Hello. My name is Mrs. Lund. This is a practice exercise for the Pruning Apple Trees activity.
In this tree pruning exercise, you will study a drawing of a dormant apple tree. You will be asked to visualize specific pruning cuts that are needed. After a suitable interval, the answer will appear. You will be asked to locate broken, downward-growing, rubbing, criss-cross, and upward growing branches; competing leaders, and suckers.
Decide which cuts you would make, the orange cuts, the red cuts, or the blue cuts. (Pause) These are the proper cuts.
The next five slides will take you through the process of pruning this neglected apple tree. Locate the broken branches that need to be removed from this tree. Hint: there are only two.
Locate the downward-growing branches to be removed. These interfere with caring for the tree, can damage other branches or fruit, and can break from the weight of fruit. Hint: there are three.
Locate branches that may be rubbing others and branches that grow in a criss-cross or sideways fashion. Hint: there are five.
Locate the upward-growing branches, competing leaders (large branches competing with the main trunk) and the suckers. Hint: there are three upward-growing and one competing leader.
Locate some final cuts to prevent overgrowth. Do not select the tallest central branch. That one is fine for now. Hint: there are four that should be made.
This is the tree before and after our pruning. What a difference! This tree is now ready to put all of its energy into new branches and fruit!
You’ve finished the practice. Good job! Now return to the blog to assess your knowledge. Thank you.