Advice
RHS Help & Advice
Summer fruit tree pruning
Established bush trees shouldn’t require summer pruning, but formally trained trees require annual summer pruning to restrict growth and encourage fruit bud formation.
Established apple and pear cordons, dwarf pyramids, espaliers and step-overs
Time: Delay pruning until the basal third of new shoots have turned woody. This discourages frost-vulnerable secondary growth. Pears are usually ready for pruning a week or two earlier than apples.
Process: Technique
= ‘modified Lorette system’. Only prune shoots longer
than 20cm (8in). Cut back new laterals growing directly from
the main stems to three leaves above the basal leaf cluster.
Cut back sideshoots on more mature laterals to one leaf above
the basal cluster (left). If secondary growth is produced cut it
back to one bud in September. Remove completely any over-vigorous,
upright shoots.
Established plum pyramids and fans
Time: Plums are vulnerable to infection by the disease silver leaf if pruned in winter. Consequently summer pruning incorporates tasks usually performed in winter for other fruits. Delay pruning until the basal third of new shoots have turned woody.
Process: Only
prune shoots longer than 20cm (8in). Remove completely any
dead or unhealthy growth, along with upright, over-vigorous
shoots (right). Thin out less productive wood to ease congestion.
Pyramid: Shorten
new shoots on main stems to 20cm (8in) and strong sideshoots
to 15cm (6in).
Fan:
Shorten non-essential new shoots to six leaves before fruiting,
and three leaves after fruiting.