Content
- The right winter cut at the apple tree
- Choose the right time to cut the apple tree in winter
- Beware of diseases
- In summer correct errors and omissions of winter
- Tips & Tricks
The right winter cut at the apple tree
Apple trees are among those fruit plants in the garden that need to be cut regularly for vitality and yield. If you maintain your apple tree with a careful winter cut, you can rejuvenate it and harvest more apples.
Choose the right time to cut the apple tree in winter
The winter cut should be made to the apple tree in the months of late winter between January and March. It is a mild day to select, where it is neither clearly warm, nor frosty cold. When cutting, look for the shape of a fanned treetop with a balanced ratio of height and circumference. Overall, a treetop should consist of a central drive and about three to four secondary branches. Branching off from these, the fruit-bearing branches should protrude at an angle of at least 45 degrees. If this is not the case despite cutting, they can also be bent into shape with weights or taut strings.
Beware of diseases
Although every cut of an apple tree may be necessary in principle, it also damages the bark of the tree, potentially opening the doors for various diseases. To prevent this, you can use larger interfaces with the usual means of wound care on trees. You should also make sure that when cutting vertically rising branches do not exactly horizontal interfaces. Otherwise, water would accumulate on these and, with every freezing in winter, the wound closure would permanently break up again.
In summer correct errors and omissions of winter
Basically, the winter cut is recommended for larger cutbacks and a rejuvenation of the tree, as it triggers a less severe night rubbing of the branches than, for example, a pruning in autumn. But you can also in the summer:
Tips & Tricks
A regular cut not only serves to permanently rejuvenate the apple tree, but also to stimulate the buds for the fruit set. In addition, with the care of a light tree crown diseases and fungal infection are prevented preventively.