How and When to Prune an Apricot: A Complete Guide

Why do you prune apricots?

Apricot pruning is carried out according to a certain pattern. It is important to properly cut off the branches so as not to harm the tree. Pruning purposes:

• Rejuvenation. In spring and autumn, branches are pruned to rejuvenate the tree and form a crown.
• Receiving the harvest. By preventing the growth of the crown, they achieve faster and more massive fruiting.
• Prevention of thickening of branches. To make it easier to harvest

If you abandon a tree without pruning it, it will produce a lot of fruit at first. But after a few years, the abundance of apricot ends - the crown grows and thickens, and the internal branches quickly age, become “bald”, and the number of buds laid on them is sharply reduced.

Consequences of crown thickening:

• the fruits become small;
• quality indicators of fruits fall;
• Fruiting is periodic.

The thick, branched branches of the apricot tree are both flexible and fragile. Without pruning, they become overloaded with fruit. Under the weight of the harvest, the branches break off, which means new shoots do not grow - the yield decreases. Thanks to proper pruning, the apricot:

• bears fruit regularly;
• the fruits grow large and juicy;
• the lifespan of the tree increases.

Goals and objectives of pruning

Apricots are pruned to achieve the following goals:

1. Rejuvenate the tree. This removal allows the crown to be formed. It is held in autumn or spring.
2. Getting a rich harvest. By selective pruning, apricot fruit production can be increased on a permanent basis.
3. Prevention of crown thickening. Too thick a crown is harmful to the tree and its productivity, so it is necessary to carry out pruning in a timely manner.

If you neglect pruning, fruiting will be high for several more years. But then it will begin to gradually fall. The crown will begin to grow, and because of its density, the internal branches will receive little light, which is why they will begin to wither and die.

As a result of crown thickening, unpleasant consequences arise for the gardener:

• fruits decrease in size;
• quality indicators decrease: sugar, juice, nutrients content;
• the harvest becomes irregular with breaks of 1-3 years or more.

Even if the yield does not fall, nothing good will come of it. The branched branches are flexible and fragile, overloaded with fruits, they break under their weight. As a result, productivity decreases.

What tools are needed?

Every amateur gardener should stock up on a whole arsenal of various fruit tree care products:

• pruning shears - manual or air;
• grafting, gardening, copulating and budding knife;
• garden saw;
• triangular file;
• belt for pointing and straightening cutting tools;
• whetstone and whetstone;
• twine - it will be needed to secure the branches;
• chisel - for cleaning wounds;
• garden varnish, paint - to cover damage.

Experienced gardeners are sure that instead of garden pitch and other petroleum products, it is necessary to use materials that are harmless to wood - lanolin or beeswax.

You will also need copper sulfate. Its 1% solution is used to disinfect the instrument and treat the sections.

How to prepare the tool for use?

Before work, cutting tools are carefully sharpened:

• Chamfering. When sharpening knives - gardening, budding and copulating knives, grind the chamfer until a wedge appears, smooth, without blockages or bends, from the tip to the butt.
• Sharpen knives on a fine-grained whetstone.
• They straighten the knife using a whetstone.
  

  During sharpening, the whetstone and the whetstone are moistened with water to remove iron filings, graphite and carborundum.

• The grafting knife should be adjusted on a belt lubricated with a special paste.

The tool, ready for use, is comparable in sharpness to a sharp razor blade. It is enough to correct a slightly dull garden knife on a whetstone - right while working. Grafting knives must be adjusted additionally - on a belt.

It is important that during operation the tool does not become duller than required. After work, all used accessories are cleaned of dirt and wiped with a dry cloth. If the instrument is stored, its metal parts are lubricated.

Trimming scheme

Restorative pruning (chasing), which promotes the rejuvenation of trees and a good harvest, is carried out once every three years. Its main goal is to obtain a large number of young, healthy shoots.

It is advisable to subject dynamically growing apricots that produce a growth of at least 40 cm to it.

