HOW TO PRUNE A FRUIT TREE (THAT'S BEEN NEGLECTED FOR YEARS)

Join Josh and Casimir Holeski as they show you how to prune a neglected fruit tree.
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On our homestead, we have quite a few fruit trees that have been neglected for quite a few years. We're slowly trying to rehabilitate those trees so they can produce the best quality fruit for us to harvest and preserve.
Be sure to check out the blog post that goes with this video for even more tips and tricks on pruning fruit trees here: bit.ly/howtoprunefruittrees
Check Casimir out on Facebook at: / casimir1000
At Boundary County Restoration Project: / fillthevalleywithtrees
Or at I.M.Tree Crops: / imtreecrops
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#fruittrees #pruning #pruningseason #pruningfruitrees

[@auntmayme8119]

Thank you for this video! After acquiring 53 trees in an orchard at my home, it was time to prune them. A visit to a local orchard showed what to do but not how to get there. So I charged in. This video confirmed that what I did was right. I liked Kasmir’s explanations because he explained everything in a very clear and understandable way.

[@opalezell319]

You were moving too fast, I need to get help with this.

[@dianebeckner884]

I liked the explanations etc., but would have liked to have seen more of a close up of the tree in question as he was making cuts; as well as explanations of why he was choosing that branch i.e. dead wood, crossing, shading, etc.

[@abbyu209]

I was thinking the same thing. But thanks for the video.

[@leonardpolletta2617]

Thank you Josh and Casimir for the video. It was great. We have two trees, one crabapple and one apple, that had gone for years without pruning. The trees are much taller than we would like so your tip about cutting some but not all of the suckers to slow the growth down was very helpful.

[@sarajacobs8775]

Amazing video!!! I wished I had seen this video 15 years ago but it was meant for me to see it now. Some of the techniques I already knew but so much information I didn't know and learned. I loved the idea that there is no real right or wrong except a couple of things and not to stress about it or be afraid to prune. "Learn as we grow"

[@RoseThistleArtworks]

So cool! Thank you. It is very nice to meet Casimir. I love that he is preserving such a heritage.

[@megmcginnis239]

Great video. Maybe you do this, but I like to gather some of the pruned off branches that have buds on them. I put them in large vases with water and they bloom...early spring indoors.

[@stoker20]

This is the best advice of all the fruit tree pruning I've seen especially dealing with water sprouts that go crazy on my trees. I'll not take it all off in the future and deal with it this summer. Thanks.

[@fleurjoyce1111]

I have 4 really old apple trees in the garden (in the UK), I've been here 10 years and have made practically every mistake you mention with them, yet they're still alive. I'm now dealing with a thicket of water sprouts and plenty of disease, but hoping it's going to be ok. All of them have cropped heavily in the past (till I had them savaged!), one with beautiful big desert apples, and I really want them fruiting well again... this gives me hope. And I'm going shopping for that Opinel saw, it's so cool. Thanks guys, this is the best and most informative video on the subject I've found.

[@blacksheepacres-homestead3596]

This is a very informative video. Have 20 some fruit trees on our Homestead. So this was right up my alley.

[@roobg6]

Really liked the video. Thank you for bringing Casimir and giving valuable and informative information. Likeable man also.

[@miguifly3095]

Thanks so much. I love the logic and dogma free advice. I can tell Casimir has some experience!

[@jamieyeomans3803]

this is exactly what I was looking for, I needed all my previous reading from my dads Landscape architects reference books on tree pruning material to come together in a common sense way,and you guys are awesome.Thank you from Courtenay on Vancouver Island B.C

[@HomesteadingFamily]

Glad it was helpful!

[@lornapenn-chester6867]

I enjoyed the video but feel super frustrated that just as the real pruning and decisions started, the music kicked in and the speed and I couldn’t follow what was going on. In the end it’s not instructional. Having said that, most of your videos are fantastic and I’m grateful for them 👍 Thank you.

