Q. In the paper this morning, you mentioned thin the apple trees in the light or heavy year. How can one tell which year it is? We have 2 apple trees grown on wires. They need trimming but should I do it now? Thank You Marcy Volny – Puyallup, WA
A. If you are not sure then you probably haven’t had the trees bearing for a many years or your trees do not exhibit this pattern. For example, a tree will have a bumper crop (get out the canning equipment!) in one year alternating with bearing just enough apples to eat fresh in the next. If you are not sure then simply thin out one fruit per cluster and make sure each cluster is at least a fist width away from another cluster. If it is not remove one of the clusters fruit entirely. It sounds like you have an espaliered apple and because of the restrictions placed on the tree by putting it into a single plane they may not exhibit this biennial bearing phenomenon.