Pruning the Fruit Trees - Finally!

We finally got out yesterday and pruned the dwarf fruit trees. Sadly, I must admit that this is the first time we have done it since we planted them as bareroot stock in 2007. The first few years, they didn't really need it and last year I just never got around to it. The pear and plum trees were getting too tall and the peach tree had so many branches and leaves that there was no light getting to the fruit inside to ripen it. The taller tree to the left is a Carpathian walnut tree and it is supposed to be tall so I didn't mess with it. We actually got seven walnuts off of it this past year! :)

When I go back and look at the pictures, it is kind of hard to tell we actually did anything on the pear and plum trees!


Kieffer pear before



Kieffer pear after

The silly pear tree is budding out already! I'm not sure what kind of yield we will get this year, I don't think we have had enough chill hours.


Santa Rosa plum before



Santa Rosa plum after

The height of the plum tree is now even with the top of the fence but it's hard to tell with the Vitex in the background. I cut about two feet off the top.


Peach before



Peach after

The peach tree was given to us so I don't know the variety but it bears the biggest, juiciest, freestone peaches and it is only about 4-1/2 feet tall! YUM!

I certainly hope we did our pruning right and that it helps the trees be more productive. I'm linking up with Heidi's Country Garden Showcase at My Simple Country Living.