Prune my tree: seeking advice

[markalbob]

This is a Boskoop, on b119. It sort of has a lower set of limbs that are about waist height or a little lower, the upper fork is about six possibly 6 1/2 feet up

My goal is to have a tree that I don’t need a ladder for, or that I use a ladder, very minimally for to deal with things like water sprouts. That said, I have another apple tree that is starting to fork about 12 inches off the ground, and that is already becoming a pain to mow around. I want both to ultimately be multi-graft trees w several apple varieties.

For this tree, as i see it i have several options:

1. I could keep both forks and have a tree with “2 crowns”

2. I could lop at the lower crown and start from there, quite low

3. I could use the top crown and prune out the lower crown for more space underneath, and focus on training the top into a more weeping form

4 (maybe): I also included a picture of a small offshoot branch, coming out almost horizontally… There are a lot of those, but I believe if I were to graft onto that that this is a weak branch angle and would be likely break, to correct?

Thoughts on the best road forward?

[markalbob]

Like i said, hoping for minimal ladder, plus i just always loved the look of old orchard trees weeping, but if there is a compelling reason to favor just ipright i am open to hearing that as well

[DennisD]

Hi Mark,
The older orchards favored high growing trees without much thought about the labor required to care forderten and gather the fruit from ladders. To me as a home grower I favor a spreading crown at about 5-6’ above ground so I can walk around underneath to prune, spray, and gather fruit all within my reach without the need to stand on a ladder or stool!
So it it were my tree I would look off all those side shoots below 4.5’ high and tie down those upper forks to train them in a more horizontal growing manner. It’s too early to tip prune them, let them grow more lateral shoots that you can also train to fill in a 360 space.
Here is a pic of my 25 year old Cortland that produces about 2 bushels annually all within easy reach! As I grow older I so appreciate not needing a ladder!
Dennis
Kent Wa