How to Prune my Apricot Tree?

5 years ago

It’s 16 feet tall and inherited when we bought our home last year. It’s just beginning to bud, which from my Internet research means it’s time to prune!

There are a ton of little branches on the 4 main large branches. Which tiny ones to I cut and which do I leave?

Should I top it off? 16 feet is taller than we can reach with our ladder!

I’ve done some reading but still unsure how to proceed since it doesn’t seem like this Tree was well pruned before it came in to our hands! Any advice is appreciated!

Featured Answer

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

5 years ago

First, it is very difficult to tell someone how to prune fruit trees :-) This is something that is much better witnessed in person.....I find even videos are lacking in good, clear info in this regard (and many of them are just wrong and not worth the time it takes to view). And different types of fruit trees require a different approach, both in structuring the tree and to encourage fruiting.

I agree that the tree looks like it has never been pruned. And that complicates things as fruit tree pruning should start right after they are first planted and then addressed annually thereafter. Personally, I would try to locate someone in your area that is skilled in growing and caring for fruit trees and get their one-on-one advce and help.

If you really want to attempt this on your own, then read as much apricot pruning info online as you can find....and go ahead and watch the videos, understanding that if they differ in their methods significantly from published info from the extension service, tree sellers or orchardist and arborists, then it might not be info you should take literally :-)

The first thing I would do is remove the righthand branch of that front fork at the branch collar. There seems to be some additional congestion and narrow crotching to the lower far right but your photos are not clear. The intent is to form a spreading structure with main branches emerging at 10 and 2 o'clock.......yours are all pointing to noon!! And you can head back those long branches as well, cutting at an angle just above an outward facing bud. Again, the intent is to form a spreading branch canopy and pruning above an outward facing bud will encourage that sort of growth.

Don't take too much off at once. At the most, only remove a third of the branch volume (1/4 is better) in a single season. and I wouldn't remove a lot of the little lateral twigs/branches. These are what will generate the leaves, buds and fruit.

But if you can, hire a pro to do it for you while you watch and learn :-)

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Comments (9)

Kevin Reilly
5 years ago
Wow I don’t think it was ever pruned.
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the root system needs the energy from those leaves to get ready for winter. Wait until Feb- March to prune. That is plenty of time to learn more about the whys and hows. I would be looking for another variety or two to graft on for pollen. Do a few grafts to increase your odds of success. You don't have much trunk protection there. Tree is still young enough to horribly injured if you have any deer at all coming there. You need a plan for pruning. If you were to read various random posts around the web you will see the term "be brutal" but be smart instead. It may appear brutal, but that has nothing to do with the strategy. Establish what will be your scaffold branches.. these are the ones you will want to have as your permanent sructural branches. you want them low on the tree and ideally 45 degrees (between horizontal and straight up). If needed you can adjust their angle with a weight on the ground and string, in the spring. Those scaffolds should not be blocking each others sun. prune away stuff like that. Also prune away any growing straight up other then your main center, which you can cut it shorter, it will restart itself. You need to pull down the height quite a bit. Keep reading this forum. Magazines, blogs and youtube are loaded with people who don't know what they are doing, but pretending they do.
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Well, obviously that tree doesn't want to die! There's going to be a lot of lush, thick new growth that will have to be dealt with, but much of it is going to be higher than eight feet. It would be easier to keep it at 12 feet, though, and that's a manageable height. Either way it's going to take a lot of direction and correction. As for the one in the background, I think it wants about 50% of the green removed, but I may be wrong- it might be as high as 75%! But I'll let somebody who knows what they're talking about address it in more detail. It looks to me like somebody whacked it off pretty hard three years ago or so and now it's past ready to be simplified and put to use. What about that young growth in the foreground of the picture? If that's a sucker from the first tree (the one that is so severely cut back) it might well be fruiting in two or three years, and could be a well-behaved alternative to keeping the bigger tree, which is going to take a lot of work. I may be out of my depth here, and others should know to say so, but that's the way I see it for the moment. Good luck, Mark You have a lot of material to work with, so be prepared to haul off a lot of waste.
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dad had one here in MI for 20 years.... only twice did it set fruit ... the blooms are extremely touchy in terms of temps .. the slightest frost will make the flowers abort ... so that would be the simple suggestion as to why it fruited one year.. and perhaps not the next ... even in CA .... [any recollection of the citrus folks going crazy.. the year it did not set fruit????] i would suggest that a 2 year history is not enough info to jump to any conclusions ... and surely not a reason to leap to pruning to solve the problem... which it wont.. if it was a temp issue .... also.. pruning for fruit production.. usually does NOT make for a pretty tree .... if you are not the owner.. its really not your problem ... and i dont know why you would want to interject the topic into your landlord/lessee relationship .... the tree is grossly large for such a tiny space ... if you consider that the root mass could be twice as large as that above.. you wonder where it is getting water and air ... as compared to all that concrete ... at least its not a 100 tree.. that will crush the house ... killing you in your sleep ... if it fails.. it should not do that much damage .. and its not your problem anyway ... if i were the landlords ins agent.. i might not be happy about the risk ... also.. sooner or later.. there is the possibility .. that it might cause those walls to fail ... the only issue being.. in whose lifetime ... lol ... i only bother to mention all this.. because you had a thirst for knowledge.. bottom line.. i would not invest anything in this tree .. and be saving money for future removal ... as even i dont think i could get it out of there safely/easily ... i have 5 acres.. and CA lot sizes mystify me ... thats quite a front yard you have there.. lol ... but at least you have one.. compared to apartment folks.. if i had that tiny a spot.. i would have some type of potted collection of plants to play with ... rather than two 20 foot trees ... have a great day ... ken
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
5 years ago
wonder where you find an expert in fruit tree pruning .... i am sure 99% of chainsaw guys have no more clue than the rest of us ... if you have a local orchard ... you might discuss with them .. and at least see how they do their trees ... when we used to take the kids to the orchard in fall.. i was most interested in how ugly the production trees were ....

