Rules of pruning fruit trees in autumn

All fruit trees are divided into two groups with opposite pruning calendars. Stone fruits, such as cherry, plum, peach, apricot, and nectarine, are recommended by professional gardeners to be pruned in the warm and dry season immediately after harvesting, before cold rains begin. Sweet and sour cherries are pruned precisely after harvesting, rather than in winter, to avoid diseases. Pruner wounds remain open for several months if pruning is carried out in late autumn or winter, when spores of silver leaf fungus and bacterial canker are actively spreading in the air. As a result, the tree wastes energy fighting the infection instead of fruiting in the next season. Commercial growers advise pruning stone fruits when temperatures are above 50°F with no precipitation for 36 hours.

If the weather does not allow completing pruning on time, specialists recommend postponing the procedure until spring, closer to the time of bud break. During sanitary pruning, dead, broken, and diseased wood, crossing and rubbing branches, as well as canker-affected areas are removed down to clean wood. The center of the canopy is also thinned out to improve light and air access. At the same time, wound dressings that retain moisture should not be used, and autumn mulch does not need to be piled high against tree trunks. Tool blades must be cleaned between procedures.

For apple and pear trees, the schedule is different: they are pruned during full dormancy in late winter, when major diseases are inactive. Autumn pruning of these trees stimulates tender shoot growth right before frosts. Thus, stone crops complete pruning in the dry period in autumn, while apples and pears are left until February.