Key takeaways
- Prune apples and pears in winter while they're dormant.
- Prune stone fruit like plums and peaches after harvest in late summer or autumn, never in winter.
- Give citrus and feijoas a light prune after fruiting.
Pruning times at a glance
| Tree | When to prune | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Apples and pears | Winter, while dormant | With the leaves off it's easy to see the shape, and it sets the tree up for next season's crop. |
| Plums, peaches, nectarines and apricots | Late summer after fruiting, or early to mid autumn | Pruning in winter raises the risk of silver leaf, a disease that gets in through fresh cuts. |
| Cherries | Summer, after fruiting | They're also prone to silver leaf, and they fruit on young wood. |
| Citrus | Lightly, after fruiting | Avoid winter, and September and October when lemon tree borer can lay eggs in fresh cuts. |
| Feijoas | After harvest | They don't need pruning every year. A tidy every year or two is plenty. |
Why stone fruit timing matters
Silver leaf is a fungal disease that infects stone fruit through pruning wounds, and trees don't recover from it. Its spores spread most in cool, wet weather, which is why stone fruit is pruned in late summer or autumn instead of winter. If you prune in autumn, seal larger cuts with pruning paste.
What a good prune does
- Removes dead, damaged or diseased branches
- Takes out branches that cross or rub against each other
- Opens up the centre so light and air can get in
- Keeps the tree to a height where you can reach the fruit
A few tips
- Use sharp, clean tools so cuts heal well.
- Cut just outside the collar where a branch meets the trunk, rather than flush against it.
- Don't take off more than about a third of the tree in one go.
Not sure what you've got or when to prune it? Send me a photo, or book me to prune it for you.