Ways to rejuvenate an old apple tree

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Rejuvenating apple pruning is a must for keeping mature trees healthy and productive. It has been carried out for several years on time.

Ways to rejuvenate an old apple tree

Signs of aging

The primary visible signs of apple aging become noticeable when it reaches 30 years of age.

However, skeletal branches begin to lose fruiting processes much earlier, starting from the peripheral region. Subsequently, their growth is noticeably reduced, the processes begin to die off en masse.

Signs of aging of the apple tree are also considered a significant loss of yield and loss of taste in fruits. At the same time, dry top appears (the upper branches and processes dry up and die off).

In the presence of the above symptoms, it is concluded that trees need a rejuvenating procedure that involves pruning.

Effect of the procedure

• when pruning old branches, the growth of young shoots is activated, giving new fruits;
• crown formation redistributes the direction of intake and consumption of nutrients, which increases productivity;
• a properly cut crown is equally illuminated by the sun, which ensures an even ripening of apples;
• the absence of excess green mass creates favorable conditions for air circulation, which acts as a prevention of the appearance and spread of viral, fungal and bacterial diseases and pests;
• uncontrolled crown growth shades the garden plot and prevents the distribution of sunlight to young seedlings and other crops.

If you do not rejuvenate the old apple tree in time, it may die.

Apple branches should not be directed downward, inward, or grow at an acute angle in relation to the trunk.

rules

• Only healthy specimens are rejuvenated, capable of recovering after pruning and further developing and bearing fruit;
• Trees with predominantly dry, broken and diseased branches are best replaced with new seedlings;
• The procedure involves the removal of large-sized branches, therefore it is carried out during the rest of the garden culture;
• Preference for pruning is given to those branches that prevent light and heat from penetrating deep into the tree crown;
• Use a sharp instrument that has undergone a preliminary disinfection treatment;
• The branches are cut directly at the point of joining with the trunk, leaving no stumps, which prevents the further development of diseases on the resulting cut.

Required tools

Use well-sharpened tools

Rejuvenating pruning will require gardening tools. It can be:

• sharp hacksaws with fine and coarse teeth;
• secateurs;
• construction saws.

In large gardens, electric or petrol cutters are used to remove branches, allowing you to trim the crown at the tops with a long pole.

Poorly sharpened instruments form "shaggy" uneven cuts that take a long time to heal, opening pathways for infections.

Before use, garden tools are disinfected in a solution of bleach (10%) or undiluted chlorhixidine.

Gardeners protect their hands with special gardening gloves with leather palm inserts.

Dates of the

Rejuvenating pruning of old apple trees is planned for spring or autumn, while:

• young seedlings are pruned in the spring, until the active process of movement of plant sap has begun, this prevents the freezing of immature trees in the subsequent winter period;
• old apple trees are pruned more often in the fall, because when the temperature drops, they quickly go to a state of dormancy, the procedure does not cause significant harm, and they will not be afraid of frost, autumn pruning falls on the period before the onset of the first frosts (up to -7 ° C), begins after the fall of the foliage, when the process slows down significantly sap flow;
• it is permissible to prune mature trees in the spring (when warm weather sets in) until the buds swell, then rejuvenation is done after the appearance of foliage before budding begins;
• in the summer, only excess branches are cut to thin out the thickened crown.

In warm climates, some gardeners prune in the winter.

Cutting technology

You cannot prune many branches at one time.

The scheme for a full-fledged anti-aging pruning of apple trees involves activities for three years.

Removing a large number of branches at once will weaken the tree, which often ends in its death.

1st year

In the first year, in the fall, the main anti-aging activities are carried out, shortening the apple tree by a third of the height. However, healthy branches are not immediately cut off by more than 2 m. The only exceptions are those that have already stopped growing and are not developing (it is better to remove them completely).

At the same time, the overgrown crown is thinned out so that the lower tier does not cover the upper one.

According to the scheme, in the 1st year, they are limited to the removal of up to 3 large branches, the thickness of which is from 10 cm or more.

Small fruiting shoots are cut into several buds, which subsequently activates growth and gives strength.

2nd year

In the second year, usually in the spring-summer period, the branches are shortened by 1.5-2 m.

Active shoots are also removed, leaving only one on each strong branch. A process of medium strength is fixed in a horizontal direction by means of a wire - this accelerates the transition of shoots into fruit branches.

Before the onset of winter, if necessary, the apple tree is shortened again, reducing the number of skeletal branches.

3rd year

In the third year, in the summer, it will be necessary to rejuvenate the apple trees for the last time, the procedure is more gentle:

• the skeletal branches are cut, leaving a process of 3.5 m;
• remove the remaining old shoots that do not allow the growth and development of the young, especially those located under the young shoots.

In the 3rd year, it is also recommended to remove up to 1/3 of young shoots. A shoot previously fixed in a horizontal direction with a wire is freed for further growth and development. For bending, another strong shoot is chosen and fixed with a wire until next year.

Before winter, the old ones are additionally removed and the number of new branches continues to be reduced.

Conclusion

Rejuvenation of apple trees involves cutting off their crown in order to heal and increase the lost yield. It is carried out in spring and autumn according to the established scheme in several stages, which will be distributed over 2-3 years.