Pruning is fundamental for apricot trees, directly influencing their health and consistent fruit production. Apricot trees have specific growth habits and are susceptible to certain diseases, requiring a tailored pruning approach. Pruning stimulates the tree to produce stronger new growth, where the best fruit develops. Managing the tree’s canopy ensures proper air circulation and sunlight penetration, which are crucial for disease prevention and fruit quality.
Essential Timing and Necessary Tools
The timing of apricot pruning departs from the standard late-winter approach due to disease risk. Apricots are highly susceptible to the fungal disease Eutypa dieback, which enters the tree through fresh pruning wounds during rainfall. Therefore, the main structural pruning should occur immediately after harvest, typically between July and August. This timing ensures wounds have at least six weeks to heal before the onset of autumn rains.
In climates with consistently dry summers, this post-harvest period is the safest and most effective time for making heavy cuts. Light, corrective pruning can also be performed in late winter or early spring just before bud break, but any major cuts should be reserved for the dry season. Using the correct tools ensures clean cuts that heal quickly and minimize stress on the tree.
Essential equipment includes sharp bypass pruners for branches up to three-quarters of an inch thick and long-handled loppers for branches up to two inches in diameter. A folding pruning saw is necessary for making clean cuts on larger limbs that exceed the capacity of the loppers. To prevent the spread of pathogens, all tools must be sterilized between trees or even between cuts by wiping the blades with a solution of rubbing alcohol or a 10% bleach solution.
Formative Pruning: Establishing the Structure of Young Trees
Formative pruning is carried out during the first three years to establish a strong, permanent scaffold framework capable of supporting heavy fruit loads. The focus during this stage is entirely on structure rather than immediate fruit production. Apricots are best trained using the Open Vase system, which encourages a cup-shaped canopy that maximizes light infiltration and air movement to the center of the tree.
In the first year, a newly planted “whip,” a single-stemmed tree, should be headed back to a height of about 24 to 30 inches to encourage lateral branching below the cut. This heading cut stimulates the growth of new shoots that will become the primary scaffold branches. The goal is to select three to four well-spaced scaffold branches that radiate evenly around the trunk, ideally positioned 18 to 24 inches above the ground and angled 45 to 60 degrees from the trunk.
In the second year, the selected scaffold branches are further shaped by making thinning cuts and heading cuts. Thinning cuts completely remove a branch back to its point of origin, which opens the canopy for light and air. Heading cuts shorten the terminal growth of the scaffold branches by about one-half to one-third to promote secondary branching and increase the thickness of the limbs. All growth pointing toward the center of the developing vase shape should be removed to maintain the open structure.
The third year focuses on developing secondary branches from the primary scaffolds and continuing to eliminate inward-growing shoots. New growth on the scaffold branches is shortened by about one-third to ensure a strong, compact fruiting structure. This creates a robust, well-distributed framework that supports mature fruit production.
Maintenance Pruning: Managing Mature Fruit Production
Once the apricot tree reaches maturity, typically around the fourth year, pruning shifts to an annual maintenance routine focused on managing fruit production and renewal of fruiting wood. Apricots produce fruit primarily on short, specialized branches called spurs and on wood that is one to four years old. The objective is to remove older, unproductive wood while encouraging the growth of new spurs and one-year-old shoots.
Annual maintenance pruning requires removing approximately 20% to 30% of the previous year’s growth to maintain tree vigor and prevent over-crowding. This is primarily accomplished through thinning cuts, which eliminate any branches that are growing inward, crossing, or shading out lower productive wood. Opening the canopy allows sunlight to penetrate deep into the tree, which is necessary for fruit bud development and ripening.
Removing old, unproductive spurs and branches stimulates the tree to produce new fruiting wood for the following season. It is also necessary to identify and remove suckers, which are vigorous shoots arising from the rootstock below the graft, and water sprouts, which grow rapidly from the main branches. These growths consume energy without contributing to fruit production and must be cut back to their point of origin.
Any dead, diseased, or broken wood must be removed immediately upon discovery, regardless of the season. When cutting out diseased wood, such as a branch showing signs of Eutypa dieback, the cut should be made at least one foot below any visible discoloration. Promptly removing this material and sterilizing tools prevents the infection from spreading to healthy parts of the tree.