Got the tree from tractor supply, though I don’t know that matters. It’s now four years old. I have been pruning for open center for a while. Now, though, I have to make a decision. I have my side branches and the leaders, two really, go higher and higher, nothing on them, leaves and height I can never reach. Can I really cut the center of my tree out like that and it be ok? How far down, as in close to where the scaffolds, side branches are? I really don’t want to kill my tree.
Added picture. It’s those two in the middle top where it splits.
Good heavens, yes! you can cut one of those central leaders out entirely and cut the other one back as far as you can reach, or take both out completely if you want an open center. And while you’re at it you can do it to all those other wildly growing branches they won’t break when loaded with fruit. Then you can stand on the ground and thin and pick your fruit without getting on a ladder. Plus cut them back in summer as well, since your winter pruning will stimulate more growth. Take a look at the book by Ann Ralph, “Grow a Little Fruit tree”.
Yes, considering that it is a young tree and will put on still more growth. Plus imagine if those branches had a full crop of apples on them–being so long and spindly, they would be sagging and in danger of breaking.
It looks to be on vigorous roots and Fuji is a very vigorous variety. Go to guides and look up my article on pruning by numbers. Fujis get out of hand easily if oversized scaffolds are left on the tree. Pruned correctly, a 4 year old tree can be bearing big annual crops, pruned too carefully and you end up producing lots of wood.
Of course you can cut out the center of the tree aggressively- you wouldn’t kill that tree if you cut it to a stump. You want to choose 3 approximately equal diameter branches that evenly intersect the circle of light interception, like a pie cut in 3 equal pieces, or as close to equal as the tree allows. However, for Fuji, you don’t have to rush to cut all other branches off the tree, they can be used as anchors to tape uprights from you permanent scaffold to, thus creating your network of secondary branches. That process is where you will benefit from the ratio rule I explain in my article. The temporary branches should be aggressively pruned to reduce shading of your permanent scaffolds.
I’ve stopped participating much in this forum because it is frustrating to repeat advice again and again. I am constantly pruning fruit trees, the majority of it apple trees, for about 7 working months a year and have for several decades, as well as maintaining a bearing age fruit tree nursery and managing scores of orchards in my region, but I feel like a voice in the forest of barely experienced growers who all want to share their wisdom.
Forums are very egalitarian, which is both a good thing and a bad thing. Every one is an equal expert. That isn’t to say that less experienced growers don’t often have valuable observations to contribute, but there is no substitute for experience.
Knowledge hierarchies have the advantage of focusing on the most experienced and knowledgeable people so their efforts go a longer ways in influencing beginners. .
I do not think that @Alan was suggesting cutting the apple tree to the ground, just illustrating that it would likely spring back, but your point is an important one.
Having looked at the fruit trees being sold at Tractor Supply it is unlikely that there was any indication on the tag when the tree was purchased four years ago as to what the rootstock was.
While the top of the tree is out of frame I reckon that it is already over ten feet in height to the tips. I couldn’t begin to imagine what a 100+ foot tall apple tree would look like. It is a good thing that we can trim trees on a regular basis and keep their overall size managed for what we desire, instead of us being constrained to what course of growth the tree would naturally take.
I had noticed that you seem to be posting less. I had become concerned to not see your A on recent thread postings with the regularity that I used to.
There are people who speak with authority, and your voice is one whom I trust, Alan. There are others who pop up on the forum and offer advice but whose I would not follow. I feel badly for members to be taking their advice statements as though they are coming from someone with enough experience that they ought to be offering them. I recognize that people are oftentimes well-meaning, but sussing out who to listen to is crucially important to me.
I look for the pattern in what I see from members on the forum. Some people are not skilled at seeing individual points plotted and drawing inferences from them, and so they listen to the loud voice instead of to the one who speaks less but communicates volumes when they do. If we don’t have you here and contributing then it will be hard for others to find you out as a voice of great experience.
Huh? What is the stump? Did you think it is the crown below the graft union?
The actual definition seems to be what is left when you cut a tree down and everything I have ever seen that was referred to as a stump was well above the ground.
It is usually very easy to see the graft union on a young tree.
The annual growth in the photo strongly suggests the tree is on a vigorous, free-standing rootstock. M7 or M11 most likely, given how commonly they are used. 11 with a 9 interstem would serve Fuji well, I think, but it’s not often used anymore given the added labor.
Of course, if the tree was ordered bare root from a nursery that specializes in fruit trees, there is a wide range of possible rootstocks.
Beforeldie, that looks just fine. Just remember that the only bad pruning is no pruning at all and nothing will ever be perfect which is why we keep trying. Pay close attention to Alan’s advice. He’s been around about as long as I have and he knows a lot about success in this arena.
