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{{About|pruning of fruit bearing trees|the pruning of trees and other plants in general|Pruning}}
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[[Image:Orchard3.jpg|thumb|333px|right|A community apple orchard originally planted for productive use during the 1920s, in [[Westcliff on Sea]] ([[Essex]], England), illustrating long neglected trees that have recently been pruned to renew their health and cropping potential]]
'''Fruit tree pruning''' is the [[pruning|cutting and removing of selected parts]] of a [[fruit tree]]. It spans a number of [[horticulture|horticultural]] techniques. Pruning often means cutting [[branch]]es back, sometimes removing smaller limbs entirely. It may also mean removal of young [[Shoot (botany)|shoot]]s, buds, and [[leaf|leaves]].
Established [[orchard]] practice of both [[organic farming|organic]] and nonorganic types typically includes pruning. Pruning can control growth, remove dead or diseased [[wood]], and stimulate the formation of [[flowers]] and [[bud|fruit buds]]. It is widely stated that careful attention to pruning and training young trees improves their later productivity and longevity, and that good pruning and training can also prevent later injury from weak [[tree fork|crotches or forks]] (where a tree trunk splits into two or more branches) that break from the weight of fruit, snow, or ice on the branches.
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===Maiden tree===
A maiden whip (a one-year-old tree with no side shoots) should be pruned to a bud with two buds below it at about {{convert|80|cm
===Two year===
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==Pruning the cropping tree==
[[Image:Spurpruning.png|left|300px|thumb|Spur pruning]]
Before pruning, distinguish between spur-bearing varieties, tip-bearing varieties, and an intermediate between the two that bears both on spurs and at the tips. Spur-bearing trees occur more frequently than tip-bearing trees, and they bear most of their fruit yearly at the end of short lateral pieces of wood (spurs) up to about
Spur-bearing types include apples of the varieties '[[Cox's Orange Pippin]]', '[[James Grieve apple|James Grieve]]' and 'Sunset', and pears such as 'Conference', 'Doyenne du Commice', and 'Williams Bon Chretien'. Tip-bearers on the other hand produce most of their fruit buds at the tips of slender shoots grown the previous summer, and include the apples '[[Worcester Pearmain]]' and 'Irish Peach', and the pears such as 'Jargonelle' and 'Josephine de Malines'. There are basically three types of pruning that are applied once the main shape of the tree has been established. These are:
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*'''Spur pruning''': Spur bearing varieties form spurs naturally, but spur growth can also be induced.
*'''Renewal pruning''': This also depends on the tendency of many apple and pear trees to form flower buds on unpruned two-year-old laterals. It is a technique best used for the strong laterals on the outer part of the tree where there is room for such growth. Pruning long-neglected fruit trees is a task that should be undertaken over a lengthy period, with not more than one third of the branches that require removal being taken each year.
*'''Regulatory pruning''': This is carried out on the tree as a whole, and is aimed at keeping the tree and its environment healthy, e.g., by keeping the centre open so that air can circulate; removing dead or diseased wood; preventing branches from becoming overcrowded (branches should be roughly {{convert|50|cm
==Pruning of tip bearers==
Tip-bearers should be pruned lightly in winter using the regulatory system (see above). Any maiden shoots less than {{convert|25|cm|-1|abbr=on}} in length should be left untouched as they have fruit buds at their tips. Longer shoots are spur pruned to prevent overcrowding and to stimulate the production of more short-tip-bearing shoots the following year. Branch leaders are 'tipped', removing the top three or four buds to a bud facing in the desired direction to make them branch out and so produce more tip-bearing shoots.
==See also==
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