Restorative pruning (its scheme is unusually simple) is carried out in two stages:

1. At the first stage, the shoots of the first year of life are pruned, leaving no more than 30 cm of the original length. This manipulation allows the tree not to waste extra energy on providing nutrition to extra branches.
2. After two to three weeks, many young shoots of the second wave will appear on the tree. Having chosen the three (no more) strongest ones, cut out all the rest. It is on these branches that generative buds will form in large numbers and the fruits of the future harvest will set. From them the second tier of skeletal branches can be formed.

The consequence of such pruning will be a significant increase in yield, which will begin only in the next season and will last over the next 3-4 years. The wounds left at the site of the cuts will heal completely before the onset of autumn, and the tree will have time to properly recover and prepare for winter.

During anti-aging pruning, in addition to excess young growth, you can remove:

• woody shoots;
• part of the old branches (doing this gradually and very carefully so as not to provoke the death of the tree).

Trimming technology

Pruning work is carried out using several standard techniques. The choice of technology depends on the type of branches to be pruned and the tasks assigned to the gardener.

Cutting branches into a ring

Used if you need to remove the entire shoot without stimulating the growth of others. This technique is used for shoots damaged by disease or frost, as well as for eliminating “tops”.

To make a competent cut, it is important to position it correctly. The task is simplified on branches with a clearly defined annular influx, which is located on the border between neighboring shoots. The cut is made exactly along the upper edge of the ring.

The ring is an influx containing cells that have the ability to reproduce rapidly. It is this property that allows the wound to heal faster.

Cutting technique:

1. To reduce pain when cutting thick branches, a cut is made from below - by 1/3. You need to step back from the trunk at a distance of 10-20 cm.
2. Sawing is done from above - the branch is removed.
3. The stump must be cut along the ring.
4. To make the cut smooth, it is cleaned with a knife - for better healing.
5. The saw cut must be disinfected with a 1% solution of copper sulfate.
6. Cover the cut with garden varnish, paint, wax or lanolin - gardeners themselves decide which composition is best.

If you leave the stump or cut off the ring, the process of decay begins. Hollows may form in the wound. There is a danger of pests and infections.

If there is no ring, you can make a bevel cut. How to do it? Draw one imaginary line at the base of the branch - along the trunk. The other one - from the point of intersection of the branch with the trunk - at an angle of 90 degrees. Dividing the resulting angle in half, cut off the branch.

Pruning "to the bud"

The technique refers to formative pruning, in which the section of the branch above the bud is removed. The cut is oblique. The upper part of the cut is located half a centimeter above the bud - always on the bud side. This technique allows you to regulate the direction of shoot growth.

Pinching (pinching) shoots

A pruning technique in which the length of the shoots is reduced by 1/3 of the length. This technique allows you to accelerate the ripening of shoots and also stimulates lateral branching.

Kidney blindness

This technique prevents uncontrolled shoot regrowth. This is the least painful technique, which is used at the initial stage of shoot emergence. Having noticed an extra branch, it is pinched off.

Features of apricot pruning in different growing regions

The climatic zone of apricot cultivation plays an important role when choosing specific pruning dates. Spring pruning activities are carried out before sap flow begins:

• in the southern regions, in the Kuban, Astrakhan and Rostov regions - in early - mid-March.
• in the central regions - from the third ten days of March to mid-April.
• in the northern regions - from mid to late April.

It is recommended to carry out autumn pruning until the air temperature drops below +80C. In the south, it is recommended to carry out procedures from October 15 to November 10, in the center - in the first half of October.

Gardeners in the Urals, Siberia and other northern regions prefer not to carry out the procedure in the fall, carrying out sanitary and formative pruning in the spring. This is due to the high probability of fruit trees freezing.

The apricot pruning technique itself does not have significant regional differences. True, some experts recommend avoiding pruning branches in rings in areas with harsh winters, for example, in Siberia. In their opinion, such manipulation undermines the health of the tree, which already finds it difficult to survive in difficult Siberian conditions.

