{"id":2962,"date":"2018-01-19T05:31:03","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T05:31:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/?p=2962"},"modified":"2021-12-31T14:57:53","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T22:57:53","slug":"prune-bare-root-fruit-tree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gregalder.com\/yardposts\/prune-bare-root-fruit-tree\/","title":{"rendered":"Should you prune a bare-root fruit tree?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Whether or not you should prune a bare-root fruit tree depends on two things: One, what the tree looks like when you buy it. And two, what you want the tree to look like when it’s all grown up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This being mid-January, heart of bare-root season in Southern California, I just planted a few trees in my yard and went through the process of deciding what to prune. So let me use those trees as our real-life examples.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"bare<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The perfect pear<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meet my newly planted Fan-stil pear tree. Nice branch structure, wouldn’t you agree? Looks like a . . . tree. The trunk tapers from bottom to top; the branches are spaced vertically up the trunk; the branches spread into a pyramid shape, where the lower branches are bigger and wider. And what you can see from the photo at the very top is that the root system on this tree is also respectable. Thank you to the tree’s grower, L.E. Cooke (R.I.P.<\/a>).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I won’t be pruning this tree at all until next year. One, it has all the above good qualities straight out of the nursery. And two, I want the tree to have a pyramid shape when it’s all grown up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I wanted this tree to have a globe shape (called “open center” among fruit growers), I would make one pruning cut to my pear upon planting. I would simply cut the trunk right above the fourth branch from the bottom. But in my experience growing apples and pears in Southern California, a pyramid (“central leader”) shape works better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(How to choose a shape, or “training technique,” for your tree? See this article<\/a> written by Chuck Ingels, University of California Farm Advisor and author of “The Home Orchard.”<\/a>)<\/p>\n\n\n\n