Time to Prune Those Apple Trees

SRTC students learn how to prune with Matt McAdam.

Photo: McDougal Orchards

By Matt McAdam, McDougal Orchards

As orchardists, one of the biggest questions we get tends to be, “What do you do all winter?” Most expect answers like taxes, planning for next year, or taking a vacation. All of that is true for the most part. The other answer is maintaining our trees, more specifically, dormant pruning or winter pruning.

Pruning is the practice of trimming (a tree, shrub, or bush) by cutting away dead or overgrown branches or stems, especially to increase fruitfulness, shape, and growth. At McDougal Orchards, our pruning is focused on fruitfulness and shape. In order to accomplish this, we remove dead, diseased, and broken branches, low-hanging branches, undesirable interior branches that go into the trunk or straight down and sucker growth around the base of the trunk. All of this opens the canopy to increase light and air circulation that helps the fruit to develop.

We start in February (sometimes January if we get antsy) to ensure dormancy of the trees. With more than 4,000 trees and 40-plus varieties of apples, pruning takes a little time to get through before we can gear up for the growing season.

A crew of about four can complete the work in a couple of months. A trained pruner will spend about 15 minutes per tree. This roughly equates to about 30 trees per day. We have trees of all sizes, from the big standards to the dwarf trees. Some take a lot longer and others go very quickly, but it all evens out.

Kubota RTV with tracks

Photo: McDougal Orchards

The work is very dependent on weather and sometimes machinery. The 2025 season has started off with both being unfavorable. Our Kubota RTV had a track come off, and parts are still on order. Between snowstorms and extreme winds, the weather has also been a significant challenge. On the bright side, the plentiful snow acts as insulation for the apple tree roots and we’re getting some good exercise by hiking out in snowshoes!

In summary, we are out in the elements maintaining our trees for harvest in the fall all winter and facing different challenges every year.

Do you want to learn more about winter pruning to maintain your fruit trees? For the second year, McDougal Orchards is offering a series of winter pruning workshops. It’s a course suited for anyone with limited or no pruning experience who wants to learn the basics of caring for apple trees.

We will walk you through the process to help make you feel more comfortable with the winter pruning of your own apple trees. You will get to prune your own tree and mark it so you can come back and look at it in the fall or during our other planned workshops throughout the season.

Workshops will be held on three Saturdays, March 1, 15 and 29, from 9 am to noon. For more information or to register, visit our website, www.mcdougalorchards.com.