CLICK EITHER PICTURE ABOVE TO ENLARGE IT
The tree on the left is a 1 year old (sometimes called a maiden) apple
tree ready to be pruned. The picture on the right is the pruned
version. Just under one half of the main stem has been cut off. About
a third has been pruned off each of the remaining side branches.
If more than six side branches remain on the pruned
main stem, then prune the excess side branches as close as possible to
the main stem. Aim to have the remaining side branches evenly spread
around the tree.