[@MelissaWrightMW]

Have you tried slowing the video down to .75 or .50 speed at that section? Maybe that will help to visually see what they are doing. Hope that helps!

[@vernonmason5592]

I felt the same way. Might be experts at pruning but not experts at instructing.

[@jardinpetitbassin3787]

Loads of information! Thank you! Great timing, I’m pruning my neglected fruit tree for the first time this weekend! I was so nervous to hurt the tree but feel much better now! A little at a time! 🌱🐝🦋 Martine 🇨🇦

[@fourseasonsnorth]

Now it just needs green flush of blush :) Just learning about pruning this past year. Thanks a bunch to you both!

[@theemmanuelswife]

Thank you for the great video. I'm trimming my Apple trees tomorrow, and waiting to trim my Peaches and Plums in the Spring; after blooming. ;)

[@ChocolateBoxCottage]

This is valuable information. I'm so glad you guys are sharing skills like this. ~Michele

[@Latebird24]

This guy knows what he is talking about. Good video.

[@eugenethompson2942]

Hi Josh, can you give us an update on how this tree turned out please? Thanks.

[@tiabiamama]

Thanks, that was very helpful.

[@user-wq3jp3qg1o]

UC Santa Cruz Center of Egroecology has the best explained reasoning for pruning with all details. From the growing branches to budding limbs to trim for healthy trees. ❤ Love your videos this one, off just a bit. 😮

[@Wildevis]

Very helpful info thanks!

[@saucywench9122]

Thanks for this. I never thought about different kinds of fruit trees needed such varied pruning practices. Teaches me that I need to speak to more aborists.

[@vickismallwood2082]

Very informative thank you very much.

[@donnalarson8558]

What do you do different for stone fruit trees?

[@NejiBHTahar]

Beautiful! Thank you!

[@maryspencer1882]

I wish we could’ve heard the conversations when the actual pruning was going on.🤔 Either way thanks for sharing.

[@tanarehbein7768]

Please add a follow up to this one to complete the shaping of this tree.

[@colleenjerns9239]

Great to see this video. I have a Gravenstein apple tree that I’ve been trying to reclaim over the last two years. I’m tackling it today for the third year and find this video a great refresher. I am also trying to manage a 100 plus year old pear tree and happy to get anything off it for its age. It was hard to hear what you said regarding pear trees cause the wind gust overwhelmed your microphone but since the answer was short I assume he said similar to apple trees. I am also glad to see I can wait a bit for my plum tree. Do you have any suggestions for managing thorny, tall Hawthorn trees? I have one that is so hard to manage because it gains so much height each year and water sprouts. Thanks so much for your video.

[@Dr.Mrs.TheMonarch]

A little slow at the start but lots of great information. I learned quite a bit. Thank you for sharing.

[@growtolearn4545]

oh this is so cool. I live in the pacific northwest, in Graham washington, and i have a 150 year old APPLE tree that produces APPLES up to 8 inches diameter. I have no idea what the variety it is but the person that i bought the land from has passed away but when he was alive he said his grandpa planted it, he said there is one more near by and that's it. it would be really nice to know what variety it is or what is the name or where its from originally. I do have a pruning video of it on my channel

[@PamelaClare]

Thanks for this! We planted an orchard in our ordinary urban garden about three years ago and now need to prune these trees - all 15 of them. I'd love to know how to handle young fruit trees. We definitely need to improve airflow and open up some of them, especially the stone fruits. When to prune those seems to be an issue of great debate. Everywhere I look, I get a different answer.

[@beverlyf6603]

The best way to know when to prune is to call your county's agricultural extension (in the US). They have master gardeners on hand who can answer your questions and inform you of any specific pests/diseases in your area that might be a problem and what time of year to prune to best avoid them.

[@saucywench9122]

Look at the KZbin channel Plant Abundance. Dan has a backyard food forest and walks you through pruning.

