Fruit Tree Pruning for Beginners

            If you haven’t pruned your fruit trees yet, it’s not too late. Prune grapes as late as possible; toward the end of February or first week of March in the Las Vegas valley. More will be coming on grapes in the coming weeks. Final pruning of fruit trees for less experienced pruners is best delayed until flowers appear. It’s a lot easier then to see where fruit will be produced when actual flowers are seen.

If you wait to prune until flowers appear or start to swell it can be easier to see what to prune and what to leave behind.

Pruning fruit trees is a two-step process; the first step controls the size of older trees and trains the developing major limbs of younger trees to eventually support smaller branches and fruit. The second step in pruning focuses on spreading fruit production throughout the entire tree’s canopy. The first step is done any time after leaf drop in the fall but before flower and fruit production in early spring. As soon as the tree is pruned for size and major limb selection is established, apply dormant oil sprays for preventing many different types of insect damage in the coming months. Do this before flowering starts. These two steps can be done separately or at the same time. I suggest two separate steps for the less experienced.

Prune tree structure to either open center like this peach tree or modified central leader.

During the first three years after planting the focus is on developing the tree’s structure. While the tree is in its first three years, major limbs are trained by directing the limbs to grow at 45° angles from the ground. Ninety percent of pruning efforts during the first season focus on establishing the overall tree structure; about 50% the second season and about 10% the third season. Once the overall structure of the tree is established, very little of this type of pruning needs to be done in in the future. From that point forward, pruning is focused on fruit production. Pruning to control its size is done when the tree is over four or five years old.

This apple tree is pruned into a modified central leader structure because it wants that kind of structure. Peach grows more like a bush so it lends itself to open center pruning structure. No hard and fast rules to follow.

On peach and nectarine, fruit production should come from all parts along the scaffold limbs, not just the tips. Pruning for fruit production focuses on developing young, newer growth horizontally like a feather, with plenty of space between branches to allow indirect light inside the tree canopy. This means removing most upward and downward growth.

In the Mojave Desert because of our hot, bright summer sun, focus is on finding a “balance” between shading the limbs inside the tree as well as its trunk and opening the canopy for more light. This balances the trees need for sunlight with its potential damage.