Editing Fruit tree pruning (section)

{{Short description|Cutting of selected parts of a fruit tree}}
{{About|pruning of fruit bearing trees|the pruning of trees and other plants in general|Pruning}}
{{More citations needed|date=April 2010}}
[[Image:Orchard3.jpg|thumb|333px|right|A community apple orchard originally planted for productive use during the 1920s, in [[Westcliff on Sea]] ([[Essex]], England), illustrating long neglected trees that have recently been pruned to renew their health and cropping potential]]
[[File:Agriculture in Britain during the First World War Q54599.jpg|thumb|Agricultural workers pruning an apple tree {{circa|1915-1918}}]]

'''Fruit tree pruning''' is the [[pruning|cutting and removing of selected parts]] of a [[fruit tree]]. It spans a number of [[horticulture|horticultural]] techniques. Pruning often means cutting [[branch]]es back, sometimes removing smaller limbs entirely. It may also mean removal of young [[Shoot (botany)|shoot]]s, buds, and [[leaf|leaves]].

Established [[orchard]] practice of both [[organic farming|organic]] and nonorganic types typically includes pruning. Pruning can control growth, remove dead or diseased [[wood]], and stimulate the formation of [[flowers]] and [[bud|fruit buds]]. It is widely stated that careful attention to pruning and training young trees improves their later productivity and longevity, and that good pruning and training can also prevent later injury from weak [[tree fork|crotches or forks]] (where a tree trunk splits into two or more branches) that break from the weight of fruit, snow, or ice on the branches.

Some [[sustainable agriculture]] or [[permaculture]] personalities, such as [[Sepp Holzer]] and [[Masanobu Fukuoka]], advocate and practice no-pruning methods, which runs counter to the widespread confidence in the idea that pruning produces superior results compared with not pruning. Many books about fruit-growing assert advantages and disadvantages of pruning or not pruning, although without [[randomized controlled trial]]s, it is hard to separate [[theory|theorizing]] and [[traditional knowledge]] from [[evidence]]-based recommendations.