How to Prune an Overgrown Fruit Tree | Neglected Apple Tree Pruning

When we moved into our property, it came with quite a few overgrown fruit trees. These apple trees in particular have been a labor of love - trying to save them from years of neglect.

In this video, we talk about how & when to prune overgrown fruit trees. There's a general shape to consider and a few principles to abide by, but everyone's pruning plan will be unique to the trees on their property.

We also try to explain why certain cuts are being made and talk more about the benefits of maintaining a well-pruned tree.

If you have any questions about pruning on your own property, drop them in the comments below!

𝙎𝙚𝙚 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩'𝙨 𝙂𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙁𝙖𝙧𝙢 - 𝙍𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙉𝙤𝙬!

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Hi, we’re Laura & Jerry! Our small farm – nestled in the foothills of the Olympic Mountains – is just outside of Quilcene, Washington. Come along for an incredible year as we focus on our two passions – fresh flowers & gourmet garlic.

But that’s not everything! We’re first and foremost educators – sharing what we’ve learned in the garden and the kitchen. It’s all about growing lovely things, eating great food, and enjoying life! Very much hobbit vibes.

On our channel, you’ll find tons of great videos covering a wide range of topics – from growing your own food & preserving your harvest to making your own sourdough.

Learn more about us...

[williammorris]

As an arborist, your humour around the saw tickled me 😂. Spot on with your branch collar cut too! A lot of people leave stubs, or worse, cut flush to the stem. Nice one guys, a job well done!

[oakdeneemporium]

You sound like Tom Hanks! Hi from Australia! 🇦🇺

[TylerKegolis]

As a tree trimmer, you really caught my attention with the "sawzall and a ladder" part.

[kamisan]

Your video just made pruning click in my mind, thank you!

[patrickrussell]

Good discussion of the pruning principles, especially water sprouts.

[EttaJensen-ruhb]

Thank You!! You helped me put everything together and my trees look great!!

[Meldelkel]

Thank you for doing this video - I have your trees twin in my garden and will go for 25% crown reduction plus deadwood. Great advice

[spgilmorespgilmore]

Great video! Some good information and examples. Thanks for posting it!

[katehirst]

Great video, l learnt so much and it all makes sense.

[Desertphile]

Thank you. Your trees look much like the trees we have here at the ranch, as we have no idea how to care for them. The Fuji apples are excellent, and the Old People's Faces apples are also excellent.

[mahmoudajjan]

1st thanks a lot, 2nd i work with plants not trees however "all trees were plants one day OF COURSE" but i found that these were a very good methods to learn (I mean the 25 to 35 discarding of the tree materials ' unwanted and unnecessary materials ETC... ', again thank you so much, wish you the best

[janetmcnutt]

I use a saw like yours. I only have one large tree when we moved in. Planted a baby apple tree to replace the old one someday.

[alexanderchilds]

This was wonderful, thank you for this. I work at a ministry in Grand Rapids Michigan and our community garden has 3 overgrown apple trees that I want to take care of so our neighbors can start to have a healthy access to apples. Appreciate this wisdom!

[emporergrimes]

It's funny that your voice sounds just like Tom hanks. hahaha

[benmurie]

This is great. I have a cherry tree in similar condition. Hopefully the same principle apply to cherries as well. I do though have a hard time eye-balling 25%, but this is good

[erikbrantner]

Thank you for this tip!
Pruning trees!
Good rule of thumb 👍
No more than 25% annually!
And please DON'T head back ANY tree back to a bunch of stumps everywhere!
You should have seen the last video of a guy on utube!
Butchered everything on an apple tree!
OMG!

[JohnSmith-gyqj]

I have exactly the same problem. So thx a million. Have you any pic after the 25% prune and how much fruit did you after the prune? Very encouraging

[EhEhEhEINSTEIN]

Yup, I definitely should've done more of this last year.. My next prune will be that much more fun lol.

You'd laugh at my kraken/viking tree. It's eroding out of a pretty steep embankment and into the ocean. The original top curled up and died a long time, I trimmed it flat so I could stand on it to harvest. Looks like the dragon on front of a stereotypical viking longboat. The roots have now largely been exposed running back up the embankment and holding on like tentacles with the trunk being the kraken head. Apples are a little mealy textured and need extensive cleaning from the sea spray but the flavor is awesome and they make good sauce :)

[alexandrawhitelock]

Inherited some pear trees. Left unattended for 4-5 yrs. Waaay too tall. Some branches broke due to heavy fruit load last fall, can I use a Stihl chain power pole to cut some of the TALL branches? Cann9t tackle them on a ladder safely…

[terrim.]

Great video! Bought a new farm and it has an old HUGE apple tree that puts on beautiful leaves an thousands of small apples. We didn't have hope for it so we cut out the inner dead and a few large lower branches so our grands can use it as a tree fort. Now I'm wondering if we can save it eventually. We would have to get a chainsaw and cut the center out. My question is will it live if we cut more than 25% knowing we'll have a ton of new branches jutting out to take care of next year? This tree is 3-4x the size of your tree. It needs something drastic to make it even resemble an apple tree.