prunning for a newbie???

well...not really a newbie...but...certainly no expert! :)

guess what im looking for is either some very grounded advice...or some good ole fashioned constructive criticism...

trees i have in the ground at this time (all planted within the last 30 days)

apricot
peach
apple
pear
pawpaw
fig
plum

goal:  i would love to keep all of my trees pruned to a v shape...not central leader...i am thinking of next years prunning and trying to decide how i am going to train these trees.  v shape pruning i know...but, in the past, didn't seem to work out too well for all of my fruit tree varieties.  

question:  i know the peach, apricot and apple will work with me on this...but...the pear fig and plum and paw paw...i do not know about...i do know that the pear and the plum like to send their branches straighter up...and i am thinking i might just be going against nature and end up with a mess at the end of the day...the others...well...i don't know what might happen...fig might try to bunch out at the end of the branch on me...i just dont know...the fig branches are just kinda bumpy and do and go in all kinds of directions...paw paws, i have no experience with...

so, let me have it :)

Is there any particular reason why you would like to prune the trees?

Pruning sounds like a lot of hardwork, to me, which I think might be unnecessary.

Sepp Holzer and Masanobu Fukuoka found out that growing trees from seed and never pruning helps them to develop into healthier stronger trees.

Three reasons why I prune my trees:

1. Size. If I let my most vigorous apple and pear trees grow to the size they want to be, most of the fruit will be out of my reach, but well within the grasp of point #2.

2. Birds. If we want to eat the fruit, we have to net most of our trees. Getting a net over them gets us back to point #1.

3. Wind. On some plums in particular, the natural habit is long whippy leaders. If I let these grow out, then when they are carrying fruit and we get a windstorm, the tree gets wrecked.

bottom line...im gonna prune my trees...if everyone else in the world doesn't want to prune their trees...that is fine with me...don't prune em....as for me and my house...we are gonna prune these trees and keep on pruning them until the day i stop using them...on this little farmstead, we all work...and we all do what is needed to make that work a little lighter...trees included...

what i need is information on what i asked information for...which is the best method for those trees and if i can use the beautiful v shape prune for the trees listed...and if not..i want to know that...central leader is ok...i really like the v shape though...open center...

Dave Burton wrote:Is there any particular reason why you would like to prune the trees?

Pruning sounds like a lot of hardwork, to me, which I think might be unnecessary.

Sepp Holzer and Masanobu Fukuoka found out that growing trees from seed and never pruning helps them to develop into healthier stronger trees.

LOL...well then...ill look into growing some from seed and watch the video :)  for now...these ugly little pos's are grafted and they came from a pos nursery that...well...ill not get into that...however...they aren't from seed...so, am going to stand on that...lol...and ill worry about not pruning any tree i might plant in the future from seed :)

Teri -

Apples do well with a central leader and spaced branches called a scaffold. They also can be formed into a vase. The thing you want to encourage is branching that is close to 90 degrees away from the trunk. This is a strong joint and will support weight as the tree starts to carry fruit. Most apples form fruiting spurs and you will want to take off most upward growth to divert the tree's energy into the fruiting wood.

Pears can be pruned the same way as apples, with either a central leader/scaffold or a vase shape. They are usually spur bearing (like most apples) and the way to stimulate spur development is to force horizontal limb growth. Unfortunately for the orchardist, pears in their wild form can grow more than 20 m tall with big vertical leaders. I will choose a few early in the tree's career and tie them down during the growing season to enforce the desired shape. After this is done everything else is thinning and maintenance.

Plums will naturally tend toward v-shaped branching. The bad news about this is that it often produces weak crotches, and there is no fixing a weak crotch. We get lots of wind here, and if it comes in the late spring or early summer when a plum tree has lots of fruit on a long branch attached at a sharp angle, that branch is a goner and the split that results can go all the way down the trunk. This is direct from the Dept of Making You Sad, so make sure your trees don't develop weak crotches and head back the overly long leaders.

Apricots are sort of like plums without as many extravagant leaders. Keep them open for airflow.

Peaches can be left to their own devices in terms of form. Just take out about one third of the growth each time you prune.

Figs can be pruned hard, but leave enough of the last season's growth if you want fruit. Restricting the roots of a fig tree will help keep the size under control.

Dunno about pawpaws. Mine are still seedlings.

Phil Stevens wrote:Teri -

Apples do well with a central leader and spaced branches called a scaffold. They also can be formed into a vase. The thing you want to encourage is branching that is close to 90 degrees away from the trunk. This is a strong joint and will support weight as the tree starts to carry fruit. Most apples form fruiting spurs and you will want to take off most upward growth to divert the tree's energy into the fruiting wood.

Pears can be pruned the same way as apples, with either a central leader/scaffold or a vase shape. They are usually spur bearing (like most apples) and the way to stimulate spur development is to force horizontal limb growth. Unfortunately for the orchardist, pears in their wild form can grow more than 20 m tall with big vertical leaders. I will choose a few early in the tree's career and tie them down during the growing season to enforce the desired shape. After this is done everything else is thinning and maintenance.

Plums will naturally tend toward v-shaped branching. The bad news about this is that it often produces weak crotches, and there is no fixing a weak crotch. We get lots of wind here, and if it comes in the late spring or early summer when a plum tree has lots of fruit on a long branch attached at a sharp angle, that branch is a goner and the split that results can go all the way down the trunk. This is direct from the Dept of Making You Sad, so make sure your trees don't develop weak crotches and head back the overly long leaders.

Apricots are sort of like plums without as many extravagant leaders. Keep them open for airflow.

Peaches can be left to their own devices in terms of form. Just take out about one third of the growth each time you prune.

Figs can be pruned hard, but leave enough of the last season's growth if you want fruit. Restricting the roots of a fig tree will help keep the size under control.

Dunno about pawpaws. Mine are still seedlings.

PHIL STEVENS...YOU ARE A GOD SEND!!! THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH...i am saving this information...NICE CONCISE AND SOUNDS LIKE YOU KNOW WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR!!! THANK YOU AGAIN :)

@Teri -

aww, thanks!