Tips on Pruning Dwarf Fruit Trees

by Kristi Roddey
    Careful pruning encourages fruit production.

    Careful pruning encourages fruit production.

    Dwarf fruit trees require less-aggressive pruning than their full-sized counterparts. Start pruning these trees while they are young to train them and encourage fruit production. In addition to shaping trees, pruning appropriate branches helps control disease, allows air circulation and exposure to sunlight, and decreases the number of fruits the tree produces to increase the size and quality of those fruits.

    When to Prune

    Prune dwarf fruit trees when you plant them, before growth starts, and again each year in late winter or early spring. If your trees grew successfully the summer before, you may need to thin out some of the lateral branches. Get rid of all but five or six laterals at the winter pruning to stimulate fruit growth.

    Selecting Branches to Prune

    Remove any branches that grow less than 18 inches from the ground. They likely will produce fruit of poor quality. Also, cut off any branches that are more than half the diameter of the trunk. For trees that bear stone fruits, such as plums and peaches, leave two or three side branches, and remove the rest of the tree above the top branch.

    Pruning Methods

    Once you've selected branches to prune, remove the entire branch. Branches form a collar where they attach to the trunk. To remove a branch, cut it off at the outside edge of that collar. If your tree is new and unbranched, prune the tree to a height of 30 to 36 inches above the ground. Buds will grow just below your cut. Rub off any buds with your fingers below the top one to concentrate growth in one bud.

    Things to Avoid

    Avoid excessive pruning, especially in young trees. Overpruning trees that aren't yet producing fruit will delay production. Use pruning to train the tree as it grows, not to compensate for poor environmental conditions. When removing a limb, avoid cutting only a portion of it. Unless you remove the entire branch, it will grow back in, delaying fruit production.

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