August Fruit Tree Pruning Guide for a Bountiful Harvest - My Comprehensive Late-Summer Pruning List as a Skilled Horticulturist
August is a crucial month in the garden, as it's the ideal time for light to moderate pruning on many fruit trees and some shrubs. This practice helps maximise fruit quality and plant health before the growing season ends.
Quince trees, with their dense canopies, can struggle with sunlight. Lightly thinning non-fruiting shoots and cutting new growth to 2-3 leaf nodes can dramatically improve the ripening process and reduce canopy density.
Mulberry trees, valued for their delicious crop, require August pruning for practicality. Remove vigorous new shoots that shade fruit for better harvest access and fruit quality, but save hard pruning for winter.
Plums and cherries should be pruned after fruiting in August. Cut back new growth by half above fruit and remove weak or competing branches. This helps prevent diseases such as silver leaf and bacterial canker, which are risky to tackle during winter pruning.
Wisteria requires two prunes in August and winter or early spring. Remove whippy stems to control size and promote next season’s flower bud production.
General fruit trees benefit from August pruning as it improves fruit by enhancing light and air flow within the canopy, preventing overcrowding, and encouraging fruit development rather than excess leafy growth.
Dappled light reaching every fruit is beneficial for pear trees. Pruning in August involves thinning stems and reducing vigorous, unproductive shoots.
Apricot trees should have overcrowded growth thinned out, focusing on overly leafy stems and congested areas.
Peach trees should be pruned after the harvest is finished in August to redirect energy towards next year’s crop. Focus on removing vertical shoots and congested growth in the center.
Quince trees are easy to grow, but their dense canopies can struggle with sunlight. A light thinning of non-fruiting shoots can dramatically improve the ripening process.
Mulberry pruning is less about shaping and more about removing dense growth that hides fruit.
Pruning fruit trees in August can improve the quality of the harvest. For example, Damson trees produce small purple fruits and can benefit from thinning fruits so that there's one damson every two to three inches on a branch.
Heavy-duty loppers are useful for pruning thicker apple branches, while a pole saw can be useful for top shoots in quince trees. Keeping pruning tools sharp is important for an easier pruning job.
Okatsune pruners, a type of Japanese gardening tool, are available from Walmart, and an Okatsune sharpening stone, available via Amazon, can help keep pruners in effective working order.
A live Bosc Pear Tree (Pyrus 'Bosca') is available from Nature Hills.
For stone fruits, including cherry trees and plum trees, all pruning (including rejuvenation) should be done during summer to reduce the risk of diseases such as silver leaf and bacterial canker.
Apples, regardless of variety, should have non-fruiting shoots snipped away in August to allow light to access the center of the tree. Open, airy crowns in peach trees mean less risk of mildew and pests.
Additional shrubs like Hypericum, Philadelphus (Mock Orange), Buddleia, Bottlebrush, and Japanese holly can also be pruned in August to keep shape and promote flowering, but they are not fruit producers.
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