Bare branches make winter the easiest time to see a fruit tree’s structure — and dormancy means the tree can take a meaningful cut without stress. For apples and pears, this is the season that decides next autumn’s harvest.
Goals of a dormant-season prune
- Light and air to the center. Fruit ripens where the sun reaches.
- A strong, open framework of well-spaced scaffold branches.
- Removal of the “three D’s”: dead, diseased, and damaged wood.
What to cut
Start with anything crossing, rubbing, or growing straight up (water sprouts). Then thin crowded areas so a bird could, as the old saying goes, fly through the tree. Avoid removing more than about a quarter of the canopy in a single winter — over-pruning triggers a flush of unproductive growth.
What to leave
Stone fruit is different. Cherries, plums, and apricots are best pruned in summer, not winter, to avoid silver leaf and bacterial canker. If you’re unsure which camp your tree is in, that’s exactly the kind of thing worth a quick ask before you cut.
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