How to prune Cordon Fruit Trees

05/02/2026

This is just about pruning cordons - there is a much longer piece on growing cordon fruit trees if you would like to know more.

Cordons should be pruned every year around mid-August (i.e. about now). Your cordon is ready for pruning when the new side shoots from the main stem(s) become woody at their base. Shorten all of this new growth from the main stem to 3 or 4 leaves above the basal cluster of leaves at the base of the shoot.

Where a shoot from the main stem has a side shoot coming off it, prune this also - to one leaf above the cluster of leaves at its base

Pruning of fruit trees is generally carried out in winter or early spring, except for the Prunus family (stone fruit: cherries, plums, damsons, gages, etc), which are pruned in summer. Cordons are different in that you restrict their growth by pruning now, and the ideal cordon is compact and covered in fruiting spurs (which this treatment encourages).

You can use this technique on any shape of fruit tree if you wish to restrict its size, but at the same time ensure it produces lots of fruit. The trick is to use a M9 semi-dwarfing or MM106 semi-vigorous rootstock.

We hope your plants have grown well this summer (certainly not much need to water!)

Watch your plants grow, and enjoy!

Comments (16)

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Tracy Lee 4 years ago

We purchased 6 cordon fruit trees from you all have done really well apart from my Beth Pear – in the first year of planting I pruned the lead back on each tree (by about a 1/3) and all have put on a lot of growth with the exception of the pear. It didn’t grow from bud and has remained at the same size – should i prune again in the hope it will spring into life at a bud point or not?

Also my other trees that put on a lot of growth should I prune the lead again to encourage side buds? Some of the trees have lots of buds.

thank you

tracy
john kinsey 4 years ago

hi i am thinking of trying to grow an apple tree from a rootstock do you sell these please
Peter 4 years ago

On the bare part of the stem identify a dormant bud facing the direction you want a side shoot to grow then “notch” just above it. This means make a small horizontal to the wood beneath then cut downwards just above this (3mm) to remove a crescent of bark. This releases the bud from dormancy and enables the dormant bud to grow.
Gary 14 years ago

Hi Veronica,
One of my (apple) cordon trees only had growth in the first and last third of it’s length, so it looks quite peculiar! How do I get it to produce leaf/blossom in this area next year please?
Veronica 14 years ago

Hi, our Braeburn cordon apple tree is now a few years old. It didn’t get properly pruned last year, so some side shoots are very long, with the basal leaf cluster appearing 6"-8" along the shoot, instead of near the trunk. How should I prune those shoots? Thanks, Veronica.