i wonder where you are .. and if you see any evidence of pits laying around ...

in my MI .... they arent worth the space they need ... between dad and i.. we have had a tree for 60 plus years ... and only one single year did it get to fruit.. and the darn squirrels stole them all green and small ...

it was not only too cold during winter.. but also.. they bloom early.. and are subject to hard frost or freeze.. while in flower.. leading to no fruit set ...

and if you are in such a local.. i recommend pruning it at ground level.. and applying a stump killer ... lol ...

in tree time .. there is no hurry.. and if you just watch it this season.. that might just be good enough.. whats your hurry????

i wish you better luck than i ever had ....

ken
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years ago
"i am sure 99% of chainsaw guys have no more clue than the rest of us "

And "chainsaw guys" are not skilled pruners!! Why would you even suggest something like that? Skilled arborists exist just about everywhere........so do experienced home orchardists. And at this time of year, many retail nurseries or garden centers offer free fruit tree pruning classes, as do Master Gardener clinics.

And there IS a proper time frame for pruning fruits trees and it is now, not later!! Since this tree has been in the ground for several years already without any pruning (which should start immediately after planting.....not years later), the OP is already working at a disadvantage.

Honestly ken, some of your comments are not the slightest bit helpful and just serve to further confuse and complicate the issue!!
jpsingleton
5 years ago
I have to agree with Ken about apricot trees in general. They are a PITA.
gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
5 years ago
Not if one lives in a climate to which they are suited :-) Not all kinds of fruit trees will grow well everywhere.
Embothrium
5 years ago
last modified: 5 years ago
It's not really feasible to keep an orchard fruit tree that is not grafted onto a fully dwarfing root-stock pruned to a height where no ladder is ever required. One where you can just walk up and hold your arm out, reach everything.

Otherwise it would be nice to see some good close shots of the sprouting parts of this one - I'm not sure it's even an apricot (Prunus armeniaca).
sautesmom Sacramento
5 years ago
First, apricot trees should NEVER be pruned when cold and damp. They are highly prone to getting canker, and open wounds are how they get infected. The best time to prune is right after harvest, such as hot and dry August. I lost many of my apricot trees this way , before I knew better. While it is true dormant season is the best time to prune apples and pears, they don't get canker like apricots do (and cherries do too, btw)
Second, I highly recommend Robert Sanford Martin's book "How to Prune Fruit Trees ". It was written years and years ago, but he is brilliant on how each type of fruit tree is at its best shape, where each type has fruit buds, etc etc. Amazon carries his book, and so do some nurseries.
Carla in Sac
sautesmom Sacramento
5 years ago
Here is an article explaining apricot diseases and pruning:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.marinij.com/2016/08/26/prune-apricot-and-cherry-trees-soon-but-hurry/amp/

How to Prune my Apricot Tree?

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)

Comments (9)

Kevin Reilly

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