Everything you need to know about pruning a columnar apple tree

Among inexperienced gardeners, there is an opinion that columnar apple trees do not give side shoots, but this is a delusion. It is worth saying that even many experienced plant breeders, when planting such trees in the garden, do not always know how to properly prune, and in fact it is one of the main stages of high-quality tree care. Let's talk about this.

When a gardener plans to care for a columnar apple tree, he must take into account the growth characteristics of such trees. This form became possible thanks to a special gene that is present in the undersized tree. If the apple tree grows in its natural environment and is not pruned, then its branches form a pyramidal column, in which there are side shoots.

From the side, the apple tree will look like a poplar or maybe even a cypress. The garden requires shaping. The gardener may not do serious pruning, but only pinch the lateral processes at the initial stage of development.

It is worth knowing that with the wrong approach, the likelihood increases that the columnar apple tree will turn into a dwarf plant, and its crown will be spreading. To succeed, the gardener is required to remove the lateral processes every spring, then you get a classic column. It is thanks to this procedure that it is possible to restrain the growth of branches on the sides and create the desired shape.

But the formation of a beautiful crown is not the only positive moment. There are other advantages to high-quality pruning, and they should also be said about them:

• dense planting of trees in the garden becomes possible - thus, space on the site is saved;
• over time, young shoots will strengthen and replace old ones;
• foliage is well ventilated in such a crown;
• more light - less disease;
• trees with a decorated crown have a longer life span;
• the fruits have enough light and nutrients, since the energy is not expended on maintaining the growth of unnecessary branches.

If pruning is done correctly, the result will be a bountiful harvest of the new year. It is worth removing from the tree all shoots that seem sick, damaged, as well as those on which fruits have ceased to form. If you remove the old branch, then the new one will begin to grow a little higher. Moreover, it is pruning that provokes the active growth of new shoots.

To carry out the trimming procedure, you will need the following inventory:

• garden knife, with which small growth is removed;
• garden shears, by means of which long branches are cut;
• secateurs.

Some may need a stepladder to work the top of the apple tree. It is definitely worth preparing a cart, into which it is convenient to fold, and then take out the trimmed shoots from the site. For processing the cuts, a garden pitch is used; you can cook it yourself or buy it in a specialized store. If it is not possible to purchase it, then you can simply prepare a clay chatterbox. In any case, it is necessary to carry out subsequent processing of the sections, otherwise infection can penetrate through them.

Pruning a columnar apple tree is a simple process, you just need to know the technology. Spring is best for beginner gardeners. The timing of the procedure in the Moscow region, in the Urals, in Siberia will differ due to differences in climatic conditions. The number of pruned shoots will also be different, whether it is an old apple tree or a 2-year-old. In any case, it is necessary to form the crown in four stages, starting in spring and ending in autumn.

Spring is considered the most successful period, it is at this time that the central shoot is determined. Pruning is carried out after the tree has lost color. In the summer, you can remove new growth that is not needed. The main stage of pruning falls in the winter, and in the fall, vertically grown shoots are removed, which can replace the trunk.

For beginners, it should be said that during this period, pruning is carried out before the start of sap flow. In the second year or three-year-old apple tree can be processed during this period in order to activate new growth. Leave 4-5 buds on the branches. In the professional world, such trimming is also called pinching. The only goal is to get new shoots to start growing.

If we talk about the scheme, then it is as follows:

• it is necessary for apple trees, which are only a year old, to remove the buds without exception;
• if this is a 2-year-old tree, then it is worth leaving no more than five inflorescences on each branch;
• For 3-year-old and adult apple trees, buds are removed from each inflorescence so that there are no more than two of them in each.

Summer pruning involves removing green shoots that have formed in the new year. It is not difficult to identify them, since they extend from the central trunk. There is no need to use any tool, the shoots can simply be pinched off. The gardener must be extremely careful, removing such a growth does not harm the apple tree, but it is important not to damage the bark, since infections can penetrate through this wound.

If the tree has gained too many fruits, you can remove the extra ones. The apple tree may not have the strength to collect the necessary amount of nutrients for all apples to grow large and juicy. If shoots appear on the tree in the summer with a clear infection with a fungus or other infection, it is better to get rid of them and not wait for autumn pruning. You can try to carry out the treatment with "Horus" or "Oxyhom".

