bending, branch tip twisting, ring barking and ring carving , etc. This period is an indispensable technical measure for young grape, peach and apple trees.

Autumn shearing tasks

Pruning over-vigorous trees before the leaves fall in autumn can help control the tree's vigor and the vigorous growth of branches. At this time, thinning out large branches and retracting pruning will have less irritating effect on the local area. It is often used for some tree species and varieties that are sensitive to pruning.

Cutting off the immature or poorly lignified parts of new shoots in autumn can make the fruit trees enter dormancy early, which is beneficial for young trees to overwinter.