Types of pruning

In one season, apricots are subjected to five types of pruning:

• Formative. This pruning is necessary for normal branching and the formation of branches on the first tier. Allows you to design the shape of the crown and create a strong skeleton. Seedlings aged 4-5 years are exposed.
• Regulatory . Maintains crown shape. The essence of the process is thinning, adjusting and directing the shoots. Seedlings are pruned from 6-7 years old and annually - as long as the tree lives and bears fruit.
• Sanitary. It involves removing branches affected by pests and diseases. This pruning is carried out throughout the life of the plant.
• Restorative. For trees with neglected or damaged crowns. Only plants at 5-9 years of age can be corrected. After this age, you can only remove damaged branches.
• Rejuvenating. Allows you to restore fruiting in old trees. There comes a time when the growth of shoots slows down - they grow by less than 30 cm per season, and fruiting shifts to the periphery of the crown.

Without formative pruning it is impossible to form the correct branching; other options are needed to maintain the tree “in shape”. The plant should:

• well illuminated by sunlight;
• have a regular, not overgrown crown;
• give high yields.

Trees that have withstood winter frosts without consequences do not need to undergo restorative pruning.

When to prune apricot branches

Pruning peach in summer and how to do it correctly

Before pruning an apricot, you need to familiarize yourself with the rules for performing this procedure. Tree shaping can be carried out almost all year round, but the best period is considered to be from autumn to spring. In this case, it is very important to do it before the growing season begins.

Young seedlings require more careful pruning. They react sensitively to temperature fluctuations and cannot tolerate air cooling below +10 degrees. But before you prune apricots in the summer, you need to understand the available types of such seasonal formation.

For example, sanitary pruning of apricots in summer involves removing dried or infected branches. The method is quite simple - you need to leave good, healthy shoots and trim off all excess growth. These simple manipulations will allow you to get a good harvest and maintain the health of the tree for many years.

Apricot tree shaping options

Formation of different types of crown

By subjecting a young apricot to formative pruning, you can create a crown of the desired shape. The formation process, starting from the moment the tree is planted, lasts 4-5 years. Complete crown formation should be completed by the sixth year of life. Before starting to trim branches, the gardener must choose the type of crown. Let's look at the existing options.

Sparsely tiered form

This is the most common crown shape. It is often used for tall trees, since the sparsely layered form allows the growth of the plant to be inhibited. Forming technique:

1. A year after planting, the apricot has 2-3 branches left on the first tier. The distance between adjacent branches is about 20 cm - they need to be shortened by about a third. The remaining branches are cut into rings. The central conductor is trimmed so that it is 30-40 cm higher than the upper branch.
2. After a year or two, they begin to form the second tier of the skeleton. The skeletal branches already have second-level shoots at this point. They should be left no more than 2-3 on a branch, shortened by 30%.
3. After another couple of years, they begin to form the third tier. Then the central conductor is cut at the base of the upper branch.

When forming the crown, you need to adhere to the principle of subordination - the branches on the third tier are shorter than the branches on the second tier, and so on.

The specialist explains how to prune a young apricot, how to shape its crown, and why the side branches should not be higher than the central conductor:

Cupped crown

This crown shape guarantees good illumination and ventilation of the crown, and also allows it to restrain its growth. Technique for forming a cup-shaped crown:

1. The first step is pruning when planting a seedling.
2. On the trunk you need to select 3-4 buds (or branches - if it is a two-year-old seedling), between which the distance is about 20 cm. The selected buds are multi-directional. The remaining buds should be blinded.
3. It happens that after planting the crown was not formed for 3-4 years. It's not too late to fix everything. 3 powerful branches are selected, and the rest are cut into a ring. The central conductor is also cut out at the base of the upper branch.
4. In subsequent years, shoots are pruned so that they are of the same length. If some shoot begins to grow vigorously, it will become dominant and turn into a central conductor - this is not acceptable.
5. Next, they are engaged in the formation of branches of the second level - two pieces each. The interval between branches is about 50 cm.

