How and When to Prune Fruit Trees with Hedge Trimmers

General Fruit Growing
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Way back (before kids) I had a little orchard which I very carefully pruned following the guidelines in every library book I could find on the subject. They specified intentional, methodical, careful removal of wood which, I followed as a intentional, methodical, careful student. Hedge trimmers were used only by the uninformed. I’ve even spoken with folks who have degrees in horticulture that fully aligned with this attitude towards hedge trimmers

Now this for apples. (At about 4:20 on the video)
And this for almonds.
And indicated for plums here.

Aaaahhh! Hard to break the rules, LOL.
BUT, last summer there were many a time I wanted to take my hedge trimmers to my plums & pluerry, and even my Anna apples, as it seemed like a suitable remedy for their uber vigor. From what I’m seeing I’m ready to take the hedge trimmers to my fruit trees and maybe some berries this summer. And apparently this is also done in the winter?

So hedging has come up as a result of high density plantings, which maybe some here are doing.

Has anyone been following this trend? Tried doing it? See any problems with it?

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I have used the hedge clippers for my first cut on muscadines and then went back and touched up with hand cutters. Worked well to quickly clear out the mass of vines.

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I remember in one of the Dave Wilson Nursery videos,Tom Spellman mentions it as one of the ways to cut Summer growth. Brady

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As vulnerable to bacterial stem canker plums are, my thought is that you are flirting with disaster if you use hedge trimmers on plums even in Virginia. They should be pruned after bud break so that their immune systems have kicked in for the season. Not only do you seriously risk disease in your trees, I suspect a power hedger would cause you to loose most of your blooms. With some things, starting with a hedger and then cleaning up with clippers may work, but I seriously think it’s better to not prune plums at all than prune them with equipment that’s going to leave lots of scratches and chewed twigs. One thing to remember. Plumes are a heck of a lot more prone to disease issues than muscadines have ever thought about being.

God bless.

Marcus

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I don’t grow grapes but I can understand vines, like grapes and hardy kiwi’s would tolerate taking the hedge trimmer to them. But I was kinda suprised with the apples and almonds. I really like the ‘fruiting wall’ idea, for its compactness, but especially because it makes for easier protection from birds than the open center.

@coolmantoole So is there a time that hedge trimming plums would not pose this problem? Would you expect the same problem with almonds that plums present?