[adri123]

Would now be a good time?

We're in the Peak District and up at 1000 feet so there's plenty of time for bad weather.  Would now be a good time to prune apples?

TIA

Adri

[diospyros]

Any time while the tree is dormant is fine.  I think extremely cold weather just after pruning is not good, but leave it too late until the buds start to swell and they do tend to get easier to knock off in the process!

[Trillium]

I agree that extremely cold weather is a bad time to prune - cut ends are easily split open by hard cold and more damage is incurred.

Last year I had to wait until late March because we had so much snow that I couldn't move around the trees. Buds were only just starting to show and I worried I'd left it too late. But I got the best harvest ever last year. I suspect the big mulch of rotted chicken manure helped a lot too.

[PudsTree]

Prune from now to the beginning of March. Wait for a non-freezing few days and dry if possible. These sort of days do happen even in the Peak District, just keep an eye on the weather forecast! Most cuts heal over in a remarkably quick time.

Remember the basics, keep the centre of the tree open (can you throw a hat through it in winter is the test), don't prune too vigorously, it only encourages twiggy non-productive growth, and don't prune back into fruiting spurs unless you know what you are doing.

Good luck