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• Message 1. 

  Posted by rosalba (U4525566) on Friday, 21st January 2011

  Dear All
  
  Last year I purchased a bramley clone 20 on M27 rootstock, which the man at the GC told me is a compact clone of bramley on the most dwarfing rootstock which should grow to about 6 feet high by 6 feet wide.
  
  Currently it is just one trunk (is this called the central leader?) with one short low branch coming of it! It is still in a pot i hope it will start growing once I plant it in the ground!
  
  My question is how should I prune this, at the moment it only has one little branch (about 8 inches long) and thats it. I want to encourage lateral growth (not height) and I want fruit!
  
  I have read that it is a partial tip bearer. i believe tip bearers should only be lightly pruned wherasspur bearers should be spur pruned in summer. What happens/what should you do when the tree is both?
  
  many thanks

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  Posted by DiggerSean (U14704361) on Friday, 21st January 2011

  M27 is a very dwarfing rootstock and although I've never grown apples on this rootstock remember to keep the surrounding area free from weeds once planted and make sure the tree is staked permanently as it's not a very strong rootstock and won't be able to support what is still quite a vigorous apple type.
  
  As far as pruning for this season is concerned, the only thing you'll have to do is take out the top of the main stem (removing the central leader), which will promote lateral buds to sprout and grow, which will then become the main branch system on your tree.
  
  The trick to plenty of fruit is horizontal growth so if you laterals are growing too vertically then towards the end of the summer prize them down towards vertical and tie them into this position until winter time when the soft new wood should have 'hardened' up. Don't do this too early in the season though because it will slow down the growth of the laterals.
  
  To get the strongest tree possible and in the long run the most fruit I would suggest not letting it set fruit for the first few years. Another thing to bear in mind is that the normal Bramlely apple is a triploid and to get a decent fruit crop you'll need another two apple trees to cross pollinate
  
  Hope this helps.

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  Posted by rosalba (U4525566) on Friday, 21st January 2011

  Thank you very much Digger Sean, thats very helpful
  
  Not sure what do about taking the top of the main stem - at the moment my tree is about 4 foot tall, and it is just a single stem with one very short lateral about 1.5 feet from the bottom. Is this single stem the same thing as the central leader? Do I cut a certain ampunt of the top off? The top seems to have lost of buds but I dont know what kind of buds
  
  many thanks

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  Posted by DiggerSean (U14704361) on Friday, 21st January 2011

  It sounds to me like the tree you have purchased is what's called a maiden whip, which is one years growth from when the tree was first grafted. It's probably the best way to buy fruit trees because from that you can train it to any shape you want provided the rootstock and variety are right.
  For tip bearers restricted pruning (eg a cordon or espalier) is as you say out of the question.
  The central leader is the growing point of a maiden (or this time of year bud) at the very top of your tree. If you leave this in place then next spring your tree will put alot of energy into growing higher at the expense of growing side shoots (laterals). Therefore you must cut this out, and the height at which you cut it out will determine the height of your main trunk of you eventual tree. Thats a personal choice but for your tree I'd say about 3 feet would be good. I'd then restrict the number of laterals (which will become the main branches of your finished tree) to 4 or 5, so basically 'rub out' anymore developing buds than the ones you've selected to grow during springtime.
  If this sounds too much then you could always see how it does by itself after the initial pruning of the central leader and tidy it up next winter.
  
  It's hard to explain in great detail so you may want to visit pages of the RHS website which have some good pruning advice or buy yourself a good pruning advice book (again one from the RHS is excellent) which go into much more detail than I can on here.
  
  The main thing is not to be affraid as any mistakes you make with pruning will eventually grow out
  
  Happy growing!

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  Posted by rosalba (U4525566) on Friday, 21st January 2011

  Thanks so much Sean!! I very much appreciate your kind help
  
  

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