Wrongly I pruned Apricot tree in December should I be worried?

[Bat135]

Hi

I wrongly pruned an apricot tree in December… should I be worried about silver leaf or bacterial canker in future?

I pruned correctly using clean tools. Just at the wrong time of the year for stone fruits.

I am kicking myself as knew this in theory and always apply it to cherries too and plums… with stone fruits being best pruned in early spring or late summer…

What are my chances of getting silver leaf or bacterial canker? There is no evidence of this elsewhere with multiple stone fruits being trees ect. It’s a young tree and pruned correctly with no rain for case and only took four or so branches out using removal cuts to open the centre.

Advice please.

 

[Chuck]

Not much of a chance. The reason one doesn't prune in the fall is because the tree will have time to put on new growth before a freeze and damaging new growth is not a good thing. One should always be on guard for any bacterial disease at any time of the year but your pruning shouldn't be a problem when the tree is dormant.

 

[Bat135]

I was only doing a few selected removal cuts to the branch collar. So this shouldn’t produce more growth as that’s mainly the case in over pruning or heading cuts.

Yep… I get you RE: bacterial and fungal disease anytime of the year but it’s strongly advised not to prune stone fruits like cherry, plum, apricots during winter due to the increased chance of silver leaf and the like. Hopefully I get away with it as it’s for a customer who loves the tree : (. Probably just being over sensative but rarely come across apricots. Believe it or not it actually produced a few last year. Must be our long hot summers now.

Any further advice would be appreciated. To stop me from losing sleep. lol.

I think it will be ok. I actually confused it for another species untill it was too late. But hey. These things happen.

 

[Bat135]

It’s actually advised to prune apricots late summer early fall?

 

[Bat135]

Or summer…???

 

[Chuck]

Or summer…???

The best time is just before bud break and the worst time is when there is time for new growth to appear before freezing weather. Don't pay any attention to calendar dates as everywhere is different, every location has a different climate. Climate knowledge in your immediate area is what you must understand.

 

[Bat135]

Interesting. Yep… it can be confusing when seeing new plants…and I get them now and again.

The issue with that is we are getting milder and milder winters and things are not behaving like they usually do in general.

My issue is not really with growth as that won’t be an issue with the pruning done and conditions. It’s more about silver leaf and the time of year. There must be a reason why it’s strongly advised not to cut apricots in winter.

But like I say. I have pruned cherries before in winter and it’s the same for them… not advised in winter.

I don’t think it will stimulate new growth given conditions. Just hope it doesn’t get infections before next winter based on this wrongly timed prune.

 

[Chuck]

Interesting. Yep… it can be confusing when seeing new plants…and I get them now and again.

The issue with that is we are getting milder and milder winters and things are not behaving like they usually do in general.

My issue is not really with growth as that won’t be an issue with the pruning done and conditions. It’s more about silver leaf and the time of year. There must be a reason why it’s strongly advised not to cut apricots in winter.

But like I say. I have pruned cherries before in winter and it’s the same for them… not advised in winter.

I don’t think it will stimulate new growth given conditions. Just hope it doesn’t get infections before next winter based on this wrongly timed prune.

Canker and Silver leaf spores are spread by wind and water to wounds on the plant. To alleviate the problem in the future just paint the wounds as you prune. It is possible but unlikely your tree has become infected. If you are worried spray now with a copper fungicide and again just before bud break.

 

[Bat135]

Thank you for your advice. I do have some fungicide but will avoid that and see how it pans out. (It’s 242am… I told you it would keep me up at night : ). Sure it will be ok. Hopefully this information helps out others. From my experience the books seldom lie generally and you get great results and particularly floral displays if pruning correctly and at the right times and in the correct ways… I have never killed anything… except a grape vine that was actually mine by pruning it relatively hard in summer. I guess there is as much chance of an infection from a wind break at this time of year unspotted. A piece of advice that really helps infection wise, again from years of experience, is removal of dead, diseaed and broken stubs. At anytime if the year and removal of infected leaves. This really really does work. Especially around infected roses.

Anyways. Thank you for the advice. And happy Christmas to you. Night. Zzzzz

 

[Oliver Buckle]

I have pruned a plum wrong time of year and got away with it before I found out when I should do it. I reckon a single tree in a garden is fairly safe, so long as you are not surrounded by orchards or diseased trees nearby. Doing it the wrong time does not necessarily mean an infection, doing it the right time doesn't mean it's impossible. Keep your fingers crossed, but a good chance you are okay. Even if not the customer probably won't know it is down to the pruning, and it may not be, it might have happened anyway.
Thoroughly clean the ground around roses, even if they don't appear infected, I find a good rule of thumb.

 

[Bat135]

I agree. Unfortunately it is part of an orchard. Which has been left to overgrow. And it is beautiful. But very old trees and fallen wood regularly so it would be on the higher end of infection chance imo. As only there periodically.

I guess I just gotta wait till summer and hope it’s ok. But in the meantime will be removing dead and deseased in area and clearing fallen leaves and dead branches where possible to minimise the risk.

The clients are knowledgeable gardeners. Always a nightmare. I usually am but confused it for a cherry in the rush. But it is an apricot.. even so cherry should really be avoided. Anyways. Sure it will be fine. The rules are there for a reason but I do bend them as they are only the best general advice. Even study doesn’t count for experience. Worst case scenario I but a tree to replace it… but that’s not what it’s about really. It’s a beautifull tree and kicking myself. But hey ho. Thanks loads for insight… sharing experiences can only help to arm all us garden interested people to be better equity to do what we love.

 

[Bat135]

*equipt

 

[Oliver Buckle]

equipped

 

[Bat135]

: )