I have reluctantly surfaced from my January hibernation, and this is one of my first jobs for the new year, whilst these trees are dormant. Don’t be scared - the general aim is to remove older, unproductive material, in order to stimulate new growth.
Key pruning tips;
Choose a still, dry day, to help restrict any potential spread of disease (Manchester in February? Ha ha ha... why do you think I'm inside writing this today?);
Start by removing crossing / rubbing branches, and those that are dead, diseased and damaged. Don't forget that fourth 'd', which is 'damned nuisance', such as those that catch in the mower or scalp you when you're hanging out the washing;
Remove selected branches from the crown to reduce crowding, and to make sure there is plenty of space for air to circulate and light to penetrate;
Cut selected branches back to the trunk or a main junction, just beyond the branch’s ‘collar’, using a step- or under-cutting technique to prevent tearing;
Stand back frequently, to view the tree and ensure you are achieving the desired goblet-type shape, with well spaced branches;
Shorten the previous year's growth coming from each of the main branches by about a quarter, cutting to just above an outward facing bud;
Don't remove more than a fifth of the tree’s material in one season.
How to manage water shoots:
It's tempting to be enthusiastic when pruning, but in healthy trees, the removal of any more than a fifth is likely to result in the growth of vigorous but unproductive upright stems known as watershoots. These can over-crowd the canopy of the tree but can be controlled as follows:
Year One:
In the first winter after the appearance of watershoots, remove any growing from the trunk or main branches directly at their base;
Prune out half of the remaining watershoots by cutting at the base, leaving the rest evenly spaced;
Cut off the top 10cm of each remaining watershoot to encourage branching;
Year Two:
In the following winter, remove half of the watershoots retained last year, by cutting at the base;
Prune the remaining shoots down to just above an outward facing bud;
Year Three:
In the third winter, continue trimming strong shoots to outward facing buds or side-shoots;
Keep checking for and removing other watershoots from the older branches;
Once fruit buds start to appear on the two/three year old shoots, revert back to routine, regulated winter pruning techniques.
When you are manoeuvring your ladder and tools around, be careful not to knock off any of those precious flower / fruit buds. They’re going to flower in not-too-long, and it’s one of my favourite sights of spring!
