Mid winter is a great time - no leaves on trees, you can see the structure of the tree (it’s “skeleton”) so you get a great impression of where all the branches are and in which direction they’re going.

They are dormant and won’t get “hurt” by this savage pruning. I have a few apple trees (varieties) and I treat them all the same:
Prevent them from growing too tall - it is really difficult to pick fruit when they are too high. 
Have a look for the fruiting “spurs”, those rather fat, short branchlets from which the fruits hang. These spurs can be delivering apples for quite a few years, so don’t cut them off. 
Strategic pruning. Minimize branches inside the tree space – allow the wind to go through the centre –drying out after rain

Cold nights – frosts in the forecast

This is not a worry for apples and pears etc, because they are dormant and very much frost-hardy.

Fruiting plants that need some frost protection:

Avocado, cherimoya, some citrus varieties, guava, passionfruit, tamarillo. 

The more tropical they are the more protection they need; no surprises with these ones:

Banana, Papaya and Pineapple

Frost protection: Wrap plants in frost cloth; or keep them in large pots/containers so they can be moved under eaves or indoors; Liquid frost cloth such as Vaporgard; it acts like a waxy cuticle on the leaves, and is therefore also good against drought stress (reduces transpiration); Can be sprayed onto the leaves – every six weeks; another trick is to leave sprinklers on at night to reduce damage.

LISTEN ABOVE

Mid winter is a great time - no leaves on trees, you can see the structure of the tree (it’s “skeleton”) so you get a great impression of where all the branches are and in which direction they’re going. 
They are dormant and won’t get “hurt” by this savage pruning. I have a few apple trees (varieties) and I treat them all the same: 
<ul>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">Prevent them from growing too tall - it is really difficult to pick fruit when they are too high.  </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">Have a look for the fruiting “spurs”, those rather fat, short branchlets from which the fruits hang. These spurs can be delivering apples for quite a few years, so don’t cut them off.  </li>
<li data-leveltext="" data-font="Symbol" data-listid="1" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559683&quot;:0,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Symbol&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;hybridMultilevel&quot;}" aria-setsize="-1" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">Strategic pruning. Minimize branches inside the tree space – allow the wind to go through the centre –drying out after rain </li>
</ul>
Cold nights – frosts in the forecast 
This is not a worry for apples and pears etc, because they are dormant and very much frost-hardy. 
Fruiting plants that need some frost protection: 
Avocado, cherimoya, some citrus varieties, guava, passionfruit, tamarillo.  
The more tropical they are the more protection they need; no surprises with these ones: 
Banana, Papaya and Pineapple 
Frost protection: Wrap plants in frost cloth; or keep them in large pots/containers so they can be moved under eaves or indoors; Liquid frost cloth such as Vaporgard; it acts like a waxy cuticle on the leaves, and is therefore also good against drought stress (reduces transpiration); Can be sprayed onto the leaves – every six weeks; another trick is to leave sprinklers on at night to reduce damage. 
LISTEN ABOVE

Jack Tame’s crisp perspective, style and enthusiasm makes for refreshing and entertaining Saturday morning radio on Newstalk ZB.

News, sport, books, music, gardens and celebrities – what better way to spend your Saturdays?

Jack Tame’s crisp perspective, style and enthusiasm makes for refreshing and entertaining Saturday morning radio on Newstalk ZB. News, sport, books, music, gardens and celebrities – what better way to spend your Saturdays?

Jack Tame’s crisp perspective, style and enthusiasm makes for refreshing and entertaining Saturday morning radio on Newstalk ZB.News, sport, books, music, gardens and celebrities – what better way to spend your Saturdays?