AgriLIFE Extension -Denton County

306 N. Loop 288, Suite 222

Denton, Texas 76209-4887

January 22, 2008

PRUNING MAKES FRUITS MORE PRODUCTIVE

 Contact:  John N. Cooper, County Extension Agent-Horticulture, 940.349.2883

  e-mail: jn-cooper@tamu.edu

Many kinds of fruits can be successfully grown in North Texas including, apples, blackberries, grapes, peaches, pears, plums and strawberries.  Producing quality fruit depends on a host of factors especially cultivars, soil, water, weather and culture.

          Although nutrition, weed control, and water management are important, perhaps no cultural practice is more important than pruning.  Pruning accomplishes several things to make fruits more productive.

          Through pruning, old diseased wood is removed, preventing further spread.  Pruning rejuvenates old wood, stimulating the production of more vital, fruitful wood.  Limb development is directed through pruning to create better limb spacing for maximum light capture and more uniform fruit load distribution resulting in better fruit development and greater plant capacity.

          Pruning in simplest terms is plant part removal.  Fruit thinning is a type of pruning used to increase fruit size.  Removal of broken or diseased roots prior to planting is also a kind of pruning which results in healthier plants that establish more readily.  In the end though, limb removal is the most common form of pruning.

          Because different fruiting plants have different fruiting habits they are each pruned in different ways.  Apples and pears are both pome fruits and are both pruned very much the same, to the "modified central leader" system.  Peaches and plums are both stone fruits and are pruned to the "open center" or “vase” system.

          Blackberries are a type of bramble, fruiting on canes in their second spring so the spent canes are removed each summer after fruiting to make way for the new fruiting canes called, prima canes which fruit the next spring.  Grapes are produced on perennial woody vines pruned to the "bilateral cordon" system when they get about three to six inches of growth on them in the spring.  Strawberries are evergreen perennials thinned to a "matted-row" system where the old mother plants are removed after harvest each spring leaving only new daughter replacement plants to grow one foot apart down double staggered rows.

          Fruit pruning begins the day the fruits are planted.  Although container-grown plants are sometimes available, fruits are usually sold as bare-root stock, i.e., no soil ball.  This means eighty percent of the roots are lost when the plants are dug.  Cutting the roots is not a problem because the plants are dormant.  Care should be taken that the remaining live roots are not exposed to dry air for more than a few minutes or to freezing temperatures for more than a few seconds.

          Because of root losses, the tops of bare-root fruit stock should be cut back at planting to compensate for the reduced root system.  In strawberries, this means removing wilted leaves.  In trees, remove one-third to one-half of the top.  In grapes, remove all but two nodes above the ground line.  Blackberries are planted from dormant root pieces without tops.  If you have planted fruits this winter and have not pruned them to this degree you need to do so now.

          Many people think pruning is restricted to the dormant season but this is a big mistake.  Summer pruning directs growth where you want it so less corrective pruning is required, less wood is removed in the winter, and full bearing capacity is reached at an earlier age.  This type of pruning is called “training” and begins with the first growing season.

          Learn how your fruits grow and train them right from the start.  Call the Denton County office of Texas AgriLife Extension Service at 940-349-2883 for details about the various fruit pruning systems and which ones are right for your fruits or visit our website at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu. edu.             

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The information given herein is for educational purposes only.  Reference to commercial products or trade names is made with understanding that no discrimination is intended and no endorsement by AgriLife Extension is implied.

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Extension programs serve people of all ages regardless of socioeconomic level, race, color, sex, religion, disability or national origin. The Texas A&M University System U. S. Department of Agriculture, and the County Commissioners Courts of Texas Cooperating.