When to prune fruit trees

My husband and I bought a new home in March with many fruit trees on it. Unfortunately, the previous owner neglected all the trees and plants on the property badly so I didn't want to do any major pruning right away. The summer was spent trying to keep the trees alive (what was left), but now I'm looking at the need to prune the dead limbs off and other branches that need to go (crossing others, etc.). Can I do this now or do I need to wait until all the leaves are off the trees and they're dormant. I'm in Northern Arizona it is already getting down into the mid-thirties at night.

Thanks!

robinaz, other than during the extreme heat of summer, I prune my apples as needed, but now or late winter/early spring before they start leafing out are probably the best times for it. What kind of trees do you have?

Thanks for your reply. We have apple, Asian Pear, Asian Plum, apricot, regular pear, peach and a Chinese mulberry.

What variety of apple? I have Anna, Ein Shemer and Hollywood, all low chill apples, plus a nectarine, Eureka lemon and a calamondin. I find I get larger apples if I thin them to no more than 2-3 per bunch, for lack of a better term.

There are different reasons to prune. Sometimes you prune for shape or to control size and other times for better fruit production. Depending on the purpose of the pruning one can determine when you should prune.

To remove dead branches you can prune at any time.

If you want to control size or for desired shape most prunning can be done during the growing season.

For good fruit production...you want to prune pome fruits(apples and pears) in winter when the trees are fully dormant...Dec or Jan in AZ. For stone fruits like plums, apricots, peaches etc you want to bloom in spring just prior to flowering.

Pruning provides a stronger support, it is also a way of thining in order for the nutrients taken up by roots to go into fewer fruit which makes the fruit larger and generally of better quality. You also can get better light distribution and color in fruit and can also have less disease with greater air flow. Dormant prunning often can stimulate new growth which is why prunning during the growing season is better suited for controlling size as it doesnt stimulate as much new growth.

robinaz, in Chino valley your trees should be fully dormant by mid-Nov, due to the higher altitude.

Thanks for your replies. I have never had fruit trees before, so this is a brand new experience for me. The trees were in such bad condition when we bought this house that we were unsure whether about half of them would even survive. We fertilized and then gave them some really deep watering when we moved in and steady water throughout the spring and summer. All of them are still alive, although we are still uncertain about a couple of them that have a lot of dead branches that we will take off this fall and winter.

Frogymon, we have some golden delicious and a dwarf McIntosh that I know of because there were tags on the trees. There are some others that I have no clue as to type. :(

drobarr - thanks for the info. It's very helpful.

Are there any good books on fruit trees that you would recommend so I could educate myself? Also, do you have any tips on what I need to do to prepare my trees for the winter?

I really appreciate the advice!

Trim off the dead wood, any branches that criss cross and any that will help open up the tree so all the branches get good light.

this is one of my favorites:

http://www.amazon.com/Grow-Fruit-Alan-Buckingham/dp/0756658896

Thanks, we'll be doing all the trimming soon. With all the trees, I'm sure it's going to take a few weekends to accomplish!

Just ordered the book, too. It will be here in 2 days. :D