So you saw the pics of them in my other post, but what I want is for my fruit trees to rather grow in width rather than length. I'd prefer them not to grow too tall ( Taller than 2-3 meters) as I don't want to struggle when harvesting & treating the trees.
How do I accomplish this? Do I prune the top of the plant in order to do this so it sends more energy to the other side branches?
The other question is, when to do this? At what size / age should this process be started?
Any help will be much appreciated!
https://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w415/Gustavvanderwalt/1111.jpg
https://i1074.photobucket.com/albums/w415/Gustavvanderwalt/1112.jpg
Hi Gustav.
Re your trees growth.
Looking at your trees at the moment they will not need pruning for hight control for a couple of years at least.
The hight of a tree is controlled a lot by the power of the root system. hence the use of rootstocks where the growth rate is a known factor.
However ...good pruning can control the tree a great deal if done well.
The thing to remember over all is that a strong top on a tree will always make it grow taller.
So when you come to have to cut the leading growth on your trees when they reach the hight you want them ...remove the stronger shoots and leave the weaker. This applies only to the top of the tree...not the branches lower down.
This pushes the trees growth down to the lower branches where you want it.
Re your trees growth.
Looking at your trees at the moment they will not need pruning for hight control for a couple of years at least.
The hight of a tree is controlled a lot by the power of the root system. hence the use of rootstocks where the growth rate is a known factor.
However ...good pruning can control the tree a great deal if done well.
The thing to remember over all is that a strong top on a tree will always make it grow taller.
So when you come to have to cut the leading growth on your trees when they reach the hight you want them ...remove the stronger shoots and leave the weaker. This applies only to the top of the tree...not the branches lower down.
This pushes the trees growth down to the lower branches where you want it.