The summertime snip

July/August 2008

Time to prune fruit trees

By David Ross

Traditionally, fruit tree pruning has been done during dormancy, in the winter. However, we now know that pruning fruit trees after fruiting, during their growth period, can produce fantastic results.

Summer pruning keeps trees smaller, which is especially important with today's shrinking yards. Keeping trees smaller means more fruit for you in less space. When pruned correctly, fruit will be plentiful and easily within reach of an outstretched arm--more fruit for you, less lost to the birds and no chance of falling off a ladder as you stretch for that last nectarine just out of reach.

After your trees bloom and fruit in the spring, they will begin an active and vigorous growth cycle. It is during this period that trimming is most effective. Cutting the new growth now keeps the tree smaller and more manageable and produces more fruit in that smaller area.

As long as you want more fruit, this works great. If you want less fruit and a bigger tree, please disregard!

David Ross is a horticulturalist and manager for Walter Andersen Nursery in San Diego and Poway.