[@kimparsons5664]

Love the video would have liked more video and explanation as the branches were being cut.

[@harlankraft578]

Do you ever used the pruned limbs to sprout new trees? Also a lot of permaculture is about chopping and using the branches as mulch to build organic matter and cover the soil. I know you primary focus of this video is about pruning but these things go hand in hand don’t they?? Thanks Josh As always great job on the video! To hot and so many cutter ants here in central Texas for many types of fruit trees. Anyhow thanks again!!!!

[@derekfowler5503]

You could select thin branches from the pruning and use them as scion wood to graft onto an appropriate rootstock.

[@stacypearson7180]

Thank You guys! What a great empowering video. I knew zero about pruning fruit trees. I just inherited about 20 fruit trees in Cd'A, right smack dab in the middle of Suburbia. haha I am still curious about how to deal with some of the structural(main) branches that to me seem way too tall. Im looking at one that has 6 other branches all coming out of the top of that too tall branch. Can I cut below that about 2 feet? Would I do a horizontal cut? I really want to get good at this. I have cherries, peaches, plums, pears and I believe apricots. Are the rules generally the same for all of them? Thank you both.

[@IceLynne]

I have an Apricot tree I started from seed a few years ago and now it's approx 5' tall. I pruned it this past early December and took off one main branch that was competing with what I considered the trunk. I live in a place that never gets below 40 so I wasn't worried about the season I was pruning in...I hope that's o.k. So now it's spring and I've been waiting for it to bloom...the stump of the big branch I pruned had green leaves showing a week and a half ago but the rest of the tree just barely started to show any green. It doesn't look like I'm going to get buds this year and I was wondering why? Last year I only got a few buds and thought that was odd. Thanks.

[@auntieann3000]

Thanks for the video. Casimir's business seems to have disappeared from Facebook. Look forward to a followup this year.

[@tatianamorits8125]

Thank you!

[@leiatyndall8648]

A walk around the tree before, during, & after & w/ explanations would've been a great visual for most people. It's hard to really tell which branches are going where, & their size & shape when the camera is stationary. Much like Disney"s Quasimodo, there are different views from different angles.

[@lesliem.534]

Thanks for this info! I recently moved to a home that has a large (maybe 20+ yr old) Apricot tree. This tree splits off into 2 trunks a few inches off the ground. Each trunk produced substantial fruit, but I would like to remove one because I want to free up some of the garden of all the shade produced. (I'm in California, I need every square inch) Will it kill the whole tree if I were to cut off one of the trunks? Thank you!

[@zanecrofts7085]

Interesting I'm an arbourist in nz & we are told not do flush cut on the collar but more of a 75 degree angle starting from top of collar

[@joellagrayson6291]

AWESOME

[@whitepinehomestead]

Oh... I always take out all the suckers. I'll have to try just thinning them this year. Did you just thin the whole thing or only on the top area? I'm trying to confirm what he said.

[@tinaknutsen]

Great video and beautiful apple tree. I am assuming this method applies to 🍒 cherry trees??? This is the same method I use on my Japanese Maples. I have 2 cherry trees that are 55 years old. The previous owner said they were planted when the house was built. They are overgrown and I cannot reach the cherries. I would like to prune for the same reasons you had w/your apple tree. Accessibility, production and bringing the height of the trees down. Zone 8b WA. PNW PS. Do you have a follow up video of the apple tree? After the prune I thought your apple tree looked to be standing gracefully and thanking you for the haircut 😊

[@diannehadorn8660]

We have inherited 3 pear trees that are around 20+ feet tall. I'd love to know what the advice is to get these down to a shorter version that can be harvested. We have a lift on our full-size tractor, and using it with a man-lift box, we still cannot reach the top where most of the fruit is. Ideas, advice?

[@antware]

What sort of crop did you get from that apple tree this year?

