Caring for fruit trees includes a set of measures necessary for their health and longevity and, accordingly, a good harvest. One such measure is pruning. We will talk about the rules of procedure and the dates of its holding in the autumn in this article.
Basic rules for pruning trees in the fall
In the autumn period, the procedure is carried out after harvest, its main purpose is to prepare for winter.
When to start pruning
The procedure is carried out from September to November, when fruits have already been collected from the trees. 
It should be understood that in late autumn regions with a warmer climate pruning in November will not harm the tree, while in regions with colder weather with such a late procedure, the plant will not have time to recover to frost and become sick or even die.
Read also when it is better to prune trees: in spring, autumn or summer.
Therefore, pruning after leaf fall is characteristic only for the southern territories. Autumn pruning is carried out at a temperature not lower than -5 ° C.
What you need for trimming: choose a tool
For thicker branches, you will need a garden saw: a tool with a non-wide blade tapering to the edge with sparse teeth, so that the sawdust does not clog the cutting part.
Secateurs are used to shorten and pinch thin branches. When choosing a tool, make sure that it fits comfortably in your hand, and you do not need a lot of effort when compressing the handles.
In the canopy of trees it can be difficult to reach far branches. In this case, useful air pruner. 
Air pruner This is a tool that resembles a fishing pole: a long handle, equipped with ropes, allows you to reach the most inaccessible parts of the tree and, by controlling the secateurs located at the end of the tool, remove the necessary part of the plant with cables.
Important! All garden tools are used exclusively for garden work, at the end of the procedures cutting blades are cleaned and wiped with an oiled rag. Before working, make sure that the instruments are sharp, as the sections cut with blunt knives or saws heal for a long time and are at risk of infection.
Basic rules and methods: how to increase the yield of fruit
To increase yields and maintain plant health, pruning is carried out annually. The exception is first-year trees planted in autumn. They are not touched until spring, sometimes until next autumn.
Video: features of pruning fruit trees in the fall
Thinning
When thinning the shoot is removed completely to the place of its growth, that is, to the annual ring. Remove shoots growing inside the crown, forming an unhealthy competition with the main skeletal branches, creating a shadow of the main fruiting shoots.
Shortening
This procedure does not require radical measures, cut off only part of the escape. Do this at an acute angle, above the kidney, directed outward to activate the growth of shoots and buds. There are three types of procedures:
- easy rejuvenation (chasing) - remove the shoot, which grew over the previous three years;
- moderate rejuvenation - gain for four to six years;
- strong rejuvenation involves the removal of most of the growth of skeletal shoots.
What to do after trimming
All wounds in the trees should always be treated with garden pitch. It can be purchased at a special store or prepared by yourself: rosin 200 g, paraffin 100 g, any animal fat 50 g - mix, boil and boil for 10 minutes. In the prepared mixture, you can add a tablet "Heteroauxin", this will accelerate the healing of tissues. 
Treatment of wounds on fruit trees with garden pares. In the absence of ingredients or a finished brew, an oil-based paint is used.
Proper pruning is also important for fruit shrubs such as: grapes, blackberries, currants, gooseberries, and raspberries.
Features pruning trees in the fall: understand more
Each plant is different in its own way, each has its own crown shape, branch extension rate, type of structure of skeletal shoots, and so on. Therefore, gardeners for beginners should be familiar with the individual rules for the care of fruit plants.
Apple tree
Apple trees are pruned after harvest, old trees rejuvenate after leaf fall (remember the difference in the climate of the regions). All procedures should be completed before frost, so that the wounds have time to heal. Video: pruning apple in autumn The rules are as follows:
- First, cut off the broken and dried shoots to prevent the formation of a hollow tree in the trunk, cut the dry branch to the place of the appearance of the first bud. The remaining stump neatly filed, forming a slice that goes from the trunk in the direction of the file being cut.
- Remove weak and close-planted shoots, with more attention paid to the upper branches. The open crown lets more light in, feeding the fruits growing there.
- Fruiting shoots growing at an acute angle to the trunk, can break under the weight of the ripened crop, so these shoots are removed.
We advise you to read more about the autumn and spring pruning, also read how to properly prune old apple trees.
Pear
In autumn (before the first frost) pruning pears the main thing - do not overdo it. Sokodvizhenie in the fall does not stop, but only slows down, the tree spends on the healing of inflicted wounds the forces accumulated for the winter.
Rules for autumn pear care:
- remove diseased and drying shoots: if they fall on healthy branches, they can be damaged;
- cut shoots growing at right angles;
- shorten parts of the shoots that hinder the growth and development of fruit-bearing branches;
- make sure that the remaining shoots with growth repeated the shape of the crown.
Video: correct pruning pears in autumn
Cherry
Cherry is cleaned in the late autumn, observing such rules:
- remove bare branches that do not carry buds;
- upper, interfering with the penetration of light into the crown;
- weak and damaged shoots;
- crowns growing inward and thickening it;
- shorten the lateral branches by the length of the increase over the previous two or three years.
