When is the best time to prune a fruit tree that has been bearing fruit?
If your main goal is to invigorate the tree and encourage new growth, you should prune when the tree is dormant, typically in the winter, or at least fairly early in the growing season. Hardy trees such as apple or pear can be pruned any time in the dormant period. Cold sensitive trees like cherry and plum should be pruned closer to the end of winter. If you are pruning to open up the tree to more sunlight, the best time would be sometime during the late growing season (‘summer pruning’). This is normally during and after August, depending on the growing season in your location. The advantage of pruning at this time is to avoid suckers or ‘water sprouts’ that frequently appear when pruning is done in the dormant period.