[@tiffanytott3778]

What advice would you have for pruning an apple tree that has 4-5 trunks and all the fruit is out of reach in the canopy? 80% of our apples are harvested after they fall because we can't reach them with a ladder PLUS a 20ft pole picker. I'd like to force lower growth and create a central leader again with branches we can reach from the ground (or even a stepladder), but how many years will it take for the tree to recover from such hard pruning back and produce fruit again? No real idea on the age of the tree, but the main trunk is at least 18" at the base and the tree is more than 50' high. It's been a real gift as far as production, but it's mostly bruised fruit that can only be processed or eaten immediately before it spoils.

[@suesmith8225]

Great information, is the pruning any different for other fruits, such as peach or cherry trees

[@derekfowler5503]

Yes cherries peaches plums aka stone fruits are generally pruned with an open center

[@dianejantz9228]

Do apple trees need more then one to cross pollination! We have one but does not produce apples!

[@Blessed.5acrehomestead]

Hello. I live in central KY and have always been told to prune or uproot in the fall her. Is this true? Thanks😊 We have one winesap that’s never been pruned.

[@Belo83]

I have a few dozen trees like this on a property I hunt... the suckers are about the same and the task is just so daunting. I wish I had a light saber to just slice them off lol

[@SgtRudySmithbRet]

Are pear trees the same? I have a 30+ year old tree and I have no clue where to start. Please help!

[@joeblow6951]

👍👍great vid

[@chris-2496]

What about using a sawsall to speed up the sawing?

[@robinpritchard837]

When do you start pruning a fruit tree, all my trees are young ?

[@saucywench9122]

After all the leaves fall off, when it's sleeping in winter.

[@michaelobrien4644]

He did say with stone fruit example plums peach's after the flowering stage cheers

[@cindiperron]

where do you cut to keep a tree at the height you want? do you top off the main trunk?

[@lisafeck1537]

No. Never top any tree. Seek out you local extension office for more information, or reputable garden center for professional advise to confirm what I have stated. You cannot force a tree to stay at a height you want. The trees characteristics determine it's height. There are some varieties that are supposed to be dwarf, I would still need a ladder for them, but they are shorter.

[@cindiperron]

@@lisafeck1537 thank you :) unfortunately our local extension office is useless :/ i will ask the nursery where we bought several of them. the reason i asked that is because on this video they talked about keeping the fruit trees at a manageable height, so i assumed that meant you could prune it in such a way as to control it's height.

[@sharronlawler8751]

I have been planting and trying to prune fruit trees for years.. I have got snippets here and there fron people and even taken a master gardener course and still wasn't comfortable pruning my tree's

[@rawfoodwriter]

This look like Pennsylvania mountains in the background. Yes?

[@timothy3921]

Turn those clippings into more trees 😉

[@annjones3672]

Twins!

[@msheart2]

That tree is short I have to say it doesn’t look like it’s been neglected for years, not compared to my apple trees which are very tall. I can’t locate anyone with the same issue. So I know I should do this at end of winter.The wind makes this hard to hear.

[@michaeltoney2277]

So.. what if it’s so neglected it is four times that height?

[@amandaowens9022]

Great music!!

[@hometown215]

I learned a few things from this guy and on his first big cut he rips the bark...lol

[@ohske]

☺️👍👍👍👌

[@rawfoodelectric]

Haahaahaa! "Say, hi" !

[@PatsyMellen]

Where’s a good place to buy fruit trees? Is mail order acceptable?

[@auntmayme8119]

If I could chime in here, Arbor Day Foundation. They have an incredible program to not only sell you trees, but if you give them a donation, they will send you a bunch of them. I’ve been buying trees from them for years and they are of excellent stock. They send a booklet describing the tree, how to plant it and when to prune it. They are also very helpful.

