Hi,

Bought a 35 acre parcel, and there are mature apple trees dispersed thoughout. In most area they have been choked out by other trees (elms, ashes). I have cleared the area around a few of them, but not sure how to trim them back.

They are large and sprawling, but not very robust appearing. Lots of dead branches, but the tress themselves seem viable. How do I shape them up?

Thanks,

John

RESPONSE
John,

First, cut out all the dead branches, next look for branches that are rubbing and take out one of them, next look for branches that are growing inward and cut those out. Lastly look for branches that are growing straight up or down from major branches and cut them out. These are taken out as apples are stunted either by being shaded out under the main branch or lack of ability to push needed nutrients straight up a branch. We do this basic pruning to apple trees. Taking out all these branches will open up the tree so sunlight and air movement is improved. Do your pruning while the tree is dormant.