The Latest Tutorial on Hawthorn Tree Shaping and Pruning Techniques

Hawthorn is a very common fruit, and there are now many products on the market made from processed hawthorn, such as candied hawthorn skewers and hawthorn juice. Hawthorn is also planted on a fairly large area in China, but some fruit growers find that hawthorn yields are relatively low. In fact, this may be because shaping and pruning work has not been done well. So how should hawthorn trees be shaped and pruned? Below, the editor brings you the shaping and pruning techniques for hawthorn trees. Let's take a look!

1. Pruning of young trees

Young hawthorn trees grow relatively slowly and have weak vigor, and this is also the seedling recovery period for hawthorn trees. At this stage, pruning work is mainly focused on shaping, cultivating good scaffold branches, and adjusting the growth direction and angle of the scaffold branches to lay the foundation for fruiting. Young trees within 3 years of growth should be heavily headed back, cutting branches rather than thinning them, to encourage the hawthorn tree to produce more strong branches, expand the canopy, increase the flowering rate, and achieve the goal of early fruiting. The main and lateral branches should be appropriately headed back, and moderately vigorous branches should be given space to grow, increasing the number of branches and the fruit set of the tree, while appropriately thinning out branches that are too dense or that compete with the scaffold branches for nutrients.

2. Pruning of trees beginning to bear fruit

At this stage, pruning should establish a good tree shape and cultivate various types of fruiting branches. Increase the yield of the fruit tree and make good preparations for the transition to full production. The pruning direction is to thin out branches and cultivate fruiting branch groups. If auxiliary branches compete with scaffold branches for nutrients, the auxiliary branches should be thinned out in time. When they cannot all be thinned out, some should be retained, and the retained branches should be guided toward gentle growth to promote fruiting. Branches that have borne fruit for more than two years should be retracted in time to prevent fruiting only on the outer part, and branches with sufficient growing space can be appropriately cultivated into fruiting branches, while overly dense and overly long branches should be thinned out.

3. Pruning of trees in full fruit stage

The pruning direction for trees in full fruit stage is similar to that for trees beginning to bear fruit, mainly focusing on tree shape and cultivating fruiting mother branches. Control the number of leaves, appropriately adjust the leaf canopy surface, renew fruiting mother branches, and prevent the phenomenon of alternate bearing. Increase yield, ensure high and abundant production, and extend the full fruit period. The main pruning methods are heading back, retraction, and other means, controlling the ratio of fruiting branches to vegetative branches. Thin out peripheral branches, carry out heading back, thin flowers and fruit, promote nutrient concentration, and encourage the development of vegetative branches. Cut out useless branches such as those that are too long, too dense, or overlapping.

4. Pruning of renewed trees

This period is when the fruit tree renews its fruiting mother branches. The growth rate of the tree will decline markedly, the scaffold branches droop weakly, and the inner canopy branches defoliate severely. A large number of water sprouts and overly dense branches appear, but the hawthorn tree has relatively strong self-recovery ability. As long as water and fertilizer management is strengthened, intertillage and weeding are done well, and pruning is appropriate, the growth vigor can be restored and the fruiting years extended. The pruning method is usually to retract scaffold branches at all levels each year and use water sprouts to recultivate fruiting branch groups.

Hawthorn trees have different pruning methods at each growth stage, and this is something everyone needs to study carefully and must master. Hawthorn trees have relatively tall and large tree shapes. If they are not pruned in time, the orchard becomes too closed, with extremely poor ventilation and light penetration, and the inner canopy branches receive insufficient light, causing the flowering and fruiting rate to decline and greatly affecting planting benefits. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. Thank you all for reading and supporting.