r/BackyardOrchard • u/Aprunus • 19h ago
r/BackyardOrchard • u/AltoFalcon • 16h ago
New apple trees
Are these new fruit trees planted too deep? Too much mulch?
r/BackyardOrchard • u/TrevorCidermaker • 18h ago
Bird boxes
A house in the trees. At the cider and perry orchard we practice organic methods and pest control. And we have put up nesting boxes for birds as small as Rifleman and large as Ruru amongst the trees. The birdsong can be deafening sometimes
r/BackyardOrchard • u/macdizzle567 • 13h ago
We purchased this house in March of this year. Didn’t realize it had an apple tree until we removed a ton of overgrown foliage that was in front of it. Is there any saving this? Obviously been reaching for the sun for years.
As you can see, it’s leaning quite a bit, and one of the larger branches is currently being supported. I’m not sure where to even begin with pruning or whether the tree can be brought back into better shape without damaging it.
I’d also love help identifying the apple variety! The apples are pretty tasty, but we have no idea what kind they are.
We also have a bunch of very overgrown beaked hazelnut trees that we know absolutely nothing about. I’d appreciate any advice on pruning, maintaining, or rejuvenating those as well.
Zone 7a
r/BackyardOrchard • u/hundredwater • 21h ago
Pruning Opinions for First Year Apple Liberty side branch
I’m wondering what to prune if any come this late winter. I want to do what’s most healthy for the tree structure as we can have some wind here during storms. I was aiming for single central leader but the tree had other ideas.
It’s a Liberty on semi dwarf rootstock from Dave Wilson Nursery, planted 2026 spring. It grew a second trunk from an existing side branch that was pruned back before shipping. The side branch comes out from the 15 inches above ground. The tree put most of the first year growth there and it’s now taller than the original trunk. The almost horizontal part is about 3 inches and is now thicker there than the main trunk at the fork.
I hear trunks in general will smooth out and big bends eventually get less extreme as the trunks thicken. In this case should I just keep the second trunk and prune the original one above the fork ? Or is it no big deal to cut the big new growth and keep tue original trunk? Or just let it grow a few more years without major pruning to sort itself out?