If necessary apply a second coat once the first coat has dried. On trees which 'bleed' when cut, char surfaces with a blow lamp before application. But what about a situation in which you have just moved house and you’ve found a totally neglected fruit tree in the new garden? What should be done? Fruit trees are a wonderful investment. If looked after well, trees will continue to crop year after year, even when the trees are 30 to 40 years old. The trunk which is left with the good branches should not be pruned the following winter. The tree will then be resettled. Second, I need to be able to prune these trees myself, and am trying to take this tree permanently lower overall by about 12-18 inches. I could reach the top then with less risk that I will fall off the ladder. Another reason the tree is oddly shaped is because the deer raid this tree from both levels.

Ensure tree wound is thoroughly cleaned and all loose bark is removed. If necessary smooth wound edges. Apply evenly over the cut surface, until a thin covering is achieved. Ensure that the edges of the wound are properly coated. Replace cap after use.Inclusion of a product does not indicate a recommendation or endorsement by the RHS. It is a list of products currently available to the home gardener. I would like to ask for further clarification. The tree and the others have experienced the stress of reduction of size (no more than a third each year for four years) plus a recent drought and one season of a severe infestation of tent caterpillars. This tree is unfortunately placed in front of my house, so the appearance is a priority with this specific tree.

Your suggestions make good sense to me, but I would like to ask if because the tree has been stressed four years in a row, would it be less traumatic if I took off only part of the selected trunk, plus one top branch of the preferred trunk this year, and then remove the full selected trunk one year later?” This possible gentler approach is shown in the diagram below. It’s all to do with light. It does us humans good to be in the sunshine, and the same applies to fruit trees, in the sense that they need good light throughout. If the trees have been left to themselves and have produced masses of shoots all round, virtually a solid mass of growth that creates darkness inside the canopy of the tree, then the leaves are no longer able to carry out the functions they were designed for. Photosynthesis goes into survival mode: the little energy that the shaded leaves manage to produce is used simply to keep the structure alive. There is no energy left to create productive fruiting wood as a replacement for older non-productive branches. Canker is said to be more serious on wet, heavy and/or acid soils, so pay attention to drainage and raise the soil pH by liming if needed. Vitis(grape vine – edible and ornamental types): Prune after leaf fall but before Christmas to be safe. The following plants are particularly prone to bleeding, so pruning at the correct time will help prevent it.On no account try to remodel the tree all in one year. Old fruit trees do best when you bring on improvements gradually. In my experience an old tree reacts very favourably if 4 or 5 large branches are taken out rather than lots of little snips here and there. Acer(maple): Prune Japanese maples ( A. palmatum and A. japonicum) after leaf fall but before January; prune snakebark maples (e.g. A. davidii, A. pensylvanicum, A. rufinerve) in late summer. Some varieties are particularly susceptible to canker and these include ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’, ‘Lord Suffield’, ‘James Grieve’, ‘Ribston Pippin’, ‘Worcester Pearmain’, ‘Ellison’s Orange’ and ‘Spartan’. Chemical control