Last spring I cleft grafted some little
apple scions onto little rootstock - due to critter munching the
trees each got to about a foot (or a little more) high. I want to eventually train them into open center trees (I know most
apple trees are modified central leader, but for some reason everyone in my part of Northern California does and teaches open center pruning for pome fruits).
I realized today that I have no idea how to prune, or even if to prune, the one-year old little trees. I know how to prune mature trees or those three and four year old, three foot high trees from a nursery. But what to do with these little ones their second year? Do I just let them grow, or make heading cuts, or what? They’re about as thick as my pinky finger with the rootstock being a little thicker. Any advice or direction to resources is much appreciated. I guess this is something usually just dealt with professionally in nurseries.