How to Prune an Apple Tree: A guide for real people with imperfect trees

My family were commercial apple growers (organic-certified from Rodale waaaay back in the late 1970s), so I have tons of experience pruning mature apple trees. We had ten full acres of them. So, I know very well the basic rules for apple tree pruning. This extremely knowledgeable author not only presents these same important rules but gives the reason for them and both describes and illustrates the resulting growth then to be expected. This is invaluable information! I have had no pruning experience with young apple trees, and the author does a magnificently clear presentation of exactly what pruning is needed in the first few years (1-4) to create the proper structure for the mature apple tree. I trust her in this presentation since I KNOW she is totally accurate in the description of pruning for mature apple trees. All in all, the author takes only a few pages (clear and detailed and illustrated) to give absolutely complete and valuable information on pruning an apple tree from "youth" to maturity. I find this book invaluable and...tomorrow I'll go forth with confidence to winter prune my three young apple trees and two pear trees. Thanks for a terrifically superb book!

we bought property that had a large Apple Orchard in it from the Early 1800's, this book has been a LIFESAVER on restoring the trees to their former glory. they hadn't been pruned last since the 1930's . This book has great diagrams/pictures, with right down to the Nitty Gritty on how to prune your non perfect tree. HIGHLY HIGHLY Recommended.

I am shocked at the sheer number of five star reviews for this book. I knew that it was short, but there just isn't much here. It is a 30 page book. The first text starts on page 5, last instruction on page 28. It is just too much for so little.

This book is clearly and simply written. The diagrams and illustrations are well chosen and explained. I feel like I finally understand the basic principles of pruning fruit trees. This will be a handy guide for my winter and summer pruning. Great choice.

No long filler ramblings here. Very clear instructions with concise reasons for the WHERE WHEN and HOW to Prime your trees. Great illustrations and photos.

Decent descriptions on how to prune your trees. Could be modernized a bit with the drawings and writing.

never saw anything like this; first half of the booklet has outer 1/3 of each page missing due to improper cutting by publisher. Can read only first part of each sentence on even pages and last part of each sentence on odd pages! $6.81 thrown away.

Great. Ok on how to prune my three apple trees on the property we just bought.

This is a brilliant little book. It distils a lot of useful information that I had struggled to find on the web. I found the explanations of how trees respond to summer vs winter pruning very helpful, as this distinction is key to encouraging trees to respond well to pruning, and in a manner that you determine. The different tree shapes and training techniques are explained, as are the pros and cons and difficulty level of each. This book has given me the confidence to drastically cut back some of my younger trees, which have responded by sending out new leaders to form the 'goblet' shape I had always wanted.

This book is so useful. I'm a mature horticulture student who has many fruit trees in need of regular pruning. This book is so simple, explaining exactly what will happen if you prune in winter or summer, or how one cut differs from another. I know enough from my studies to recognise an excellent book . I have a mix of very old Apple and Pear trees and younger espalier fruit trees. This book is ideal for my gardening needs.

Explains clearly and concisely how an apple tree grows and why it needs pruning. It shows with clear drawings and pictures how to "read" the tree and then make the desired cuts to maximize fruit production and improve health. There is emphasis on working with garden trees rather than commercial orchards, which may be less than perfect. Short and easy to read. The only improvement I can suggest is the use of colour pictures in the Kindle version if possible, to improve clarity a little.

Simple and straightforward, yet not dumbed down. This is a really useful book of pruning guidelines and theory for apple trees specifically but not limited to.I'm a professional gardener, but this was a good refresher as well as enlightening me on certain techniques and timings for apple tree pruning.It is short (5 minutes to read), but it contains most of what other books take 200 pages to explain!

Very handy to reference with some great info, I particularly like that it shows what the plant will look like next year after the prune - something a lot of books miss, but I'm not sure how this is even called a book, it's more like a pamphlet, 30 pages does not a book make, or something.I feel bad about not a great review because I know the author doesn't set the price and she would probably charge only a couple of quid if she got to decide