Normally, many gardeners will tell you not to prune your fruit trees in the fall! And in general, they are right. However, you can still prune some trees in the fall! I’m going to give you the best advice there is for fall pruning and caring for your beautiful fruit trees. Personally, I have a wonderfully sweet Nankin tree in my garden and have been following this advice for at least three years. And my tree is in great shape! But before I learned what to do and what not to do, I made a terrible mess and exposed my vulnerable tree to frost by pruning it too much at the wrong time! So, let me tell you in detail what fruit tree to prune in autumn,
Table of Contents
When to prune fruit trees? Fruit tree pruning period
First of all, you should know that pruning young trees over the winter is a big no. Trees will see this as a sign that they need to produce flowers and fruit and will therefore skip dormancy. What we don’t want! Here is what to do during the four seasons and what fruit tree to prune in autumn!
Which fruit tree to prune in autumn
This is when the tree goes dormant. However, if you have taken the necessary precautions during the summer, you can proceed with pruning. But we will come back to this in detail later!
In winter
There are three types of fruit trees that you can prune in the winter. Provided they are old trees. For apple , quince and pear trees, winter pruning promotes growth. If you want heavy flowering and an abundance of fruit, prune in winter.
In spring and summer
Pruning in summer does not encourage the tree to produce many new shoots. It is suitable for trees that you want to keep small and for dwarf trees. And since spring and summer pruning is done after the tree has started to produce fruit, you should avoid cutting fruit-bearing branches.
Which fruit tree to prune in autumn? And what is the process?
Autumn is the time of year when you need to pay special attention to the care of fruit trees. There are five steps to follow to have a healthy fruit tree in all seasons! Now… Which fruit tree to prune in autumn? I talked about the Nanjing cherry tree , also called Ragouminier, which is a prune tree (strange, isn’t it?). However, plum trees are best pruned in summer. Apple trees can be pruned in fall and early winter. Now let’s see how to take care of fruit trees in autumn and possibly prune them in this season! Otherwise, you will know how to take the necessary precautions for next year!
The dormant phase
Fruit trees enter their dormant phase in late fall or early winter. However, for this to happen, you need to stop fertilizing your trees in June. Even though you think using a good fertilizer in the fall will strengthen it, you’re only encouraging its growth and making it more vulnerable during the cold. So do not feed them before winter, otherwise they will feel that it is time to grow and develop. You can also stop watering trees in October and even early November. However, be sure to water enough so that the water reaches the roots.
Remove the leaves and get rid of overripe fruit
Don’t leave overripe fruit on the tree, as it will certainly attract pests and fungus . This can be very problematic for the health of your tree. Do the same with dead leaves, don’t let them lie on the ground.
Trimming
As I said before, young fruit trees should never be pruned in the fall! This would definitely expose them to frost damage. On the other hand, established and hardened trees can be pruned in the fall. If you don’t live in an area with harsh winters, you have the green light! In fact, apple tree maintenance requires that you remove about a fifth of old growth during the dormant phase, to encourage more abundant production!
Parasite control
Be careful and look for eggs and parasites in the tree. They too can go dormant during the winter and cause a lot of problems later on. Look for aphids, scale insects, spider mites and codling moths! If you don’t prevent pest problems for next season, you risk causing significant damage to your crops.
Plant new fruit trees
When to plant fruit trees? Whether it’s luscious plums, delicately scented quinces, juicy apples or sugar-packed pears, the trick is to grow varieties that bloom at the same time. This will cause cross-pollination and increase the fruit production of trees in the garden.