Pruning fruit trees

Hi, I have 2 minature apple trees 1 minature pear tree and a potted blueberry brush, they are all 2 year old, can you please tell me when I have to prune them and by how much, I would be grateful for your advise, many thanks, Susan


Anne's response:

Fruit trees are usually pruned in late January and early February in the Carolinas. Most fruit trees do not need much pruning until they are 3 years old. You remove dead wood, limbs that corss and rub another limb. The formal pruning for good fruit production begins their fourth or fifth year. A blueberry planted in a pot is probably a miniature bush so the only pruning needed is to remove dead growth and thin spindly, weak branches. It will need to be repotted every other year to allow th roots to develop. The North CArolina Cooperative Extension Service has a very good brochure on Home Fruit Orchards that provides pruning diagrams, fertilizer recommendations and spraying to control insects and diseases.