Content
- When is the best time for the fruit tree cut?
- winter pruning
- summer pruning
- The right time for the summer cut
- The best cutting times for different types of fruit
- Tips
Fruit trees can be cut in winter and summer
When is the best time for the fruit tree cut?
The fruit tree cut is an art in which many rules must be observed. This not only affects the way of cutting, but also the moment of time.
winter pruning
In general, fruit trees should be pruned as far as possible in the time without vegetation, because at this time cuts are better healing - and also the performer can better recognize due to the lack of foliage, where exactly the scissors should be. This can reduce the likelihood of cutting errors. However, fruit trees react very differently to a cut - core and berry fruit tolerate a pruning in winter much better than stone fruit, which is why the latter is better cropped in the summer, possibly after harvesting.
summer pruning
In a summer cut you remove young shoots that you would cut away anyway in the winter. An early pruning improves the exposure of the fruit tree crown and also ensures that the tree has more free energy for the development of flower buds. In addition, high-growth fruit trees, which include, for example, sweet cherries, can limit their growth by a summer cut. Thus, the summer cut has a positive influence on the fertility of the tree.
The right time for the summer cut
However, the right time is important here as well: A too early summering of summer shoots, for example, causes a renewed expulsion of the uppermost bud, whereby the growth in length is already somewhat limited. Nevertheless, such a shoot can not mature in time for the winter and therefore would have to be cut back again. Furthermore, the period in which leaf and wood buds can be transformed into flower buds by selective pruning is very limited. The following table provides an overview of the possible cutting times.
The best cutting times for different types of fruit
Depending on the season at which a pruning is carried out, this has an influence on the vigor of the fruit tree concerned.Fruit trees cut in summer are generally limited in their growth, while that of winter-cut species is fueled. In this way the growth of the shoot can be regulated.
Tips
Unlike many other deciduous trees, fruit trees need an upbringing and then a maintenance cut during the first few years. This promotes the formation of fruit wood and keeps the crown light.