RHS fruit expert Jim Arbury explains how, when and where to prune plums, cherries, apricots and peaches to maximise your trees’ potential
Trained forms of fruit trees are excellent for gardens and allotments. They’re particularly useful where space is limited. Common forms include espaliers, oblique cordons (grown at an angle of about 45 degrees), stepover cordons and fan-trained trees. Although apples and pears are the most versatile, stone fruits such as plums, cherries, apricots and even peaches can all be grown as fans and cordons.
RHS fruit expert Jim Arbury is on hand to share how to summer prune your stone fruit trees to make the most of their potential.
Before you prune stone fruits
It’s important to remember that stone fruits should only be pruned in the spring or summer and only during dry weather, to reduce the risk of infection from silverleaf (a fungal disease) or bacterial canker.
Before pruning, I like to tie in any shoots that are needed to extend the framework so that I don’t accidentally prune those as well. It is all too easy to cut off a stem that was ideal for future use!
How to prune stone fruits
Image: summer growth on a plum pre-pruning
Once I’ve tied in the framework shoots, I shorten all remaining shoots that are longer than about 20cm (my secateur’s length). If the shoot is growing from an existing spur, I shorten it to about 2.5cm from the base; if it’s a new shoot from the main stem, to about 5cm. If there is any re-growth, this can be pruned back to one leaf from the base in autumn.
Fruit buds usually form on the remaining stub either this year or the next. The shorter shoots (under 20cm), which are left unpruned, usually have a fruit bud on their tips that will flower the following year.
This general method can be used for apples and pears too, though their pruning is carried out in late summer as the growth slows down – usually late July or early August for pears, and early to late August for apples.
How to prune fan-trained trees
Plums, sweet cherries and apricots are often grown as fan-trained trees, which enables them to benefit from the microclimate of a warm south-, southwest- or west-facing wall or fence.
During the spring, I tie in any shoots that may be useful for extending the form or replacing older shoots as they grow – again, in case I accidentally cut them off while pruning. I also pinch out or cut off any shoots that are growing towards the wall or fence as soon as they appear.
Image: a fan-trained plum ready for summer pruning
The remaining shoots, which are not being used for the main framework or growing towards the wall, I usually prune in two or three stages as follows:
- Once the shoots have seven or eight main leaves, pinch out the tips to leave six leaves. This is often in June for plums and sweet cherries, but may even be in May for apricots.
- If these start to re-grow, I pinch them back to one leaf.
- In late summer – usually late July or early August – I shorten each shoot again, back to three leaves. This creates short fruiting spurs.
The timing of the pruning does vary and is usually later in the west of the country and in cool wet summers.
As the spur systems become more crowded, it will become necessary for me to thin these out in winter for apples and pears and in spring for stone fruits.
Why prune stone fruits in summer?
The overall purpose of summer pruning is to restrict growth and encourage the development of short fruiting spurs. It also allows light to the branches and promotes good air movement, which helps to ripen the wood and reduce the risk of pests and diseases.
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Pick of the crop
Look for the RHS Award of Garden Merit (AGM) when buying vegetable seed or small plants. You can also download the RHS lists of recommended cultivars.
About the author – Jim Arbury
Jim Arbury is a well-known face around the RHS, passionate about fruit and passing on his decades of experience – show him an apple and he’ll often tell you what cultivar it is from memory. In his spare time, you’ll find him tending one of three allotments, kitted up in a bee keepers suit at the hives, or running along the lanes and footpaths of Surrey.