Over time, only regulatory pruning will be needed - it will be necessary to remove shoots growing inside the crown.

Transferring a branch to a side shoot

This technique can be used for any type of crown formation. Its task is to limit the growth of certain branches in the upward direction. To do this, on a branch whose growth they want to limit, they find a bud (shoot), the growth of which goes in the required direction. At this point a cut is made. A shoot that is left to grow will take on a more horizontal position. To enhance the effect, you can bend it down and fix it for a certain time. Then the new shoot is transferred to a side branch. There are two types of translation:

1. Pruning is done to the outer bud or shoot. The technique is used if the crown is in a neglected state.
2. Pruning to an internal bud or shoot is used when the crown is in a sparse state - when it is necessary to ensure its filling.

Trimming (shortening) for translation

Fourth and subsequent years

Many varieties of apricots begin to bear fruit precisely in the 4th-5th season. Therefore, it is important that by this time the tree has clearly defined skeletal branches. At this stage of development, the vegetative growth of the plant decreases sharply. The growth of branches slows down significantly, but this does not mean that the tree no longer needs regular spring treatment. The difference is that from this moment on, the apricot pruning scheme is not much different from this procedure for other trees. Therefore, during spring treatment you should remove:

• frozen and thin shoots;
• branches growing deep into the crown;
• branches that thicken the crown.

The optimal height of an apricot is 2-2.2 m, so over time the central conductor is cut to the required level, and the growth of the tree is transferred to the side shoots. Having lost the leading shoot, the apricot “throws all its strength” into strengthening the skeletal branches, as a result of which its crown takes on the shape of a bowl. Be aware that the topmost tier of the crown should be accessible from a stepladder or low ladder.

After some time, the branches begin to lose their ability to set fruit, so every 3-4 years the tree needs rejuvenation and pruning of vertical shoots. For greater clarity, watch the video of apricot pruning:

And although apricot remains a rather exotic crop in our latitudes, it is quite possible to grow a fruit-bearing tree in the middle zone if you know the characteristics of this crop. Have you ever tried to grow apricots or other unusual crops on your plot?

Tree pruning depending on the season

A gardener is always full of work - the garden needs care in any season. Apricot pruning can be done at any time of the year. Seasonal events have distinctive features, let's look at them.

Spring

Pruning begins when March is almost over. Conditions for starting the procedure:

• comfortable ambient temperature;
• lack of active sap flow.

Correctly performed spring pruning is the key to high yields while maintaining the high taste characteristics of the fruit.

Spring activities include the following work:

• formation of the correct crown;
• planning sanitary and supportive procedures;
• removal of frozen and broken branches - so that the tree’s strength is not spent on restoring damaged shoots.

Summer

Until June 15, gardeners carry out chasing - rejuvenating pruning. From mid-May they begin to make shelling. All shoots that appeared in the new year are pinched - 20-25 cm.

Summer pruning is not carried out annually - only once every 3-4 years. The procedure sometimes has to be postponed due to insufficient moisture in the crop.

Summer pruning of apricot is carried out for the purpose of rejuvenation. All young shoots are trimmed, leaving no more than 20-30 cm in length. The shoots that appear after two weeks should be left with no more than 3-4 shoots, all others should be cut off.

Autumn

Autumn activities boil down to clearing the tree of diseased shoots. All branches are shortened by 30%, only the skeletal ones are left untouched. Pruning is best done in mid-October. In rainy weather or during frosts, events are not held. Thanks to autumn care, it is possible to maintain a balance of fruiting and non-fruiting branches.

Winter

Winter is the ideal time to prune branches and shape the crown. At this time, the plant has not yet “woke up”, which means that removing the branches will be less painful for the plant.

In winter, branches must be pruned at a temperature not lower than minus 8°C. In severe frosts, wood becomes brittle and the healing time of wounds increases.

Winter pruning tasks:

• formation of new shoots;
• maintaining the health of the culture.

