Q. I have an apple tree about 15-20 yrs old. It bore lots of healthy fruit, but I couldn’t reach 3/4 of it. I don’t think it has ever been pruned. I know which limbs to take out, but how aggressive can I be, and when should I prune? Also, can I cut back the length of the branches, or the height of the tree? I miss your column, but am glad to find you online. Thanks! Marty Fisher, Orting, WA
A. Actually you can be fairly drastic especially with any vertical growth but as you guessed timing is important. Since you seem to be familiar with what the shape should be (I know which limbs to take out) I’ll just reiterate for others that may read this. The best shape for the apple is to have an open center. So your goal is to open up the center and thin things out so that light can get into the center of the tree. Pruning now would likely result in loss of fruit this coming season and possible overgrowth of new shoots since the tree will have the energy it would have used on fruit production on new excessive growth. Vertical branches bear less fruit than more horizontal ones so a few of those could be removed now in the dormant season. I would wait until you see the fruit set in the late spring and then go in and get that tree back into shape being sure to leave a crop of apples to enjoy.