How do you manage uncontrollable fast growth on young trees

[rossn]

I have a number of 2nd and 3rd leaf trees that are growing uncontrollably fast, as we have had a record wet spring. Most of the growth, just in the last 2 weeks where I didn’t pay much attention to them. This is leading to fast growing long limbs that are twisting and spiraling down towards the ground… in one case, I even have a broken scaffold. In other cases such as the plum, the trees will be so horizontal that I’m not sure what to do.

What should I be doing in this case? Thanks for helping me out.

[krismoriah]

Here are some good starts to answering your questions.

The owner of the board says that he constantly prunes.

Spring and summer pruning question

I’m no expert, but I remember some advice from some knowledgeable person on Gardenweb (who is probably a member here now) that said, “the best time for pruning is when I’m in the orchard with pruners”. The implication was that he pruned pretty much year round and whenever a tree needed it. I’m guessing that a heavy pruning job right before the tree went dormant isn’t a great idea because the wounds won’t have time to heal, but other than that, do it when it’s convent. That was my take away, …

In this thread the owner says he scales back in the summer and brutally prunes in the winter…3 months after previous post.

Do you agree with this conclusion about summer pruning?

My input specific to espalier apples (from left to right: Hudson’s Golden Gem, then Fuji) and possibly plum/peach/pears in general. This is my observations, for my particular growing conditions in my zone 5, northern Illinois. My espalier apples are into its 5 years since its creation but 2nd year since I reworked the process. It have yet to fruit but I highly think it’s going to produce flowers/fruits next season. Upon close inspection from last weekend, I saw so many fruits spurs were already…

[rossn]

@Richard - why did you edit my post’s title to add ‘in CO 5b’? This question doesn’t have anything to do with zones or location?

[rossn]

Thank you. Those are some nice references, though my question isn’t about ‘regular pruning’, but hyper-fast growth and how to manage it. I would be inclined to say my trees are probably putting on an inch per day right now.

[krismoriah]

@rossn

hyper-fast growth and how to manage it. I would be inclined to say my trees are probably putting on an inch per day right now.

Experts here will help…

However everyone on Social Media wants ‘Fast Growing Trees’

My take is that your trees are thriving… and to me that would be something to be happy about.

Alot of us are currently in drought and hoping our things even survive right now.

[rossn]

Thanks… and I agree I usually want them to grow faster, too! However, I think the structure is being destroyed and that may mean bad things in situations like snow storms or full fruit loads. My understanding is that fast growth usually = weak, and slow growth = strong.

[krismoriah]

I learn lately by the ELI5 method…which is becoming more popular in modern lack of books and reading and the overwhelming variety of answers you will get when asking questions on social media.

This ELI5 can be understood by anyone…and should give you an idea of how to go forward… at least it helped me.

How to Prune Young Fruit Trees

[rossn]

Thanks for sharing the video… I had not heard of that method before, but nice to learn about.

Part of the issue with pruning back the fast growth in this case is that doing so will it will harden the limb and due to the lanky growth, it’s hard to position the limb where it should be long term. These are the types of challenges beyond typical pruning that I’m encountering with the fast growth.