Gardening and Plant FAQs

Q: When Pruning Apple Trees, how do I tell the Difference Between the Different Types of Buds?

Apple tree twigTake care choosing which Apple buds to prune

Use this photograph to help you.

The buds towards the bottom of the photo are conspicuous by their size and are positioned almost at right angles to the main vertical branch. These buds are the fruit buds and have the potential to produce apples this year.

The smaller, less conspicuous buds towards the top of the photo are clasped much closer to the main branch. These are the vegetative buds that grow on the part of the branch that will simply grow throughout the year, not producing any apples. These vegetative buds have the potential to change into fruit bearing buds in subsequent years.

For more information about pruning Apple trees, read our article on the Winter pruning of established Apple trees.

 
 

Filed under FAQs: Pruning.

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