In a neglected state, the apple tree will often hurt. Autumn pruning makes it possible to remove unnecessary branches, thin out the crown. It is necessary to carry out the procedure only after the harvest has been harvested and the sap flow in the shoots has stopped. Branches, dry branches, broken and old shoots must be removed from an overgrown tree. The timing may differ depending on which region the tree grows in. If this is the Moscow region, then the best time for autumn pruning is September, in the south you can cut off excess branches in November.

There is a cropping scheme that is great for beginners.

• From autumn, young trees are usually planted, in this case, before wintering, all leaves and shoots on the sides are removed. This is necessary in order for the tree to direct all its forces towards rooting.
• By the next autumn, young shoots up to 30 cm are removed.
• Each branch left should have 2-3 buds.
• If a three-year-old apple tree is pruned, then the branches and branches that grow incorrectly are removed.
• In subsequent years, every autumn, the columnar apple tree is cut in order to thin out the crown.

The columnar apple tree has no permanent branches. Shoots that are on the bottom are forced to grow in worse conditions than those on the top because they lack the sun. It is in winter that the formation of fruiting zones occurs, which shift upward over the years. In winter, dry and broken shoots must be removed. There is no need to leave the weak.It is the old trees that are best pruned in winter, since they have enough strength to survive such treatment. If you remove the branches during this period, the apple tree will have time to recover before buds appear.

Prune a three-year-old tree according to the following scheme.

• The strongest shoot is left, which must necessarily grow at a height of 500 mm from the ground.
• The length of the escape to be left cannot be less than a meter.
• 50 mm retreat from it and cut into the ring. This is how a tree is transferred to an escape.
• At the second stage, all branches are cut that contribute to the thickening of the crown or show abnormal growth.
• Weak and diseased branches are removed as they consume nutrients but get in the way.
• As a result of such pruning, only a few shoots should remain on the apple tree, which, in turn, remove up to 3 buds.
• All wounds must be treated with garden varnish or any other means that prevents infection from entering the tree trunk.

It must be remembered that columnar crops, even if they are properly and timely pruned, do not live longer than 15 years. The tree does not die, but it becomes weak, it is more easily affected by diseases, apples become smaller and lose their usual taste. Experienced gardeners advise not to carry out the subsequent rejuvenating pruning, but to cut the plant completely and plant a new one in its place.

After any pruning, follow-up care must be provided to the apple tree. This applies primarily to the conditions of detention. If this is not done, then the tree will leave the procedure for a long time. To prepare a garden pitch for processing cut points, you will need:

• butter;
• beeswax, which can be replaced with paraffin.

The need for an apple tree in water depends on the amount of precipitation and the region of growth. All in all, a rooted tree does not require a lot of water, especially if there is a lot of rain and no drought during the season. For most apple trees, and columnar ones are no exception, about 2.5 cm of rain per week or ten days is enough. Trees may need a little more moisture during their first growing season as young shoots are actively growing.

When it is really time to water the tree, it is important to do so so that an area with stagnant water is not created around the trunk, and the roots are not damp for a long time. This is just as bad as drought is for the tree. Too much water squeezes oxygen out of the soil, prevents the roots from absorbing essential minerals, and makes the tree susceptible to decay and infection. The gardener will have to adjust the watering. It should be carried out on a regular basis, only in the fall the amount of moisture is reduced to a minimum. Since during this period the apple tree must prepare for winter.

In summer and spring, the apple tree is watered deeply - so that the soil is soaked by 30-40 cm. Ideal watering for an apple tree involves deep soaking of the roots. You can simply put a garden hose near the trunk and turn on the water. In a few hours, the soil around will get wet to the required thickness. It is important that the water does not stand on the surface, as this is a sign that there is already enough moisture and watering can be turned off. Once a week is enough, but with the onset of heat, watering is carried out twice in seven days, and sometimes more often.

As for dressings, after spring pruning, it is best to add mullein infusion to the soil. Around the trunk, the soil is watered and mulched. In summer, complex mixtures can be used, but with a low nitrogen content, since the tree does not need it during the period of fruit formation. This element provides plants with the ability to produce more chlorophyll, which, in turn, promotes faster growth of the part that is above the ground - the foliage.Columnar apple trees require nitrogen for shoot growth and leaf production, but only in early spring.

