I used to hack back young trees hard but now I go easy

I always cut saplings way back each spring (just how I was taught, you know). After seeing how the ones I barely trimmed caught up and looked tougher, I've changed my tune. Anyone else find less pruning works better for new trees?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse47d ago

Yeah, same thing happened with some apple trees I planted. I left more branches on a couple instead of cutting them way back, and those ones put on way thicker growth by fall. Now I only take off the obviously broken or rubbing stuff for the first few years.

charlie_allen7d ago

Leaving more branches like you did makes sense, I chopped mine back like a bad haircut.