Ginny: Apricots in CA are susceptible to a fairly serious disease called Eutypa dieback. It is more likely to occur in coastal climates than inland but can be serious even in the central valleys. Control includes limiting pruning to July and August inland and August only near the coast. These are good times to prune for shaping or to control vigor. My only concern is that major pruning that time of yr can leave the tree susceptible to sunburn. What I'd probably do is moderate pruning to open the center of the tree. Also shorten some branches by cutting to a less vigorous side shoot heading in the direction you desire. Do this every yr and you will have the tree under control. Don't worry about making the wrong cut. The tree will survive and grow another branch. Then you will have another chance to get it right. In most places in CA at lower elevations apricots bear nearly every yr. The rest of the country can only dream of such. So don't worry about getting the perfect shape...you will get fruit on any shape tree in the good locations. You also might paint any freshly exposed branches with white latex paint to help avoid sunburn. The Fruitnut

Ditto all the comments about pugging your fruit trees. All of mine have been topped to about 3 to 4 feet. I am growing them in an intensive planting system, which Dave Wilson promotes (no doubt to sell more trees, but it works for me, since I want small trees, small individual crops, lots of varieties). Here's a link to Dave Wilson Nursery's info about how to plant and prune fruit trees. It really works well for those of us with limited space, but would like to have maybe more than one peach, plum, nectarine or apricot tree. I have about 20 trees lining a walkway that leads down to the lower part of my yard. It's my little "Walk and Pick" orchard. All my trees will be kept at 8' and below, so I can just reach up and pick my fruit without using a ladder. And, if you look closely at your bare root fruit tree, you'll probably see it may already have been pugged or topped :-) Dave Wilson also has a great YouTube channel as well: http://www.davewilson.com/video/video_Index.html Patty S. Here is a link that might be useful: Dave Wilson Nursery: How to Plant a Fruit Tree

It is hard to kill a fig tree by pruning, or by anything else. Anecdote: An old Greek guy died in August here in Florida. He had a small black fig tree. His heir, a friend of mine, tore out the whole yard including the fig tree. It sat in the pile of waste cuttings out in the Florida sun, roots exposed, for three days. When I went by, I grabbed it and brought it home and planted it in my sandy yard. My friend scoffed, as did my wife. I never watered it a second time. But come late November, the top of that dried-up-stick of a tree put out a leaf. Today, in mid-January, it has several leaves. That tells you how hardy fig trees can be. But for you, with these ancient, wonderful trees, pruning back will indeed bring you great results. Cut away to your heart's content. Top them at will to keep the fruit down where you can reach it. You are a lucky person to take possession of this property with these trees. Please do water and fertilize these trees, and you will reap the rewards for years to come.

I don't know if it's such a good idea to tell her that her dad is "sick". That might give her the fear that anyone can get "sick" in that way, and I wouldn't want her to worry that you or others she counts on may become "sick" as well. It's kind of like explaining death in terms of sleeping... that can be scary for a child. Since it appears that you already said this to her though, you might want to have another conversation, if she asks more questions, about how "sick" maybe wasn't the best choice of words. My daughter's dad is not quite right in the head either, and I know all too well the fear you have of him doing something horrible. You have to make sure your daughter knows that because of his bad choices, she cannot see him right now, that it would not be safe. In a situation like this, sad as it may be, you cannot sheild her from some degree of pain. I'm not saying you should make him out to be a horrible person, but she's going to need some degree of the truth so that she knows not to go with him; otherwise, you'll be living in constant fear.