Nora, you need to know that planting a seed from a Fuji apple will not produce a Fuji apple tree :-) You will just get a seedling no-name apple that may or may not bear fruit that has any resemblance to a Fuji. And it could take as long as 7-8 years for a seedling grown tree to produce fruit. Pruning should begin at an early age and be maintained biennially if not annually so as to avoid taking too much off at any one time and encouraging the tree to grow in the form that is most conducive to fruit production and harvesting. There are various methods and lots of online articles that illustrate how and when. And I would heartily disagree that finding someone who knows about fruit tree pruning at a nursery is unlikely!! We teach fruit tree pruning classes at my nursery and a fruit tree specialty nursery is even more likely to have knowledgeable staff on hand. But perhaps the caliber of nursery staffing is superior in my neck of the woods than that of the original responder :-))

Animalfarms: It may be helpful if you could describe the dead branches in a little more detail. If the problem begins with leaves at the ends of small branches blackening and drooping over, then working its way down the branch, it is possible that you have a bacterial disease called fireblight. See if you can find an illustration of apple fireblight on the net by using those keywords, and compare it with what you have seen on your trees. Fireblight would be a long shot on such young trees, but by no means impossible. Whatever it is, you should prune out dead or dying branches as soon as they are identified. Good control of fireblight can be obtained by early sprays with streptomycin or agrimycin, but pruning is the first line of defense once the disease is established. Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Well, much to my surprise, some of the grafts that I put on last year grew fruit spurs, and flowered this spring. Some others grew longer, with no spurs. Maybe those were what the buds were intended for all along, and they just now came out. Anyways, a few flowers on last year's grafts is interesting. This year's grafts have started to really take off. I think I did a much better job of it this year than last. I have a few more scions on the way, so I hope to get those on this weekend, and harvest a few apples in a few years. This winter, I'll try to bring this tree back down to size. BTW - it must've overproduced year before last, then been stunted last year. This year, it is totally covered in flowers. If those turn to apples, I'll have to do a lot of thinning. Fun stuff - thanks for the help everyone.

you could try the click method on the side shoots. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLZ6uw2iHvE