Find out how cherry twigs are useful.
The task of the autumn pruning is to preserve the growth of the skeletal branches that carry the majority of the living buds that provide the harvest. 
Cherries
Cherries are pruned in September - October, depending on the weather conditions in the region, preferably before the leaves fall.
- With the growth of sweet cherries to ensure good yields can not be tolerated whorled arrangement of the shoots, the optimal distance between the lower semi-skeletal shoots - 30 cm.
- If the tree has reached a height of five meters, the upper skeletal shoots are pruned over branches, suspending growth.
- Remove the branches growing down, located at a distance of 90 cm from the surface of the earth.
- Inward-growing branches that hinder the development of active shoots are removed to the bud.
- Semi-skeletal branches that grow to 70 cm are shortened by 20 cm, annual shoots are shortened to a length of 50 cm.
Did you know? Cherries are loved in the USA; every year on February 20, Americans celebrate Cherry Pie Day. And in Utah, cherry has the status of an official symbol.
Apricot
The peculiarity of apricot - in excellent fruiting, which, unfortunately, quickly depletes the tree. To ensure long life, autumn pruning in mid-October is carried out according to the following rules:
- about a third of all fruit-bearing shoots are removed from a second-year plant;
- the branches forming the crown frame do not touch, removing only the abnormally growing ones;
- the remaining fruit shoots are shortened to 50 cm;
- completely cut off the dry and damaged, diseased shoots.
Thus, reducing the fruiting, the life of the tree is extended, bringing, if not abundant, but a regular harvest.Important! For late-ripening apricot varieties, a spring or summer procedure is recommended.
Plum
Plum in the fall pruned mainly for the formation of the crown, the operation is carried out in the middle of autumn, in the southern regions, it is permissible in late autumn. The scheme is as follows:
- In the first procedure, the plant is shortened by a third of its growth, all rapidly growing shoots - by two thirds.
- In adult trees, dry, cracked, diseased branches are removed.
- All branches growing inward, thickening the crown down to the bud.
- Thin out the top of the crown to provide coverage of internal shoots.
- Shorten too long and bare branches.
Video: how to properly prune the plum (and sweet cherry)
Did you know? Plum - one of the favorite and revered fruits of the British, probably there is no person who would not have heard about the famous plum pudding. Queen Elizabeth II herself during the fruiting season eats two plums from her own garden for breakfast.
Peach
Autumn peach pruning is carried out before the onset of cold weather and is mainly sanitary. In regions with early winter, it is best to perform the procedure in summer. It should be borne in mind that the fruits tied at last year's shoots.
To prepare a capricious plant for winter, perform the following steps:
- Thin out the crown to ensure adequate ventilation and lighting.
- Old, dry and damaged branches, where there are traces of pests, are completely removed.
- Remove competing branches, preferring stronger ones.
- The peach has fragile branches, so when predicting heavy snow precipitation, the most fragile branches should be removed so that they break under the snow and do not infect the whole tree.
After cleaning the trees, all waste must be removed and burned, parasites can settle in or settle for the winter.What else can be done?
Preparing for winter is not only pruning, but also in other procedures. Adult six and eight year old trees need to clean the trunks of the old bark and lichens present on it. The dying off of the upper layers of the bark is an absolutely natural process, but the plant needs to be helped to get rid of them in order to prevent the development of infections and the dominance of the parasites.
This can be done with a brush with metal teeth, removing dark brown and blackened areas with lichens. To facilitate your work, lichens can be pretreated with iron sulfate. Carry out the operation after harvesting.
Apple and pear trees in regions with a frosty but snowless winter are hardened. To do this, dig up the soil over the roots, exposing the root shoots, the ground before the start of frost stored dry in a cool place. With the arrival of the first cold weather, it is returned to the site, thus the roots adapt more quickly to lowering the temperature.
To protect the root system from freezing, you can use mulch from dry natural materials. 
To protect the bark of plants from rodents, the trunk about a meter from the surface is tied with spruce fur twigs, tolyom, roofing felt, which is at hand.
Learn how to hide an apple tree for the winter from frost and rodents, as well as read about the features of rodenticide use to kill rodents.
Before being sheltered, the trunk is treated for insects with copper sulphate, whitewash or latex paint, it will also protect against diseases.
Don't forget about the feathered helpers: install bird feeders in the trees. By attracting birds to your garden, you will provide protection against insects hibernating in the bark and their larvae. In the spring, when pests appear, the old memory will return the birds to your garden, become your allies in the fight against parasites.
Autumn pruning of trees removes a large load from them, all the juice accumulated for the winter will be evenly distributed along strong fruit-bearing branches, feeding them and stimulating the formation of buds. Removing the sick and weak shoots will prevent the development of diseases and the dominance of insects.