In autumn, it is advised to give the tree potassium and phosphorus, they help to survive the winter, contribute to good yields in the coming season and increase the plant's immunity. If the trees do not flower or bear fruit properly, and the soil test indicates a phosphorus deficiency, additional fertilizing will need to be applied to enhance flowering and fruiting. Any fertilizer is best applied no more than once a week, you can use dressings with a slow release of trace elements.

Mulch is indispensable, since in columnar apple trees, the root system is close to the surface, so it dries quickly.

Used as mulch:

• sawdust;
• peat;
• humus.

The mulch layer is changed every year.

The use of zinc and urea in the fall helps against the defeat of apple scab. In addition, after pruning, it is advised to use fungicides in early spring. Among them, copper soap and Bordeaux liquid, as well as copper sulfate, are very popular. Black rot can be controlled by using silver-based fungicides. To cope with moniliosis, spraying with Bordeaux liquid 3% can be used. During the growing season, a 1% solution is suitable. Hom helps a lot against cytosporosis, which should be used before the buds have blossomed. Further, before flowering, treat the trees with a solution of copper sulfate. After flowering, treat with Hom again.

Whitewashing trunks in spring and late autumn is also an excellent preventive measure. Before the winter cold, feed the columnar apple trees with fertilizers containing phosphorus and potassium. For powdery mildew, use a rosebud stage spray to reduce pathogen buildup. Among the folk remedies are lime and sulfur, which are sprayed on trees. Another disease, no less dangerous for apple trees, is bacteriosis. As a preventive measure, gardeners are advised to purchase seedlings only in proven places, carefully examine the purchase and disinfect the soil with a solution of copper sulfate.

Inexperienced gardeners make a lot of mistakes when they are just learning to prune columnar apple trees. Firstly, you should not leave a short stump, because then the buds will not grow. At the same time, too long will simply rot and die out over time. Particular attention to the quality of the cut. It should be smooth and free of burrs. If it is oblique and with rags, then this is a trauma for the tree, which will heal for a very long time. If the procedure is carried out to form branches on the sides, then it is better to prune to the bud.

From the outside it may seem that making the perfect cut is easy, in practice everything turns out differently. There are a number of rules that should be followed:

• always cut from the bottom, moving to the top;
• the cut has its own direction - from the kidney;
• cut only straight, preventing the formation of scoring on the bark, while cutting off two fingers above the location of the kidney.

Experienced gardeners know in practice how to properly prune a columnar apple tree so that it does not suffer, and by next year it can please with a rich harvest. The main feature of these trees is that they give poor growth, since genetically few hormones are embedded in them. To compensate for this, the apple tree produces many flower buds on the trunk.The main shoot will be able to withstand the fruits only if it has enough strength, which becomes impossible with the formation of unnecessary lateral shoots.

It is best to plant trees at a distance of 80 cm to 1 meter. Despite the fact that many gardeners consider such a dense planting, it does not affect the yield, you just need to comply with some conditions.

• The more branches you remove, the better the remaining ones will grow.
• In the spring, the formation of the bushes of the columnar apple tree should begin until the period of sap flow has begun. If the gardener does not have time, then it is advisable to postpone pruning for the summer or fall.
• It is not difficult to form a bonsai, but the gardener is required to be careful and patient. Pruning is carried out only in stages, otherwise the apple tree simply will not survive.
• If you remove the branch, leaving only 4 buds, in the new season new shoots will grow there, on which there will be many apples.
• If you do not finish pruning, but provoke new growth, then you can see how young growth begins to appear on the apple tree. It will be weak, fruitless, while a lot of nutrients will go to it from the tree.
• Sometimes, but this applies to experienced gardeners, not one, but several trunks are left on a columnar apple tree, although it is more difficult to care for such trees.

There are other great tips to follow.

• The equipment used for trimming must be well sharpened, and not only disinfected.
• Wounds must be treated with garden varnish or other means.
• The most vulnerable part of a columnar apple tree is the top. In order for it to develop normally, it will be necessary to leave the crown kidney. Its greatest enemy is frost, so it is best to cover the top of the tree, especially if it grows in a region with cold winters.