This is the perfect moment to prune apples and pears

There is a season for everything, and while fruit tree pruning isn’t rocket science, it should be enjoyable. Fiann Ó Nualláin offers a paper plane version of how and when to snip.

Fruit pruning shouldn’t be a daunting task, it is the means of a more productive crop next year and so should be enjoyable— but many pundits and garden manuals make it look like rocket science.

There are enough stresses in life. So here is my paper plane version. Apples and pears can be grown as bushes (and we can include in that espalier, fan-trained, step-over) or as standard trees.