Removing the foliage also reduces the vigour of over-enthusiastic growers before they muscle beyond their bounds.ĭon’t worry at this stage whether your tree produces fruit on spurs close to branches (spur-bearers) or on the tips (tip-bearers). With the leaves on the tree, it’s obvious what’s growing well and what’s dead. Restorative pruning is usually done in winter, but, where crops are poor, there are advantages to doing it now.

Pruning is often the cause of the problem, but it can also provide the cure, bringing your apple tree back to health and productivity. This emphasises the importance of buying an apple on the right rootstock in the first place - anything from M9 for very dwarfing to MM106 for a 15ft specimen. Heavy-handed pruning is the usual culprit for this sorry state of affairs, followed by a period of neglect during which the tree fights back with rampant, unbalanced regrowth. Too often, crops are disappointing, with fungally infected, distorted leaves and an outline as lopsided as one of Lady Gaga’s hats. Apple trees are left in a sorry state by heavy-handed pruning and rampant re-growth, but this guide will leave your fruit tree happy and healthyĪ lustrous green dome and branches heavy with rosy red fruit - that’s how an apple tree should look in August, but most garden trees fall well short of this orchard ideal.

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