Farmer, I'll offer a few general comments with regard to the peach. Most people don't prune their peach trees at all, or wait too long and then want to correct. After this it can be pretty tough sometimes, though not always impossible, to bring it back to the shape or size desired. Perhaps an analogy would be building a house. If the foundation received little attention, it's difficult to rectify a problem, if the rest of the house is already on top. The good news is your tree is still small enough you can train it any way you like. If it were my tree, I'd select three scaffolds, going in different directions and cut everything else off. Ideal scaffolds point more horizontal than vertical, are spaced uniformly around the trunk, and are separated by about 4" vertically on the trunk. This is going to get a bit complicated, but I'll try to give you some specific advice about your peach tree. It's hard to tell from pictures, but on your peach tree it looks like you could select the big scaffold lowest down (pointing towards the right) for your first scaffold. Take a tree saw and cut the scaffold from the underside about 1/2" away from the collar. Cut about 60% through the branch with your tree saw (again from the underside). Move up the branch and inch and repeat (cut 60% through the branch from the underside). Move up the branch another inch and do it again for a third time. Now that branch will easily bend down. Bend it down about 30 degrees from horizontal and tie it there with some string (make sure you tie a large loop, not a tight loop, around the branch so you don't girdle it). Don't pull so hard you break the branch off. Tie the string to something which will hold the branch at that angle. I strong piece of wire pushed in the ground makes a nice anchor, or a large rock, or a jug of water, anything. The branch cuts you made with the tree saw will heal over and the branch will be set more horizontal. Because of the cuts, the branch will grow a little slower, which is a good thing in this case because it's currently too dominant. Next there is a thin low branch pointing toward the left. Leave it. It should make a nice scaffold the way it's going. It is a bit too close to your first scaffold on the trunk, but these things happen. Lastly, go up the tree a little more and pick a scaffold pointing away from the camera. I can't tell where on the trunk that occurs, but I do see some shoots pointing that way. You'll need to tie one of those shoots down. They look small enough you won't have to use the tree saw. Again tie it down about 30 degrees from horizontal. Cut everything else off. As your peach tree grows, keep pruning the strong vigorous vertical (upright) growth and leave the more horizontal growth. As you get more growth on the three scaffolds you selected, don't be afraid to keep tying things down if you want. You can always prune upright growth off, but you can tie it down too, if you are short of more horizontal growth. Either way, just don't allow that strong vigorous upward growth. It isn't the most fruitful wood, and it gets your tree too tall. Lastly, it would be a good idea to put about a 4' ring of mulch around that tree. Young peach trees don't compete well with grass.

It appears evident that you have experience in using chainsaws and if you have an older orchard as I do a chainsaw is an absolute necessity, even if you can afford hydraulic powered pruners. I sometimes prune from a tractor fender or ladder but admit that you should keep you feet on the ground. Use your larger saws for larger branches but I prefer the Stihl 019T for reachable branch pruning. It has a narrow chain and can be held by top or side. Mine is 10 years old and so you may find comperable newer models. For taller branches and topping Stihl has a really nice extending pole pruner to reach up to 18 feet. It may be tiring to use it so my suggestion is to rent one for a weekend to see if you want to spend the money on one. For the amount of pruning I do I can't imagine having a sizable orchard without one. The bigger mistake is to not prune enough. A chainsaw can allow you to make more accurate cuts that will heal over better. And while you are cutting you have a tool for sawing removed branches into firewood to the extent possible. Just remember that you are working with a dangerous powertool and use care.

It's very important to regularly prune every fruit tree. Pruning stimulates new growth and keeps the size of the tree managable. Apples blossom on 2-3 year old wood, so make sure you don't prune those off. Here's what I would do: this winter: 1. Heavily prune the branches in the center of the tree. This promotes good health by increasing air circulation. 2. Heavily prune the vertical leaders. You want to keep the plant at a managable size with a sturdy stature. Also, not many apples come from those vertical branches. If the apples do flowers from the tops of those branches, pick them off. The branches are going to bend and look sad if you leave too many apples on those ones. 3. Let the tree grow strong scaffolding branches. Prune any horizontal leaders that grow too far away from the tree to a reasonable distance (4-5 buds away from the branch's armpit) just above the bud at a 45-degree angle cut downwards. 4. Prune off crossing branches, inward horizontal branches, or any branches growing in the direction you wouldn't want them to grow in at their armpit. Be sure to make a very clean, angled cut, to prevent infection Onwards: 1. Do a little Touchup pruning here and there. Keep the size in check. 2. Add a golden delicious apple tree to your arsenal. They are the best pollinators for other apple trees. 3. Because Apples are Self-Sterile (They need another variety to pollinate with in order to produce fruit), Whacking the branches won't help. The bees will do the job for you. Just to be safe, rub a clean paintbrush on the flowers of the different trees to spread the pollen. Hope you get apples Soon!

Hi guys for few years ago I have planted a hybrid apple tree and a I believe Italian plum tree in my backyard. We got hard clay but both trees survived. The plum tree never had fruit yet, the apple tree has different type of apples on each branch but one branch is really growing to the side and had the heaviest amount of apples. I'm showing on the picture the small crack on that branch, also the tree almost tilts to that side. I'm worried to start just cutting away not to lose that specific variety of apple. So I'd like to get some guidance of how to prune both of these trees. Providing pictures I don't know anything at all about trees and gardening but i did pruned it a bit before when I got it. Last picture is the plum tree. The first picture shows that one branch with green apples to the side that is bit cracked. Thank you Daniel (I cant take few more photos from now so no leafs possibly better to see the same branches to guide me where to cut)