Remove Inward Growth, Suckers, and Waterspouts

4:34

8:14

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LATE SUMMER FRUIT TREE CARE AND PRUNING

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What happens here

Focus on branches growing inward towards the center of the tree, as well as suckers (branches growing from the rootstock) and waterspouts (vertical shoots emerging from main branches). These growths are often vigorous but unproductive, consuming energy that could be used for fruit. Nip them off as close to the trunk or parent branch as possible, ensuring a clean cut. The goal is to thin out the tree's center, allowing for better air circulation and light penetration, which are vital for fruit health and quality.

Goal: Eliminate unproductive vertical and inward-growing branches to improve tree health and fruit yield.

Tools and materials

Secateurs — Nipping off suckers, waterspouts, and inward-growing branches

What they say

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want this branch to be large and girthy so that it supports weight once this tree starts to bear fruit okay so here we are we've got a couple of little stragglers down low I want to get rid of those guys get them out of there and that way the tree doesn't waste its energy we're gonna leave this one leave this one and this one and this one three major branches right there now we could take this guy out but we're gonna wait and see how it does okay basically folks you just want to get in here and you want to see what looks right what is symmetrical and what is gonna make your tree start to flourish okay now you can see inside here we're just too crowded we have one two three of these limbs right here that are growing up tight we want to go ahead and take out one of them and leave the most healthy limbs right there we also have this guy which I debated about before but he's growing up in the middle we're gonna get rid of him too okay now let's walk over to one more tree and we'll show you a little bit and talk to you a little bit more about what we've got going so this tree right here is just a disaster right in the center it's just a disaster you want to take out some of these branches that are taking up the center of the tree right here and these are the branches and we're going to take off again we're shooting for one two three four major branches one two three four so three or four major branches is all we need to think about we've got this one it's growing inward and when I get him out of there I've got a couple more that are growing inward we want to get it out of there we want to get those inward growing branches out of there so that more light can get into the center of that tree and promote more fruit growth you guys see this great old big straggler right here you want to get that guy out of there to cut them back as close to the trunk of the tree as you possibly can basically we're just standing out the center of this tree so that it can promote good healthy growth now that looks 100% better than it did before doesn't it well folks I'm not going to take you around and show you every tree in the orchard and show you how I trim it I just wanted to give you an idea of the gist of the thought process behind what we're doing here we want to open up the center of the tree we want to get any branches that are growing in any wrenches that might be criss crossing each other any branches that might be shading one another and we want to open that tree up so we…

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