Too late to prune in the North East ?

[sierra85]

I have large probably min 50 year old,very healthy apple tree that has probably not been pruuned in 15 years min! It has been much wammer then usual in new hampshire this year and I was wondering if its too late ? My therory is, becuase the tree is so over grown and there are numerous broken branches and (shooters) that any prunning would be an improvment to the health of the tree? What do you guys think ?

 

[Cub 7274]

Should not be a problem on an apple tree especially a neglected one

 

[forgeblast]

The University of Maine - Cooperative Extension Publications - Bulletin #2409, Renovating Old Apple Trees is a good resource. I also heard that you want to throw a bag of lime under the tree after you prune heavy.

 

[sierra85]

good read...thanks for the help i think iam going to go ahead and prune 1/3 mostly in the top areas .The tree is much to big right now ! Hopefully we shall see some better fruit in a couple of years !

 

[forgeblast]

I would at least prune anything dead off. On top of that the branches that are rubbing on each other would be second.
Its a pain, we have at least 10 old apples on our property, but last year we finally had some small apples to eat from them and it was worth all the work.