In late winter it is time to prune our fruit trees.
First all dead or damaged branches should be removed, along with any suckers coming from the base of the trunk. Branches should be pruned back to the larger limb they are growing from. We don't want to leave any small stubs.
This is our plum tree, which is on its third year.
We have decided to remove a few of the low branches that get in the way when we cut the grass.
To allow sunlight to reach all the fruits, we will remove some branches from the middle. This also helps to retain a desirable vase like shape.
We're also removing the branches that cross over another one.
Here is our finished tree.
Next we will prune the peach tree. Because this tree is planted on a slight incline and has tended to grow some large branches on the low side, there is too much weight pulling on that side of the tree.
We have decided to remove the two heavy branches on the low side.