Pruning of stone fruit in early spring - concerns about cold damage

General Fruit Growing
1

I know there are several different strategies for pruning stone fruit as far as timing, but I’ve been led to believe that in colder regions like mine (zone 5b in upstate NY), they’re more susceptible to frost/freeze damage immediately after pruning than apples/pears, and thus should be pruned later into spring closer to blooming.

We have a stretch of warmer weather coming up later this week, although we’re certainly not ‘frost-free’ here until early May, and I’d like to prune my Red Gold Nectarine (fruiting size), Santa Rosa Plum (fruiting size), and Lavina Plum (planted last spring as a large, feathered whip). They’re all definitely starting to wake from dormancy with a bit of bud swelling, but the two fruiting-size trees are certainly not about to bloom.

I’m not too worried about the Lavina, since it’s not fruiting yet, but should I be concerned that pruning the nectarine and the Santa Rosa this week will cause them to “waken” even more rapidly and possibly lead to an earlier bloom that could get nipped by a freeze over the next few weeks? Or am I overthinking it, and it’s really the temperature changes that will pull them out of dormancy and not pruning?

Thanks!

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To add on to this question, for those that like the ornamental value of the blooms, is there any downside to waiting until blossoms start to drop do do your pruning of stonefruit?

4

You are alot wetter than we are here but I almost always have tip damage and i was taught not to prune until all chance of hard frost has passed. The people who told me this lived same state but in a more temperate area than where i am at 5b instead of 5a and 5b/6a where they don’t get the harder snap frosts and i always remember much less tip death there than i get here. I see alot of people pruning earlier and wonder if i should but am hesitant to try.

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