Benefits of winter activities:

• there is no foliage - the condition of the crown is clearly visible;
• the plant experiences less stress;
• frozen wood is easier to saw - no marks are formed, which usually appear when working with a hacksaw or pruning shears;
• it is easier to install the ladder - there is no danger of damaging neighboring trees.

Do apricot trees need pruning and why?

To get a healthy and abundant harvest, the tree must be constantly monitored. This is why apricot pruning is done. This procedure is primarily an agrotechnical technique, thanks to which the tree not only bears fruit abundantly, but also does not get sick.

A healthy tree and a good harvest are the result of proper care

It is necessary to prune fruit trees in order to rejuvenate them and increase their life and fruiting life. If you do not carry out the annual formation of an apricot, then its fruits will become smaller every year, and a thickened crown will lead to increased humidity and lack of light.

Important! Beginner gardeners are advised to begin shaping apricots immediately after planting. A young tree is much easier to form at the initial stage, that is, in the first year of life.

Annual pruning is a mandatory agrotechnical practice

Apricot pruning instructions

To create a beautiful crown, you need to prune the tree according to a new pattern every year. Crown formation begins from the first year of planting. This is the only way to grow a strong tree that produces abundant harvests. Experienced gardeners prefer to form a sparsely tiered crown, which involves extending 5-7 main branches at a distance of 40 cm. Formation lasts from the first year until 6-7 years of age.

Seedling pruning

The formation of the crown is preceded by shortening the seedling - this operation is performed when planting the plant. The first few years, the branches grow especially actively - they need to be pruned so that the branching process begins. In apricot, the branches are not firmly attached to the central trunk, so the laying of single branches is carried out so that they extend at a large angle.

If the apricot is to grow in areas with an unfavorable climate for it, it can be grafted onto a frost-resistant rootstock to a height of up to one and a half meters. Then the seedling is cut off above the grafting point - at least 4-5 branches or buds must be left above it.

First year

In the first year of life - after planting, the seedling is shortened - the trunk is cut off at a height of 90 cm from ground level. If there are side shoots, choose two - located oppositely. The rest are cut into a ring - without stumps. Selected shoots are shortened by 50%, the main trunk is at a height of 20 cm from them.

Second year

Several more branches are allocated for the skeleton. They should be at least 35 cm from last year's shoots. The arrangement of branches on the trunk should be uniform. The branches in the lower tier are pruned, taking into account the characteristics of the variety:

• for vigorous growers – by 50%;
• in low-growing ones - by 1/3 of the length.

The second level is shortened so that the branches are 10 cm shorter than the shoots from the lower tier. The main trunk is cut at a level of 40 cm from the upper side branches.

Third year

In the third year of apricot life, the third tier of skeletal branches is laid - the principle of laying the second year is preserved. It is important to follow the principle of priority - at the bottom the branches are the strongest and longest, then 10-15 cm shorter than the previous ones. The main conductor is cut directly above the third level.

Fourth year

In the fourth year of life, fruiting begins, which means you cannot radically reduce the shoots - this may affect the fruits. Pruning in the 4th year involves cleaning the crown - removing damaged, broken and thickening branches.

After five years

The next pruning is carried out at 6-7 years of the tree’s life. Its task is to increase productivity. For this purpose, 2-3 shoots are left at the ends of all main branches. The shoots are shortened by a third. A knot is created between the shoots by cutting off a strong shoot at a distance of 10-15 cm from the base. This year they also carry out sanitary cleaning of the crown - they remove branches that thicken the crown and block the flow of light to the lower tiers.

