Knowing when and how to prune deciduous fruit trees is essential for good fruit production. Autumn is the optimum time to prune pip and stone trees but wait till all the leaves have dropped, giving the tree a chance to absorb the nutrients within.
It’s important to know if your tree fruits on last year’s growth or older. This way you won’t be removing the trees’ ability to produce fruit by removing all last season’s growth! Peaches generally produce fruit from last season’s growth. Japanese plums like Satsuma also mainly fruit from last season’s growth but the European varieties often produce fruit on older semi-permanent spurs.
Plums, nectarines, apples, and peaches should be pruned to resemble the shape of a vase or goblet to allow good airflow and optimize pollination. This practice also reduces the amount of fruit produced and keeps the fruit low for easy picking.
Remove crossing limbs, dead or diseased wood, and always make sure you use sharp tools and prune back to an outward pointing bud.
Mulch around your trees to suppress the weeds and enrich the soil.