Pruning Fruit Trees in Winter | Ways To Maximise Your Harvest

Do you have a budding new fruit tree in your backyard? Pruning is one of the main ways to care for your fruit tree and encourage it to produce better fruit as it matures. Pruning in winter is also ideal because fruit trees are relatively dormant, and a good ‘haircut’ will prepare them for the warmer months. Here is our guide to pruning fruit trees in winter.

Is pruning fruit trees essential?

Yes, pruning is important for maintaining a tree’s health, and it has a wide range of benefits, including the ability to:

• Produce quality fruit.
• Produce bigger fruit.
• Maintain the size of the tree.
• Maintain the tree’s shape.
• Prohibit low growth quality.
• Prevent unproductive wood and damaged scaffold limbs.

These benefits will continue to benefit the tree for years as it grows. Most fruit trees should be pruned tactfully early on in the tree’s life. Allowing competing branches to grow forces the tree to stretch its energy rather than focusing it on the main branches. It will encourage new growth, and direct the tree’s efforts on a smaller number of branches with high-quality fruit.

Pruning keeps the tree under control so that fruit can be easily reached. It also removes any excessively damaged branches that may be preventing sunlight from reaching the tree. This can result in the tree not receiving the essential nutrients it needs to produce fruit.

Is there a right time for pruning a fruit tree?

Pruning your fruit tree is a skill because the ‘when’ is just as important as the ‘how’. To encourage fruit production, you need to prune in the correct season and in the right places. There are three main types of pruning over a tree’s lifespan.

• Framework. This happens at the beginning of a fruit tree’s life (in the first two to three years) and helps create a manageable shape. It is also known as formative pruning.
• Maintenance. As the tree matures, it’s essential to maintain its shape and prevent overgrowth. The aim is to maintain the desired size and shape while encouraging new growth. This is also known as detail pruning.
• Restorative. If a tree has become overgrown or neglected, it’s time for a prune. By re-shaping and removing unnecessary growth, it can be restored to its former glory.

Why prune trees in winter?

The best time to prune fruit trees when they are young is in late winter or early spring, just before fruiting begins. Winter pruning helps to prepare the tree for the following year, resulting in stronger growth. It also trains the tree to grow into a particular shape. Pruning at these times of the year prevents the tree from being damaged by cold, frost, or sunburn.

When should I prune deciduous and evergreen fruit trees?

Deciduous fruit trees change with the seasons — their leaves change colour and then fall. Examples of deciduous fruit trees include apple, plum, peach, pear, cherry, nectarine, and apricot trees (stone fruit). Pruning stone fruit trees in winter and other types of deciduous trees will encourage strong growth in the harvest season and allow the tree to recover from its pruning wounds in warmer weather. This will set up the tree to produce lots of fruit. You can also lightly trim in autumn as it begins to lose its leaves.

Evergreen trees keep their leaves year-round. Examples of evergreen trees include passionfruit vines, blueberry bushes, and citrus trees like orange, lemon and lime trees. The best time to prune a lemon tree and other evergreen fruit trees is in late winter, as it will encourage more fruit growth. You can also trim lightly throughout the year to keep the desired shape, especially when training new trees. Once they are established, fruit tree pruning is required less frequently.

Fruit tree pruning tools

Fruit tree pruning comes down to a few key aspects — pruning the right amount, pruning during the right time of year, and using the right tools. A quality set of fruit tree pruning tools should last you a lifetime, so it’s worth spending the money on quality equipment. Here are some tools to consider:

• Secateurs. If you buy quality secateurs, they will stay sharp for longer, require minimal care, and some parts can even be replaced (rather than buying a new set). Some brands have a few models that suit small hands, large hands, and even left and right hands. A leather holster to house your secateurs is also worth considering as it will protect them and minimise the risk of getting a hole in your back pocket! Secateurs can cut through smaller sticks up to a finger thickness.
• Large loppers. These are great for cutting through thicker branches. Their longer reach also means you can tackle harder-to-get-to branches. Again, some brands also sell replacement parts. A large lopper’s cutting capacity depends on the model and the density of the timber you’re cutting through. Dead timber is generally harder to cut through compared to young green wood. Larger models can usually cut through branches up to 70mm thick, but a standard looper is best kept to branches of 40 to 50mm thick.
• Hand saw and pruning saw. A hand saw is ideal for cutting through limbs larger than 50mm, and pruning saws can be operated with one hand, so great if you’re up a ladder! If you have a lot of pruning, consider buying a chainsaw to cut down (literally) on the work.
• Ladder. You’ll need a ladder if you want to prune larger trees. However, it must be in good working condition, set up in a stable location, and ideally held by someone else.
• Telescopic pruners. These are a great alternative to ladders but are generally only suitable for pruning smaller, finger-sized branches. You can add a pruning saw to some telescopic pruners to expand their cutting capabilities.
• Chainsaw or reciprocating saw. A chainsaw is an excellent option for cutting through large branches. However, a reciprocating saw can be more beneficial. It isn’t as noisy, is safer to handle, has a thin blade to get into tight spaces, and the blades don’t need sharpening as often as a chainsaw chain. There are also specific pruning blades available for reciprocating saws.
• Spreader bars. These are a handy way to manoeuvre branches into a shape suited to fruit production. They can push branch angles out to a more productive angle.
• Sharpener. You must have sharp cutting tools. This will ensure your pruning cuts are cleaner and require less effort than a dull blade. There are many sharpening options available.
• Sterilising spray bottle. This is safer and more convenient than dipping your tools into a glass jar. Sterilising your tools prevents cross-contamination, and a basic mixture contains 70 per cent water and 30 per cent methylated spirits.