Old apricot

Old trees need rejuvenation procedures that prolong their life and increase productivity. There are three methods of rejuvenation:

1. The branches of the second tier, grown from the skeletal ones, are cut out “into a ring.” This causes active growth of young shoots. The gardener chooses those that grow horizontally or at an angle of 45 degrees - they will bear fruit. The remaining shoots are cut out. Until the branches that were left for fruiting grow, excess growth will appear - it needs to be thinned out regularly.
2. Skeletal branches are replaced completely. Select 1-2 branches that will be replaced, shorten them by 20-30 cm from the trunk. When the buds wake up and new shoots begin to grow, the gardener chooses one - it will become a skeletal branch. All other shoots are methodically cut out. You need to leave a shoot growing from the bottom or side of the skeletal branch. If the outcome is successful, after 3 years you can replace other branches - one or two. You cannot cut out many thick branches in one year - this can lead to tree disease.
3. The last pruning method is intermediate between the first two. The skeletal branches are not only exposed, but also shortened by half. By exposing and shortening skeletal branches, gardeners rejuvenate apricots.

Why does apricot need pruning?

Fruit tree pruning is carried out for the following purposes:

1. Crown formation. The natural growth of branches forms an excessively thick “cap” on the apricot. The tree bears fruit abundantly, increasing the load on the crown, but is depleted in a short time. Many shoots reduce light and air access to the crown, which leads to a decrease in size and deterioration in the taste of the fruit.
2. Sanitary pruning. It consists of removing dry, diseased and damaged branches, in the wood of which conditions suitable for the proliferation of pests and diseases are created. The tree also expends energy on their support and restoration. This reduces the yield and quality of the fruit.
3. Rejuvenation. Over time, old branches are replaced by young shoots, which maintains the viability of the plant and preserves the yield and quality of the fruit.

Common mistakes when pruning

Novice gardeners often make mistakes that can harm the tree. Actions that lead to problems:

1. The use of a blunt instrument leads to damage to the bark and the appearance of burrs - this can cause rotting of the wood. Tools must be sharpened carefully.
2. Violation of pruning deadlines reduces the tree’s immunity. The plant takes a long time to recover.
3. Cutting skeletal branches is not “in a ring”. If the cut is located close to the main trunk, hollows may form, and then the death of the tree.
4. Ignoring the principle of priority of tiers leads to a decrease in yield.
5. Exceeding the height of the first tier will result in the fruits hanging at a distance of 2 m from the ground, which will complicate harvesting.

Key Purpose of Pruning

The crown needs to be formed already in the first year of the tree’s life. If everything is left to chance, then over time the branches will begin to break, weaken and fall under the weight of the fruit. And significantly overgrown trunks will become an obstacle to harvesting.

In the absence of proper care, fruit-bearing buds are laid in smaller quantities, and the growth of young shoots slows down. All this negatively affects the size of ripening apricots.

Important! Without treatment, abundant fruiting will destroy the tree.

Dangerous consequences of pruning

The main danger after pruning is the appearance of viral and fungal infections on fresh saw cuts. From local foci, the disease can spread to the entire tree. This will reduce the yield of the plant and then lead to death. This is why the cuts are disinfected and then covered with garden pitch or other suitable material. Dangerous apricot diseases:

• monilosis - rot of a plant during fruit formation;
• hole spotting - affects the foliage;
• verticillium - wilting of foliage and death of the plant;
• Valsa mushroom - violation of the integrity of the tree cover with subsequent rotting;
• cytosporosis - the penetration of infection into wood causes rupture of the surface of the branches.

Rapid growth of shoots is a characteristic feature of all apricot trees, leading to a decrease in their yield. Thanks to correct and timely pruning, gardeners prolong the life of the tree and increase the quantity and quality of the fruits it bears.

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Rules for caring for a tree after pruning

Pruning apricot trees is done with sharp garden tools in warm, windless weather. After work, the sections are treated with garden varnish to avoid infection of the wounds with fungal diseases. If the procedure is carried out in the spring, the trunk can additionally be whitened with lime.

After pruning, the tree needs care - see how to water it properly and what to feed it with. Proper pruning increases the lifespan of a tree and stimulates the active growth of bouquet branches and spurs, thereby making it possible to obtain excellent harvests every year.

It is very interesting to know your technique for forming the crown of an apricot depending on the region of residence. I invite you to discuss in the comments.