I moved into my present home 15 months ago. On my Poperty are four standard apple trees. Probably deliciious or pippen variety. It appears they have not been pruned in decades. Last year they flowered and i got many ugly(partially rotten, odd shaped, ), but tasty apples. These trees are about 45ft tall and they are showing signs of aging. Dead limbs, cancerous spots, and limbs w/o fuit. I want to prune these trees to perhaps give them a second chance at life, and increase their productivity. A few questions, however.
I want to leave the bees as many blooms as possible. Therefore, Do I prune now, or wait until after they bloom? Do I get aggressive and cut massive portions of limbs down, or spread it out over two seasons?
Secondly, I want to order more fruit trees and perhaps a filbert tree. Do you recomend a mail order company for these items? If so, whom?