I used to hack back young trees hard but now I go easy

I always cut saplings way back each spring (just how I was taught, you know). After seeing how the ones I barely trimmed caught up and looked tougher, I've changed my tune. Anyone else find less pruning works better for new trees?

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3 Comments

jesse46mo ago

Yeah, same thing happened with some apple trees I planted. I left more branches on a couple instead of cutting them way back, and those ones put on way thicker growth by fall. Now I only take off the obviously broken or rubbing stuff for the first few years.

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charlie_allen6mo ago

Leaving more branches like you did makes sense, I chopped mine back like a bad haircut.

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vera_lewis6mo ago

But is thicker growth always better? Seems like a trade off.

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