Apple Tree?
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Has it started to "bud" yet?
If you can't see and buds and are north of the 35th parallel I'd go for it.
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Yes you can. You can prune anytime. It's just better certain times of the year. Look on YOUTUBE. Many videos from Good Orchards and Universities on when and how to prune and what to do in every circumstance. Pruning done right is very good.......I have learned it's pretty hard to really screw up too......
Dutchs is right, you can prune a tree any time. Just be aware that pruning a tree when it is no longer dormant stresses the tree. A stressed tree is more susceptible to diseases and insects. Fire blight has been bad around here the last few years. It’s caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora. Plants that produce pome-fruits are susceptible. These include apples, pears, cherry’s and rose bushes. 
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7414.html
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7414.html
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- Dec 2, 2017
- Messages
- 544
Peanut knows his stuff guys. I'm just a Novice. I think I'll keep asking questions and learn. I really do enjoy this forum. Bunch of good folks.Dutchs is right, you can prune a tree any time. Just be aware that pruning a tree when it is no longer dormant stresses the tree. A stressed tree is more susceptible to diseases and insects. Fire blight has been bad around here the last few years. It’s caused by the bacterium Erwinia amylovora. Plants that produce pome-fruits are susceptible. These include apples, pears, cherry’s and rose bushes.
http://ipm.ucanr.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7414.html
I worked for a guy in Montlake Terrace, just North of Seattle, that ran a landscaping business, he taught me a lot about pruning fruit trees, especially about opening up the centers of tree to get more sunlight into the tree, it was amazing what that did for my mom's apple tree in N.E. Denver, she was about to cut it down and I pruned it heavily and when the growing season came it produced a huge amount of tasty apples. Then we moved here in Oregon and I saw a couple of friends that used chainsaws to prune, scared me to see how much they cut up the fruit trees, my boss in Seattle would have had a heart attack, but those trees recovered and have produced tons of fruit. I still wouldn't have cut them so radically because it leaves the trees susceptible to boring insects, disease or just dying from shock, I was always taught to be moderate when pruning.
