Pruning your fruit trees is a necessary part of maintaining them so that they produce delicious fruit. If you do it right and prune fruit trees at the right time, it will leave you with a well-shaped tree that is productive and healthy. If you neglect it, you’ll place it at risk of fungal disease, poor productivity, and an overcrowded canopy. 

Knowing the right time to prune fruit trees will help you improve airflow and sunlight penetration throughout the canopy. This reduces the spread of fungal diseases and encourages evenly ripe fruits. It removes dead and damaged branches, as well as those that cross and weaken other branches.

When performed thoughtfully, pruning creates a strong framework that will support a heavy crop. It also maintains a more manageable height, making harvesting and maintenance easier. 

Pruning at the right time is just as important as having the proper technique. Pruning at the wrong time can reduce the number of flowers and, thus, the fruits your tree produces. It can also leave the tree more vulnerable to cold damage, which weakens it altogether. So, when is the right time to prune your favorite fruit trees? Let’s talk about it.

Honeycrisp Apple Tree

Romeo Cherry Tree

Lisbon Lemon Tree

The Best Time to Prune Fruit Trees by Season

Forgetting to prune fruit trees at the right time comes with a long list of problems.

While failing to prune your fruit tree at the right time may not immediately kill it, over time, it will lead to reduced productivity. It also makes it more susceptible to diseases and creates structural issues. These issues, a crowded, top-heavy, and tangled tree, lead to overall vulnerability to inclement weather. 

Failing to prune at the right time, or at all, also makes the tree less able to hold up a heavy harvest. Thinner, less developed branches weaken by rubbing against one another, and fruits don’t develop properly without proper sunlight. When sunlight can’t penetrate the canopy, you end up with unevenly ripe and underdeveloped fruits. 

A well-developed tree will produce fewer fruits, but they will be larger, more flavorful, and of better quality. Likewise, a poorly developed one may produce a larger quantity of fruit. But they are likely to be smaller, less flavorful, and lower quality. 

There are two times of year recommended for pruning your favorite fruit trees. You should do your major structural pruning in the late winter to early spring while the tree is dormant. Mid-summer is a good time to do a light once-over. This is to refresh and help prevent the diseases that often come with hot, humid summer weather. 

Winter/Spring Pruning

Most pruning is done at this time, depending on where you live.

The structural pruning of the dormant season is the foundation of growing a strong, healthy, and productive fruit tree. This time typically falls between November and March, depending on your climate. The warmer your climate, the earlier you should start, as once the tree comes out of dormancy, it’s less effective. 

The reason for pruning during the dormant state is multi-pronged. For one thing, when there are no leaves present, it’s easier to view the structure of the branches. This enables a more thorough assessment of which branches are strong and which ones are inferior structurally. 

The risk of disease is lower this time of year, as well. Any time you make cuts to your trees, they are more vulnerable to all diseases until they heal. Most diseases are dormant when it’s cold out. Pruning now enables your tree to heal with less risk of disease infiltrating. 

Dormancy is also a less stressful time for your tree to recover. Its metabolism slows down, and it safely stores its energy in the roots, trunk, and branches. The growth is on pause during this time, so it’s not expending energy on new growth. It’s better able to heal its wounds without depriving the new growth of the energy it needs. 

Pruning during dormancy reduces the risk of dehydration and diseases. It allows the plant to heal gradually and with less disruption to the spring growth cycle. If you prune fruit trees at the right time, they will wake up in spring with a cleaner, stronger structure, intact energy stores, and ample healthy airflow. 

The amount of pruning at this time should be moderate. You want to create an attractive, healthy, strong shape. However, you don’t want to risk weakening the plant or encouraging too much vigorous branch growth in the spring. Never cut back by more than one-quarter to one-third of its total size. 

How to Do It

Clean your tools before you make any cuts.

1. Start by removing any dead or damaged wood. It’s fine to do this any time of year, as these branches make it more susceptible to diseases. They weaken the overall structural integrity as well. Cut these back cleanly to healthy wood. Always make your cuts just above a bud or lateral branch. Make clean, angled cuts that won’t allow water to pool. 

2. Next, trim off any waterspouts or suckers that have popped up over time since your last maintenance. These appear at the base, near the roots, and sometimes from lower branches. You can identify them by their growth habit, which is straight up, rather than outward. 

3. At this time, remove any crossing branches. These can rub against one another, weakening both branches and blocking airflow. Cut the branch that grows in a manner that is least conducive to the overall form. 

4. Now focus on the overall shape of the tree. For most, this will be either an open-centered vase shape or a central leader structure. A central leader structure will create a taller, narrower tree. An open center will create a shorter tree that is often easier to harvest from. 

5. Finally, thin out the interior of the tree to improve airflow. Trim off any branches that cross back through the center. Shorten any overly long branches that affect the balance of the canopy. 

Summer Pruning

This season’s pruning is far less intensive.

Summer pruning is different from winter, because your fruit tree is in an active growth stage. It’s utilizing its energy to produce rather than to recover. Fruit tree pruning at this time is more for controlling overgrowth, improving sunlight and air penetration, and encouraging quality fruit.