Fruit/nut tree pruning tips?

Lumen

Took delivery of a load of trees on Friday evening and managed to get the 12 bareroot ones in the ground yesterday before the snow hit.

Some of them look quite tidy, but others (e.g. Cornelian Cherry) look a bit crazy.

Can anyone offer some advice about which to prune, when and how? I've tried doing my own research but am finding it difficult to apply what I find - I've terrible spatial awareness and am crap with instructions.

Basically: do any of these look like they need attention before the growing season kicks off in earnest?

Click to enlarge or see imgur album:
https://imgur.com/a/J3jWJ

Cobnut Cosford


Cobnut Webbs


Cobnut Rotblättrige Zellernuss (Red Filbert)


Cornus Mas Jalico #1 (Cornelian Cherry)


Cornus Mas Jalico #2 (Cornelian Cherry)


Cornus Mas Drindl (Cornelian Cherry)


Medlar Nottingham


Cherry Stella on Gisela 5 rootstock


Plum Opal on St Julien A rootstock


Walnut Fertignac


Walnut Mayette


Walnut Corne du Perigord

Lumen

OK, will post useful things here as I find them.

How To Prune Bare Root Fruit Trees
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndnq04-MHsI

I didn't check and prune dead/broken roots, but it's a bit late for that now!

Quite surprising how much of the branches she takes off, taking it all the way down to scaffolding.

How to Prune Fruit Trees
http://www.groworganic.com/organic-gardening/articles/pruning-fruit-trees-choose-training-shapes-for-apple-peach-cherry-trees

Central Leader training system
+ High productivity conical tree
- Difficult to harvest

Vase or Open Center training system
+ Good for air and sunlight
- Weak branches

Modified Central Leader training system
+ Good compromise between strength and ease of harvesting
Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_FFF3wgfh8

Lumen

And some detailed advice on walnut pruning.

Training Young Walnut Trees: Minimum Pruning vs. No Pruning Compared
http://www.sacvalleyorchards.com/walnuts/horticulture-walnuts/training-young-walnut-trees-minimum-pruning-vs-no-pruning-compared/

lottpaul

You have a fantastic selection of trees there -- a lot of work. I'm not an expert on pruning but from experience I'd say your priority in their first year is to ensure their survival --they've had a big shock to the system - so they probably don't need any extra from pruning (other than any damaged twigs etc). Make sure they never dry out - don't feed them and keep them weed and especially grass free around their trunks. The stakes may need a little tweaking as they develop their leaves - they will start to sway and bend, but make sure they can't rub against the stake and damage the bark. Your stakes seem a little short? but it's difficult to see due to the snow cover. There are many schools of thought re staking and it may be a good idea to have a quick look if you haven't done so already.
Other than that I'd do very little until this time next year.

Lumen

My staking approach is based on the theory that the trunk needs to bend in order to promote thickening and prevent failure when older.

A sort of stake-dependency avoidance system.

So I'm basically stabilising the roots rather than the trunk.

The challenge is deciding whether to tie above or below the graft. I couldn't find any advice on that, so just did what worked on a case by case basis.

I don't like any of the tree ties I've found. Inner tubes worked ok but kept the stake too close for comfort.

I might build some tree protection out of 6ft stakes, maybe four per tree, and then use softer straps anchored from these. Don't want stray footballs/children wrecking all my hard work!

Hocus Focus

Inner tubes as ties seem like a good idea. you could use some plastic tube as a spacer; put the rubber through the tube, between tree and stake.

macraignil

Planted a couple of cornelian cherry trees about four years back and not pruned at all. The RHS website puts them in what they call pruning group 1 which means they should need little or no pruning ie. they should grow to form a good shape naturally without any pruning to help and hard pruning may actually be harmful. Found my ones flowered for the first time this year: cornus mass flowering

The rest look like they don't need pruning this year also and I think I've seen it said on the futureforests website that you don't get nuts on the hazelnuts if they are cut back. Cherry can also get disease problems if pruned in winter.

0lddog

I suspect that anything in the prunus family should ( if needed ) be pruned only in summer, otherwise serious possibility of contracting silverleaf

Can anyone confirm this or deny this ?

macraignil

0lddog wrote: »

I suspect that anything in the prunus family should ( if needed ) be pruned only in summer, otherwise serious possibility of contracting silverleaf

Can anyone confirm this or deny this ?

I read that before as well. Says on RHS page the spores are active from September to May. I guess pruning on dry days would be a good idea as well as I think dampness is something that helps spores survive.