Pruning fruit trees in autumn

Pruning fruit trees in the fall has many functions. It contributes to the normal wintering of plants, the rapid growth and development of the plant in the next year, and also lays the foundations for the future harvest. Pruning in the fall is an important part of caring for garden plantings, and the health and condition of the garden for the next year largely depends on its correct implementation.

Is it possible to prune fruit trees in the fall

Pruning hearth trees in the fall is widely practiced in regions with mild winters. In more northern regions, it is likely that the plant will not have time to heal its wounds before the onset of severe cold weather. Open sections will freeze, and this can lead to the death of individual skeletal branches, and in some cases the entire tree.

However, even in cold climates, pruning of fruit trees in the fall is recommended for sanitary purposes, removing dry, broken, fungus-affected branches. More serious pruning, affecting skeletal branches or boles, in such regions, it is better to postpone until the spring.

The importance of pruning fruit trees in the fall

Pruning your garden in the fall is very important. Thanks to her, trees spend much less strength and energy to maintain life. If you remove unnecessary shoots in the fall, the plant will more easily endure wintering, and in the spring it will start growing faster. In addition, the likelihood of branches breaking off under the weight of sticking snow is reduced.

Types of pruning

In the fall, you can perform the following types of trimming:

1. Sanitary. Broken and dry branches are cut out, and branches affected by fungus, with traces of rot or other diseases, are also removed.
2. Formative. Allows you to shape the crown in a certain way for ease of maintenance and good fruiting.
3. Anti-aging. It is carried out with the aim of replacing old skeletal branches with young ones, which significantly increases the life of the tree and its yield.
4. Regulatory. Top shoots are removed that grow at an acute angle to the trunk, crisscrossing and directed deep into the crown to prevent thickening. The growth that goes beyond the dimensions of the tree is also trimmed.

Slicing types

In order to correctly prune fruit trees in the fall, you need to have certain skills and know how to remove one or another shoot. Incorrect or inaccurate removal is more likely to harm than benefit.

When pruning, the following methods are used:

1. Ring cut... This implies the complete removal of the shoot in the place of the annular influx from which it grows. You cannot leave a stump in the place of the cut, since a top shoot will grow from it. And also you cannot make a long deep cut, which will take a very long time.
   
2. Kidney cut... In this way, as a rule, one-year growth is shortened. The cut should start at the base of the bud and end at the top of the bud.If the cut is made longer, the shoot will grow weak or die.
   
   Important! Above the kidney, a small spike with a length of 1.5-2 cm can be left to prevent deep death, which will also affect the kidney. After a full-fledged shoot grows out of the bud, the thorn can be removed.
3. Side branch cut... It is used to change the direction of growth of a branch, transferring its growth from the main to the side. It is used to restrict growth, crown formation.
   

In this case, the cut is performed parallel to the direction of growth of the shoot, to which the main one is transferred.

Places of cuts are cleaned with a garden knife and processed with garden varnish. This will prevent pathogens or fungal spores from entering open wounds.

How to shape the crown of fruit trees

There are quite a few ways to form the crown of fruit trees. These include the following:

• sparse tiered;
• bowl-shaped;
• fusiform;
• fan;
• bush;
• tierless.

The sparse-tiered crown is formed from the moment the seedling is planted and lasts for several years. With the help of pruning, a higher fruit layer is laid each subsequent year. The formation of the crown is usually completed in the 4th year, after the laying of the 3rd tier. In the future, only supporting, regulating and sanitary pruning is carried out.

The bowl-shaped crown allows you to lighten and saturate the center of the tree with air, which is why such pruning is used for sun-loving plants such as peach or apricot. With this method of pruning, the tree lacks a central conductor, and the skeleton in the form of a bowl forms branches extending from a short stem.

The spindle-shaped crown is formed mainly on dwarf rootstocks. In this case, an even central conductor is left, and skeletal branches are completely absent. All fruiting takes place at 2-3 year growth, which is constantly renewed.

Fan and bush forms are used on low-growing crops. In such plants, there is no central conductor; instead, several equivalent shoots are formed. The fan shape is used more for berry bushes, but the bushy shape of fruit trees is not at all uncommon.

A tierless crown is formed quite simply. For this, a central conductor (leader) is used, around which skeletal branches are laid at a certain distance (25–40 cm). After the tree reaches a certain height, the last skeletal branch is laid, to which the growth is transferred, removing the leader.

Instrument preparation

The quality of the cuts depends on the sharpness of the instrument, and this, in turn, directly affects the speed of wound healing. Therefore, it is very important that all cutting edges are well sharpened and do not leave any uneven, frayed edges.

The main tools used for pruning fruit trees in the fall are:

• secateurs;
• lopper;
• garden knife;
• hand garden saw.

Fresh cuts are an open gateway for infection and fungus. To minimize the risk of plant contamination, the entire instrument should be disinfected with 1% copper sulfate solution or any alcohol-containing liquid.

