Gardening entails daily engagements and it involves important tasks that are needed to be carried out from time to time and ensuring that you know when to carry out each operation will help you a long way in achieving all your desired aims and objectives in relation to each fruit tree in your garden.
Fruit trees are very beautiful plants to have in your garden and knowing when it is necessary to bring them back to shape and size (pruning) is of great importance and this activity requires the utmost understanding of the type of plant that you have in your garden.
There are so many kinds of fruit trees that you can grow and each of them has specific requirements when it comes to pruning and we are going to make you know or learn more about the perfect times to carry out the pruning operations.
Before engaging in pruning, you must know what you want to achieve with the pruning activity and the time you carry the operation out will definitely have a really big effect on what you tend to achieve from this activity so you must ensure that you carry out pruning out in accordance to what you desire.
Pruning is an activity that involves the removal of a dead plant part, overgrown structures, damaged structures, etc. and it ensures that the plant takes up the desired shape from time to time.
With this operation, you can determine the overall shape of your plant throughout the season and this can also help you determine how well and can also have a big effect on its healthiness.
In this article, we will take you through some of the things which you tend to achieve when pruning is carried out at a particular time of the year as well as the best time to prune fruit trees.
Possible pruning times and what you tend to achieve at each time
Pruning can be carried out during different periods of the year all depending on what you desire for your tree plant.
Fruit trees can be pruned during winter, spring, or summer all depending on your end goal so you should read further to know more. Below are the time for possible pruning activities and what you stand to get from it:
Winter:
This is mostly the most recommended season (November through March) of the year to prune fruit trees as they mostly shed their leaves and go dormant throughout the season.
This is the most convenient time to prune trees as you will be able to see the whole plant and can see the shape of the plant after the operation has been carefully carried out.
However, if you want your plant to grow new shoots, flowers, and fruits, pruning during this period is your best shot as they will have a lot of time to grow very well before the plant reaches its fruiting stage.
The best fruit trees to prune during this period include apple, pears, and quince. You will be happy with the overall turnout of the plants after the operation has been successfully carried out.
Spring and summer:
These periods of the year are the productive period of the year and pruning carried out during this period does not encourage vigorous growth.
It helps the plant to grow fewer branches and keep the plant in shape. Pruning during this period will ensure that the plant is well structured and kept as low as possible and that they do not grow more than the required level.
Since pruning is done during the period that the plant is fruiting, you should be careful not to prune more than the place where the fruit can be noticed.
This pruning is best carried out for stone fruits and this will ensure that the fruits grown do not become too big.
The pruning carried out during these periods will also aim at ensuring that the plants are healthy and this involves the removal of diseased and damaged plant parts.
NB: these are the periods of the year when pruning should be carried out as pruning in autumn/fall can cause the plant to develop new growing parts when the plant is at its peak of going into dormancy.
Make sure that you have a cogent aim and know the right time to prune.
When is the best time to prune a fruit tree?
The best time to prune a fruit tree is during the winter season, however, you can as well carry out pruning during early spring when before the plant’s bud break and the plant is still very much dormant.
And if you want to prune plants during the winter season, you must put into consideration the age of the fruit plant that you are dealing with.
If you are pruning a young plant, you might want to reduce it to about 24 to 30 inches above the ground so as to ensure a vigorous growth of the whole plant parts throughout the growing season and such plants must be left for 3 years without pruning.
A matured plant, however, must be trimmed well and all diseases, damaged, overgrown plant parts must be removed during the winter period.
This will ensure that the plant will be able to grow more productive shoots and they will, therefore, produce more fruits.
Pruning during this season will definitely ensure that the plant makes itself more productive and you will have total control over its growth and productiveness.
What are the benefits of Pruning during the winter season?
There are a number of benefits that the plants tend to get when you prune your fruit plants during the best time of the year.
We are going to discuss more about the benefits in the subsequent paragraphs so you should read further to learn more. Below are the benefits of pruning at the appropriate time:
It helps in energy management:
Pruning during the winter season will ensure that energy stored over the seasons is well used by the remaining healthy plant part during the growing season which will ensure more productivity. The energy present will be well utilized by the plant.
It spurs growth:
Energy in the plant leaves are directed towards the root system when it is about time to reach winter thereby causing the death of the leaves.
This will ensure that the plant can grow its root conveniently without any worry and it will be later channeled to the plant’s growth.
It encourages more fruit production:
The pruning of the plant’s part will ensure that the fruits are well produced and more of them will sprout come the next growing season.
Conclusion
Pruning is very important when it comes to gardening and this enhances the plant growth throughout the period. Grow better plants and make the best out of everything.
On behalf of the author, thank you so much for taking the time to read this article !
