The apple tree is the real queen of Slovak gardens.It is certainly one of the most popular fruit trees in Slovakia.In order for it to bear fruit, it is necessary to remember a key procedure..
Apples are a treasure trove of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin C, B vitamins, calcium, sulfur, iron, magnesium, phosphorus and some vitamin E.Fruit is also a good source of fiber, antioxidants and quercetin.
Thanks to the content of antioxidants, eating apples slows down the aging process and destroys free radicals.Regular consumption of apples has a positive effect on reducing bad cholesterol in the blood.This protects our body from stroke, atherosclerosis or heart attack.Thanks to their rich fiber content, apples help maintain a healthy body weight and get rid of unhealthy food reserves.
Apple tree: queen of Polish gardens
As you can see, there are many reasons to have apples in your garden . The apple tree is the real queen of Slovak gardens – it is by far one of the most popular fruit trees in our country. It belongs to the perennials belonging to the rosaceae family.It includes 25 to 55 species (depending on the species).It occurs in temperate climate zones in the northern hemisphere.
Trees and shrubs can reach a height of up to 20 m.They usually have one straight trunk, sometimes additional trunks formed from root shoots appear.Apples are usually spherical in shape, sometimes slightly flattened or oblong.The fruits of wild apple trees reach a diameter of up to 5 cm, while they are slightly larger in cultivated varieties.
When to prune an apple tree?
In order for the tree to continue bearing fruit, it is advisable to remember an important procedure. We are talking about pruning an apple tree, which is carried out in two phases: winter and summer..
Winter pruning should be done from late February to late March or early April. On the other hand, summer pruning is the last challenge – if you didn’t make it in July, you have August left, depending on the apple variety..
Summer pruning helps regulate growth: reduces the number of young shoots that overgrow, so the crown of the tree will be thinner and thus receive more light. This ensures that fruits receive more sunlight and ripen evenly..
By removing unnecessary shoots, the fertility of the remaining shoots will also improve.On the other hand, summer pruning helps reduce the susceptibility of apple trees to diseases. This simple procedure has a ‘rejuvenating’ effect on older apple trees that no longer produce as abundantly as in the past..
During the summer cut, you should get rid of ‘wolves’, i.e.j.strong shoots pointing upwards.There will be no fruit on them and they just ‘steal’ nutrients and take away the strength of the other twigs.
Leave the slanting shoots as they will form the crown in the following years.It is on them that the fruits will appear, because the apple tree bears fruit on 2, 3 and 4-year-old shoots.There is no need to rush summer pruning and it should be done already in June – the reason is the already mentioned ‘wolves’, which will still grow when pruned prematurely.