How to prune fruit trees

• Step 1: Clean up the three D’s. If you see dead, damaged or diseased wood, cut it out first. They can be a hazard during extreme weather and a negative for your tree, stunting growth and encouraging disease.
• Step 2: Trim out sprouts and suckers. The next step is to trim away unnecessary growth like suckers and water sprouts. Water sprouts are vertical growths caused by damage or stress, for example, from soil compaction, disease, drought or severe weather. Growing from dormant, buried buds in the bark, they appear on the trunk and branches of a tree and will sap a tree’s energy, ruin its shape, and allow disease and pathogens that may weaken an otherwise strong structure. Suckers look similar, but they grow around the base of a tree from the root system, stealing nutrients and ruining the aesthetics of a tree. They can also deplete a tree’s energy.
• Step 3: Cut back and thin out. This is the central part of pruning. First, thin out the branches of your tree to allow more air and light into the canopy. This will help your tree produce more delicious fruit. Next, cut back any wayward branches running downwards, sideways, or crowding over each other.
• Step 4: Step back and take a look at your tree. If branches are spreading out from the middle of the tree and spaced out evenly, you’re done. However, if you can still see branches competing or crossing over, check if any are growing next to each other or from the same spot at different points on the tree. Regardless, keep the healthiest branch with the best angle from the tree (they should sit at around a two o’clock or ten o’clock position). Remove the weaker competing branch.
• Step 5: Finish the thinning process by giving all branches around 15 to 30 cm of air space. Smaller branches can be left closer together.
• Step 6: Topping. Topping is pruning the top of the tree to make it easier to harvest from, is controversial. It can lead to an unbalanced root-to-crown ratio, disturbing the tree’s ability to photosynthesise and produce energy. A tree may also be shocked by topping and grow erratically, which can lead to death. It is best only to do this when necessary (for example, to help a tree recover from storm damage) and if you are confident the tree can recover.
• Step 7: Skirting. This is the process of cutting back branches that are hanging low to the ground. Well-developed trees should be skirted to about 75 cm above ground level, leaving enough room for the branches to droop a little when bearing fruit without dragging on the ground.
• Step 8: Heading back. This is the process of shortening a new shoot or branch to encourage growth and is performed on the tree’s outer edges. Heading back keeps a tree looking neat and helps branches grow strong and solid. For best results, cut back approx. 20-30 percent of last year’s growth, which could be anywhere between 5 cm and 1.5m depending on the type of tree and its maturity.

Fruit tree pruning structures

There are three basic pruning shapes for fruit trees. They vary depending on the fruit tree you are growing, but it’s also about personal preference.

Natural

Some fruit trees require minimal pruning and can get a little wild, but these are a lot more forgiving if you miss a prune now and then. Examples include lemon, mandarin, orange, fig and lime trees.

Open centre

The open centre structure system looks like a vase, keeping the centre of the tree as clear as possible. A young fruit tree is pruned at its main trunk, and those surrounding trees are maintained. This gives it more open space around the central part of the tree. Examples include apricot, nectarine, peach, plum and olive trees.

Central leader

This requires a central framework where the most growth is at the trunk of the tree, growing upwards in a balanced fashion. Make sure the branches have lots of space so they have enough room to expand as they age. Examples include apple, cherry, mango, mulberry, avocado and pear trees.

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References

• Allgreen Nursery & Garden (2023) ‘When to prune fruit trees in Melbourne’, AllGreen Nursery & Garden article, accessed 22 July 2024
• Rhys McKay and Livia Gamble (2024) ‘The common citrus pruning mistake people make’, Better Homes and Gardens article, accessed 22 July 2024
• Leaf, Root & Fruit Gardening Services (2022) ‘Guide to Pruning Fruit Trees’, Leaf, Root & Fruit Gardening Services article, accessed 22 July 2024
• Perth Gardening Experts (2024) ‘Pruning Fruit Trees | A Step-by-Step Guide’ Perth Gardening Experts article, accessed 22 July 2024