[@derekfowler5503]

They are many reputable online fruit tree sources, where you are able to select varieties that are on appropriate rootstock for your area and gardens size. Most trees are grafted these days

[@trumpetflowerII]

Hi, Mr Arborist. At 14:00 minutes: You know that the ISA does not recommend flush cuts. You (should) also know that making wounds close to the same diameter as a parent limb is also regarded as poor workmanship. What you should deduce (if you are an experienced arborist) is that making wounds that are as small as a baby's finger is better than one wound the thickness of your wrist. Further, and hopefully, readers are listening; do not neglect your fruit tree and then try to play catch-up as more harm is done. Every wound that is the thickness of a wrist decays the diameter of the cut. Of course, callus attempts to close over a wound, but wood decay ALWAYS wins. So, is this advice good? If you are attempting to reduce the tree's life, yes, you have succeeded. An arborist worthy of his creed would not publicize making the types of harmful wounds you have made. "Heal", I know rapid decay will form and infect the trunk and branches. Does it really matter, given that you are a pinprick on a map? No, it matters not. Look at what's presented and know how much harm you are disseminating, and you will be remembered for that.

[@patrickbear7261]

It would have been helpful if you told us what you were doing as you were doing it not after but i did get a little info from the fast forward.

[@saucywench9122]

Check out the KZbin channel Plant Abundance. Dan almost always talks to you while he's pruning.

[@lynettebee6045]

The most important part at the end SHOW the pruning to match the theory. Dead crossing etc. Show andcexplain the reasoning.

[@chrisp4170]

Guys, thanks for trying to take us through this, but all we got to see was a black tree against a black background from 30 yards into the sun i.e. nothing.

[@DawnaRo]

Really wish you would have talked about what to do as you were doing it. Speeding up makes it so we miss what's going on. It sounded like good into but just didn't get what you were doing in the speed up.

[@aliq4514]

There was a lot of good information but lots of extra chit chat making it hard to get to the meat of the information. Also, more close ups as he was talking about specific branches, etc so we know what he's pointing at. Appreciate the info but left lots of holes as examples weren't pointed.

[@PreppingAngel]

You talked and talked but didn't show it actually done. :(

[@syon600]

The speeded up part is the actually the bit I wanted to see in detail. Pity

[@tannenbaum3444]

He removed way too much from the structure, and stubbled water sprouts, big mistake.

[@jaroc4728]

There is a ufo at 3:21..wtf..😳what is that?

[@cagjohnso]

Some very valuable information. During the time I had to listen to music you were obviously deciding which branches to remove. A waste of valuable information.

[@maryloomis8075]

The information could have been written. The visual part is what we need to see and you speeded that up. Didn't help me sorry.

[@candlepinbowl]

Overgrown fruit trees will bear smaller fruit because the roots are oversupplying energy to all the growth and less to the fruit.

[@debterbush6210]

Then you didn't even show us how to trim it, what a waste.

[@aliq4514]

Darn. Then they get to the actual pruning part and offer zero conversation about why each branch.

[@tagladyify]

I feel like I missed out on the actual instruction during the process and got banjo music instead. Also you talked over your guest and repeated a lot of what he said. It would have been nice just to let him talk.

[@TheThomasdahl]

How many children does this guy have? Clearly not worried about the environment

[@kirsten4896]

Clearly you don't know how much this family nurtures the environment.

[@brooklyneariel1743]

Sheesh. Brutal. I was so distracted by the power struggle I couldn't even absorb what they were saying Let the man talk. If u have some on ur show to give advice let them give it. even if u already know it all , just let the man talk. U can be dominant and be passive. And that's more respectable. U might actually learn something. But u have to ACTUALLY listen

[@ebglock]

Way too much talking and very little instruction. What branches do you cut etc. etc. etc.

[@marye8624]

at least 17 min of talking.......with no demo. I moved on.......

[@mahal9394]

Talk too much.

[@robertbrawley5048]

12 minutes in and the two are still chit chatting. I'm out

[@rawfoodwriter]

This look like Pennsylvania mountains in the background. Yes?

[@HomesteadingFamily]

We are in north Idaho. 😊