About the fact that summer pruning of fruit trees is necessary, she did not know anything until she began to closely engage in the garden, which was planted by her parents. I was even sure that the trees are pruned only in early spring or late autumn. But, it turns out, pruning fruit trees is needed almost the whole year, including in the summer. Whether trees should be pruned in summer is a moot point. And not all beginner gardeners, yes, and experienced ones also believe that the answer to it will be in the affirmative. By the way, the formation of the crown is a creative process, so creative that once I got so carried away that some kind of slider turned out of my favorite apricot. So the correct pruning is a beautiful appearance of the garden, but not only ... Harvest also depends on it.
Of course, the main pruning operations are carried out in the garden in spring and autumn. And summer pruning of fruit trees is a “work” with green, non-lignified or young shoots that have just begun to become covered with thin bark. Its purpose: firstly, it is necessary to thin out the crown so that it becomes evenly lit and sufficiently ventilated, and, secondly, to provide access to each branch when spraying trees from pests and diseases.
In the summer, mainly in June-early July, gardeners often apply easily performed tree pruning operations — pinching, tweezing, breaking, breaking, pruning. We consider each technique separately.
Escape tip pinch
Pinching is the shortening of shoots in a grassy state. This technique allows you to suspend the growth of shoots of the current year.
Pinching can achieve subjugation of shoots, removing the tops of those
- which need to be loosened;
- turn unnecessary strong shoots into fouling;
- weaken the growth of competitor shoots;
- to get second-order branches in the same year due to summer shoots, the development of which is accelerated by pinching the main shoot.
Pinching promotes the redistribution of plastic substances during the growing season. At the same time, the volume of winter-spring pruning is significantly reduced.
Nipping is effective in a young garden. It begins in the early summer, when the shoots not participating in the formation of the skeleton reach 20–25 cm, removing the apex with 2-3 leaves. Usually we do this when it is difficult in the summer to decide whether we will leave this branch in the fall-spring or not, to the place it will be here or not. After pinching, the apical growth of the branch stops for 1.5-2 weeks. The process can be repeated when growth processes are resumed. We pinch vertically growing shoots or branches growing deep into the crown.
Shoots selected as future skeletal branches are nipped at a length of 50-55 cm.
It is difficult to accurately determine the timing of the summer nipping, they depend on the strength of growth, the age of the tree, the conditions of detention. For example, in fruit trees such as peach, apricot, and cherry plum, nipping is carried out in the first half of June (in early spring - at the end of May), when young shoots begin active growth.
What result should you expect from a summer nipping? This is an increase in shoots from newly awakened buds, their timely maturation by winter.
Pincing in the summer
This pruning technique differs from pinching only in that we do not pinch 3-5 leaves from the branch on top, but rather, leave 3-5 leaves on the branch below. On this branch, a new shoot begins to grow from the upper leaf sinus, which we also pincer (cut), leaving 2-3 leaves. We carry out such an operation on young branches that grow from large (uterine) branches.
What is achieved by summer tweezing? A complete formation of wood near the uterine branch is achieved, which in turn accelerates, increases and improves fruit formation.
Summer shoot of shoots
This is a very simple technique. It is most often used on stone fruit species of trees. With its help, a better illumination of the crown is achieved, since grassy vertically growing shoots that break out of no value for the formation of the crown break out. By the way, the tree easily tolerates summer breakage, since the wounds heal much faster than the slices that need to be processed after spring-autumn pruning.
Breaking branches
This technique is rarely used by gardeners, but it is very effective when you need to give the shoots, which then become branches, the desired direction of growth - down or horizontally. By the way, the more horizontally a branch grows, the greater the yield on it, the better it ripens. Keep this in mind when giving a branch a break in a certain direction. To do this, press the thumbnail with a fingernail on the twig and flatten it, directing the lower part in the desired direction. In the place of the break, wound tissue forms, which overgrows and fixes the shoot in the future.
By the way, you can crack not only green shoots. 2-3-year-old branches are suitable for this operation. If you notice that some branch is too long and it will be difficult to get fruits from it, you can direct its growth horizontally or downward with a break. But you can’t do it with a fingernail. You will have to carefully bend the branch so that the bark on the top of the branch bursts, and the central part only bends, slightly breaks. In the future, the break will overgrow, and the position of the branch will be fixed as it should. Honestly, I broke several branches before I got the desired result. Nevertheless, the reception of a break in lignified branches requires practical skills.
Pruning branches in the summer
This summer pruning technique is a bit like tweezing. Its purpose - it allows you to get flower buds at the base of shoots in the year of their growth.
The essence of the technique: we select on the tree branches that are not necessary for the formation of branches. It can even be vertically growing shoots. We cut them shortly almost to the base, but leaving two well-formed leaves. After 1.5-2 weeks, a new shoot sprouts from the upper bud on this stump with two leaves. We also cut it short. And a month later, in the bosom of the leaf at the base of the shoot, a flower bud is formed - this is the key to a future crop.
Reception of summer pruning - pruning - is interesting and quite effective, but in case of rainy summer it will not bring the expected result. Frequent rains will cause not only the upper, but also the second lower kidney to sprout when pruning. In this case, the flower bud may not form. That is, we will not achieve the goal.
Kerbovka young branches
The kerbovka method consists in applying arcuate transverse incisions to young branches of the fruit tree with the removal of a strip of bark 2-3 mm wide.
If it is necessary to enhance the growth of a branch or cause germination of a kidney, an incision is made on top of the branch above the kidney. And if the shoot needs to be weakened - from below the branches under the kidney. It is best to carry out kerbykovka in late spring and early summer.
By the way, in this (2015) year, due to prolonged warm autumn and sharp drops in air temperature to -20ºС, fruit buds on stone fruit species of trees (peach, apricot, cherry plum, plum) were badly damaged. In the spring, we got a lot of frozen dry branches that had to be cut to living tissue. Then it rained heavily in April-May. This provoked an abundant growth of young shoots. If you do not spend summer pruning of green shoots or those beginning to wood, then by the end of summer we will get a crown too thick, which in the fall will be more difficult to thin out. In addition, such abundant growth of branches will further weaken our trees that survived such a difficult winter.