When to prune fruit trees in the fall

In order for the pruning to be painless for the fruit tree in the fall, it must be carried out within a certain time frame. They are different for each region, since they have different climatic conditions. Two conditions remain unchanged:

1. The tree must completely shed its leaves, thereby going into hibernation mode.
2. Before the onset of winter cold weather should remain at least 1-1.5 months. If by the time of frost the sections do not have time to tighten, there is a high probability of freezing, and this can lead to the death of the entire plant.

Timing of pruning fruit trees in autumn in different regions

The timing of the autumn pruning of fruit trees depends on many factors. This is the nature of the area, and climatic features, and a number of other circumstances.For most of the southern regions, the most favorable period is from mid to late October. In more northern regions, pruning fruit trees in the fall is not recommended, since the likelihood of severe frosts in November is very high. In the Urals, Siberia and even in the Moscow region, there is also the possibility of early cold weather. Therefore, in the fall in these areas, it is recommended to limit ourselves to only sanitary pruning, postponing all other work in the spring.

Autumn pruning of fruit trees depending on age

Fruit trees require different types of pruning at different ages. The only exception here is sanitary, it is carried out at any age at least twice a year, in spring and autumn. Young seedlings require formative pruning, old ones require rejuvenating pruning.

Mature fruiting trees are pruned to maintain crown size and rate fruit production.

Pruning seedlings after planting

After planting, the seedlings are cut at a certain height, which depends on the type of crown being formed. In this case, several buds remain on the trunk, from which the main skeletal branches will subsequently be formed. After pruning, seedlings are usually covered so that they can more easily endure the winter.

Pruning young fruit trees in autumn

Until the age of 3-4 years, the formation of the crown continues in accordance with the selected scheme (sparse-tiered, bowl-shaped, and others). At this time, the main skeletal branches are formed that make up the backbone of the tree. Strong branches of annual growth are shortened by half, weaker ones - by 25-30%. And also remove tops, crossing and thickening branches.

How to properly prune fruiting fruit trees in the fall

After 4 years of life, the crown, as a rule, is finally formed, so it remains only to maintain it in the required dimensions. In this case, you do not need to touch the skeletal branches. Most of the fruits ripen on horizontal branches, if they are over 60 cm long, they should be cut in half, shorter ones can be left alone in autumn. All vertical shoots (tops) must be removed, since they do not participate in fruiting.

Autumn pruning of old fruit trees

In the fall, you can prune old fruit trees for rejuvenation purposes. Such a procedure can significantly extend their life and active fruiting. Its essence consists in growing new skeletal branches to replace old ones. Since in this case the old wood is removed, it is impossible to prune it in one go, the tree will simply die. No more than 30% of skeletal branches can be removed at a time, therefore, rejuvenating pruning is performed in parts, over 3-4 years, gradually removing the old skeleton and transferring fruiting to young branches.

Massive skeletal branches are removed gradually, cutting them first to a length of 3-3.5 m. After the formation of a new skeleton, they are removed completely.

Slicing processing

Open cuts can lead to tree infection if they are exposed to pathogens or fungal spores. To prevent this from happening, after pruning, they need to be covered with garden pitch. It is often made on the basis of petroleum products, but it is preferable to use var based on natural resins, for example, fir.

How to insulate fruit trees for the winter

Most hearth trees have a certain reserve of winter hardiness and are able to withstand negative temperatures without much harm. However, each species has its own limit, and if the temperature drops below this mark, freezing occurs.

In addition to the cold itself, a serious factor is the lack of snow cover and wind. In the regions of Siberia, trees often do not freeze out in winter, but simply dry out. You can protect them from the influence of negative temperatures using insulation or shelter for the winter.

How to cover seedlings of fruit trees for the winter

Seedlings are the most vulnerable category of garden plants. They need to be covered first.For this, you can use various materials, the main thing is that they allow air to pass through. You can insulate seedlings with paper, spruce branches, cardboard, using various shelter designs. The free space is filled with hay, straw, wood shavings.

How to cover young fruit trees for the winter

Young fruit trees already have rather large dimensions, so temporary structures must be erected to shelter them. Most often, a wooden frame is hammered around the trunk and covered with thick paper. The lower part of such a shelter is covered with snow.

Agrofibre is well suited for sheltering small fruit trees for the winter. You can build a kind of bag from it by putting it on top and fixing it at the bottom. During the winter, you need to regularly check such a shelter and shake off the snow from it, otherwise it can stick, turn into an ice crust and tear the material.

Shelter of fruiting fruit trees for the winter

It is rather difficult to insulate large fruit trees for the winter. Often, gardeners in the fall cover only the trunk and lower skeletal branches, wrapping them with parchment, paper or non-woven materials. Snow serves as an additional protection: the more part of the trunk they manage to fill, the better it will survive the winter.

Conclusion

Pruning fruit trees in the fall is a great opportunity to revise your garden and prepare it for winter. This is an important stage in the life of plants of any age, since in the autumn you can carry out a fairly large number of different manipulations with the crown. And also it is the key to longevity and good fruiting of fruit trees throughout life.

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