Question
Hi Jim,

There is an apple tree at the border of my yard which only give crabapples in the 8 years since we've lived here.

My neighbor, who's given me permission to prune the tree since it's on the border of our yards told me she thinks it's about 50 years old, and that there used to be two trees - a golden delicious and a red delicious.

The tree is way overgrown with some apparently dead branches, lots of 3-5" risers, and has a crotch low enough that I could climb it and get limbs with my camping saw.

So what I'd like to know is when, and how to approach the pruning. I assume that if I do a massive pruning now that it will probably not fruit next year but should the following year, and with intelligent and hopefully only moderate yearly maintenance be a productive fruit tree for my family as well as my neighbor.

If you'd like to see photos I could email them to you. There are no power lines or other structures/objects of concern anywhere near where the limbs will fall.

My yard perimeter on 3 sides is massively treed and I am just getting serious about removating things so this is an exciting time for me.

Appreciate your expertise.

Thanks in advance,

Marty

Answer
Without going into detail I think it best to just give you the web links to a couple of excellent atricles on how to prune and thin apple trees. These have drawings on which limbs to prune.
http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1351.htm

http://www.rickerhill.com/Pruning.htm