![]() They can also have multiple buds that are a combination of the two.įruit buds tend to be fatter and a little furrier looking, and leaf buds tend to be flatter and less significant. A spur on a pear tree Budsįruit trees have fruit buds (which turn into flowers), and leaf buds (which turn into leaves and shoots). If they are getting too crowded it’s OK to do some ‘spur pruning’ to thin them out a bit. The spurs can keep bearing fruit for years and require little pruning. Some fruit trees are much more prone to developing spurs than others, e.g., pears, some apples, and some plums. The older a spur is, the less likely it is to generate new shoots. Some of these buds may turn into new shoots. A plum tree showing the laterals growing from each limb SpurĪ spur is a collection of buds, mainly fruit buds but also leaf buds, on a lateral. To keep things simple we use the word ‘lateral’ to refer to any growth coming from a limb.Ī lateral itself may have side shoots, which can be a useful place to shorten the lateral back to. ![]() Strictly speaking, a lateral refers to one-year-old wood, i.e., the shoots that grew in the summer just gone. These are the main fruit-bearing parts of the tree. These are shorter pieces of wood, also called small branches, side branches, shoots or twigs, that grow from the limbs. Of course your tree may have a different shape, e.g., espalier, central leader, or more of a wild and possibly completely unpruned shape (those last ones are pretty common!). We explain this technique, and the principles behind how a fruit tree likes to grow, in much more detail in Pruning Young Fruit Trees. The photo above is a young plum tree that only has 4 limbs, but has been pruned back hard to encourage more limbs to grow from low in the tree (‘establishment’ pruning). We usually recommend pruning your trees into a ‘vase’ shape, with between 6 and 10 limbs, starting from a central point about knee height above the ground. These are the permanent, structural parts of your fruit tree. Here’s how we label various parts of the tree: A two year old plum tree (still in the establishment pruning phase) after winter pruning Limbs/branches, sometimes called ‘scaffold’ branches So today we thought we’d share some basic pruning terminology. We explain our foolproof 7-step pruning method in this blog.īut before you get started with learning how to prune, it’s fairly important to understand the different parts of your tree and what they do. We talk a lot about pruning because we know it worries more than 50% of home growers. Do you want reminders about simple jobs to keep your fruit trees healthy? CLICK HERE to sign up for our free Weekly Fruit Tips newsletter.
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