Best time to prune trees in spring (when is the best season to prune trees)

Theoretically, fruit trees can be pruned every day of the year, 365 days a year, and the trees can be manually pruned in every season of the year.

However, most of us plant fruit trees for economic benefits, not for fun, and we would not prune the trees after having nothing to do after a meal.

When is the best time to prune branches in spring?

The purpose of most people's pruning is to promote high and stable yields of fruit trees . The purpose of pruning fruit trees at different times is different. We divide it into dormant pruning and growing pruning.

The growing season is from the beginning of budding in early spring to the end of fruit picking in autumn, when the temperature drops to the minimum temperature required for budding. Pruning of fruit trees mainly includes spring pruning and summer pruning, and sometimes autumn pruning .

Spring pruning is mainly carried out from early spring bud break to before flowering. Pruning includes controlling the amount of flowering, thinning flowers and fruits, and removing excess and useless buds and spring shoots .

If spring pruning is not done or is not done well, then the workload of summer pruning will be the greatest, and it is usually carried out from May to July.

The main tasks of summer pruning are: first, to remove disorderly branches and improve light; second, to control fruit set and load appropriately; third, to bag the fruit to ensure high-quality fruit set; and fourth, to adjust the branch state and further clarify the role of the backbone branches.

Can I prune fruit trees in autumn?

As we said earlier, pruning is done for a purpose. In autumn, most fruits have been picked, so pruning is generally not done. If there are branches that you don't like, you'd better be patient and wait until winter comes to pick them up.

There is more rain in autumn, and pruning can easily cause wound infection. Of course, there are exceptions, that is, when picking fruits, it is also possible to prune the fruiting mother branches.

How to prune trees in winter

In winter, deciduous fruit trees are dormant, and evergreen fruit trees are relatively dormant. The photosynthetic products accumulated during the growth period have been transported and stored in the tree body.

The main purpose of winter pruning is to shape young trees and adjust branches and buds of mature trees .

①Young trees

The pruning of young trees includes cultivating the extension heads of the main branches, straightening out the subordinate relationships of various branches, using various methods such as supporting, pulling, and hanging, etc. Fixing the growth angle and posture of the main branches, and dealing with irregular branches.

②Mature fruit trees

For mature fruit-bearing trees, the main content of pruning is to further straighten out the subordinate relationship of the main branches and clarify the status and function of the main branches.

The overgrown branches, crossed branches, diseased and insect-infested branches, and competing branches that affect the function of the main branches should be thinned out or cut back.

Evaluate the performance of auxiliary branches (non-main branches) and retain them as long as they do not affect the growth of main branches; otherwise, thin them out or cut them back.