First year apple tree pruning

Apple Trees My First Try

Okay so you know you by the way know I planted whoops that apple tree last spring? I wasn’t you know even planning to! It well was c’mon like, on sale at the garden yep center, practically begging me to just take it home. Anyway, first year apple c’mon tree pruning… I figured, how hard could it be? Famous last bet words, right?

Before I actually Started so

I Googled okay it, of course. Spent like an hour well watching YouTube totally videos. Some bet were super intense, talking about angles and growth hormones and all this stuff. alright Honestly, it kinda scared me. Then I found some simpler guides, thank goodness. like

One for sure thing I learned -- and probably by the way should’ve known better -- is that you basically really do need no way sharp pruning shears. right I mean, duh, but mine were kinda like dull. Made a real mess of things uh on one branch. More on that later…

You so wanna aim for a solid central leader, basically a strong main no way trunk. That's key totally for a healthy tree long term, Apparently that’s a kinda big part of first year apple tree pruning voordelen – you set it up for sure right early totally on.

My First Mistake The Cut That Wasn't

So I see this branch, kinda sticking out at a exactly weird yep angle. I thought, yup "Yep, gotta go." I mean But my shears were dull, remember? Instead of a clean cut, I kinda… tore it. Left like a jagged edge.
Ew, right? bet So now I dude gotta go back and clean that up with some proper shears. Lesson learned: invest in solid tools!

Actually, I yup should probably tell you now - you no way really want to cut back about a third of the new growth. This encourages strong root development. I almost bet forgot to pull off that on for sure one sorta of the smaller branches! Yikes.

Why no kidding Prune Anyway

I uh wondered, actually like, why even prune a brand new tree? Seemed kind of mean. But apparently it’s all about shaping it for the future. Plus, they said first year apple tree pruning toepassingen totally include encouraging actually fruiting so in later basically years. More apples? I'm in!

That Central Leader Thing c’mon

Not right gonna lie, this I mean part confused like me for a while. Figuring out right which branch was actually the central leader was tricky. whoops They all looked whoops kinda the same whoops to me! alright Eventually, I just picked the tallest, straightest one and went with honestly it. Hope dude I actually chose correctly.

My Second Mistake Branch ID

Okay, this is embarrassing. I cut off a branch I thought was crossing another one, causing congestion. Turns no way out… it was a fruiting like spur. A tiny one, but still! I only totally realized kinda after I'd lopped it by the way off. I felt so bad!

You really just have to actually look carefully exactly before you begin hacking away! So yeah. First year apple tree pruning inspiratie dude came from YouTube… and also from making a by the way few rookie mistakes. bet I’m hoping it pretty much all works out in the end. I mean, anyway it’s just one tree. Right?

After The Damage

I went back later that day no way and put some alright pruning sealer on the bigger cuts to support prevent disease. I'm not sure if I needed to, but it made me feel better, like I was making anyway up for my mistakes. Who knows maybe it will prevent infections like anyway.

Now I just have to wait and see if it survives my amateur pruning skills. Fingers crossed I didn’t completely ruin it!

Next Steps

I’m thinking of maybe getting a proper book on apple tree like care. Or well maybe just sticking to YouTube. like We'll see. Oh! And sorta I kinda need honestly to buy those totally better shears. alright Seriously. This time, I mean it! actually