You're (Probably) Killing Your Fruit Trees

Check out our video where we followup on our fruit trees for winter pruning HERE! https://youtu.be/dDsRoCna3vQ

My x-husband was a professional apple tree pruner. He was responsible for 25,000 trees, his part of the orchard, and every year all he did was prune trees from Beginning of Dec into Jan. He started when they were very little trees so he knew all these trees. He taught me you need balance on the trunk. Example every north branch needs a south branch and the same with east and west. He could walk up to a tree and tell you exactly what needed to be pruned. He also told me if you have tons of blooms to spray some of the blooms off as to many blooms results in smaller less nutritious fruit. The apples were delicious. I was with him when he went a picked an apple down for me and I kid you not, it was 13 inches around. I made him measure it. I passed the bloom issue onto my neighbor who bought a house with a very established pear tree and he sprayed some of the blooms off like I told him and he told me that year he had nice large beautiful pears that tasted better than any he had ever had. Now he does it every year. Everyone wants his pears. This video expands on more of the logistics on where and why you prune. Excellent video.

I loved the fact that the trees hadn't been pruned properly in the past. Most people, like myself, who are watching a video like this probably aren't experts at pruning trees and have made the same mistake. Thus, this video helps a ton more than telling us how to prune a tree that has already been pruned properly in the past. At least it has helped me a bit.

Either Dan needs to start his own YT channel or he needs to have an arbor segment on a regular basis on your channel Excellent knowledge and delivery!

I PRUNED MY FRUIT TREE FOR THE FIRST TIME USING THIS VIDEO AS GUIDANCE TWO MONTHS AGO, AND IT’S NOW COVERED WITH FRUIT!!!! I CAN’T TAKE OFF ALL CAPS BECAUSE I AM TOO EXCITED AND GRATEFUL. THANK YOU!

I am an Arborist of 25 years who never climbs or prunes large trees. I specialize in consulting as well as structural pruning of young trees and pruning fruit trees... and teaching homeowners how to care for their trees. Daniel did an excellent job explaining subordinating too vigorous of side branches and why trees should be pruned CORRECTLY when they are young. I caution people all the time to never prune more than 20% out of a tree canopy, although the exceptions are that peach/nectarine can tolerate up to 30% quite well (while cherry trees need a more conservative approach) and young trees can certainly tolerate more aggressive pruning to help establish a good structure. Once trees become more mature, over pruning becomes harmful and will result in unwanted, rampant new growth. It is a fabulous idea to have an experienced arborist look at your new trees and teach you proper pruning methods and the "whys" behind good pruning practices. I've seen some pretty wretched tree pruning advice passed off on YouTube from so-called "experts" and am thrilled that this video offers good, sound advice. Trust me, the cost of a consultation with an experienced ISA Certified Arborist can save you a LOT of money over the long run.

I'm not a huge fan of the whole central leader. I go for an open center and push for horizontal growth. I like to actually be able to pick my fruit. 8ft tall trees.

This is hands down the best exploration in fruit tree establishment I’ve seen. It took me 10 years in the orchard to learn and believe these lessons. I took lots of before and after pictures of trees and individual major decisions for about 5+ seasons. The trees taught me so much. I was only managing 60 or so trees, but when I took over the orchard the trees hadn’t been pruned for a decade.

I love how safety conscious the friend is. he's right. less time on the ladder the best.

I know it's not exactly a fruit tree but, we had a Ginkgo tree in our yard when I was a kid and the trunk was a double. My dad cut one of the two clean off and after about 10 years you would never know it was double trunk , it became totally symmetrical single trunk tree. Now like 50 years later it is huge and one of the best shaped large ginkgo trees I have ever seen.

Great video. To sum it up: 1. Location, location, location. 2. Size matters. 3. Spread the love (sunshine). 4. Learn about pruning early on. Our house has three old apple trees in the yard. They are at least 90 years old since I found aerial protons from 1934 and they were someone’s small orchard. They are now pruned like bonsais, covered with moss, majestic to look at, and bare lots and lots of fruit, so much that it’s not that good for eating. I learned that pruning for beauty and pruning for fruit yield are different things. As other commenters mentioned, for apples, the best fruit comes from culling the flowers and/or young fruit to allow the remainder to grow more vigorously and have more flavor. And, less branches is better, also for yield and also for thickening the limbs for holding the fruit.

It is pure pleasure listening and learning from experts who also are good at explaining things clearly! And seeing all the cute, serene animals around is lovely, too 😊 Great video.

This explains so much. I have always been confused about pruning. Everything he explained the “why” of now makes sense. Excellent!

It's very important for trees to be able to deal with wind. In Portugal we often build a little square wooden frame around the main trunk, supported by wooden poles. that way the tree can react to the wind while maintaining the position. If the tree doesn't "learn" how to deal with wind, not only it's possible it'll break, but also air bubbles can form in the xylem causing embolism and shutting down the nutrient flow which can eventually kill the tree. So never restrict your tree's movement to that extent. Great video!

Love that only 9 minutes in and they both have made LotR references. “One tree limb to rule them all” and 5 mins later “…the lead that will become our Precious”. Lol Also, great fruit tree info.

Anne- I just want to thank you for your part in this, as someone who has ADHD and has struggled with it my entire life, I found it difficult to follow what the arborist was saying (albeit him doing a great job, it's just my brain and the way it processes things) but you pausing it and asking him to further explain and dissecting it so that other's could capture it in a different way, was extremely helpful and valuable. Just so you know, it's highly appreciated it and IT IS ONE OF YOUR MANY STRENGTHS, NOT A WEAKNESS. We all learn at different levels, paces and by different means, having the ability and wherewithal to take something that doesn't make sense and explain it to people so that it does, is a talent. You do that! So thank you from me, my brain and my apple tree 🍎

At 66, I am now in my forever home and wanted to plant a lot of fruit trees on a small space. Having grown up with being around fruit trees my whole life, I didn't want HUGE trees. It has been only in the past few months I have learned about pruning fruit trees to keep them at a manageable height and can plant more, closer together. See, you are never too old to learn something new!

In windy areas, an open canopy does a lot better. It doesn't have the main tall branch that catches the wind, the tree is no so top heavy, and wind can move through it with much less resistance. Easier to pick fruit, with branches being lower. It also opens up the center to give all branches more and equal sun, and thus more fruit with less chance of disease, and has symmetrical growth. The shade it casts is also greatly diminished, so your garden is not as effected. Open canopy for a fruit tree is a win, win.

I just bought and planted my first cherry, fuji, persimmon and nectarine trees. I was so interested but overwhelmed by the amount of technical terms from this tree professional. I appreciate you trying Anne(when u asked him to explain like you’re 5).

I'm a carrob and almond producer from Portugal. Learned a lot of new things in this video. Thank you and enjoy the miracle of nature 🙏