Pruning fruit trees

Growing apple trees is maintaining a balance between growth and fruitfulness.   Following the severe pruning last winter, there has been an excess of growth which, if left unpruned, will reduce fruitfulness.   There are two types of production, tip-bearing or spur-bearing.   Tip-bearing apples only produce fruit at the ends of branches so that drastic pruning for fruit could result in the fruiting buds at the end of branches being cut off, but most apple trees are spur-bearing, so it is best to assume that yours are spur-bearing.   Identify which are the main branches of your bush tree aiming for a widely spaced bush of wineglass shape.   Then all branches coming off the main branches should be treated as sideshoots and drastically pruned to three leaves beyond the basal cluster - see RHS website for pruning a cordon treating each branch as the main cordon.   This will create spurs with fruiting buds.   Apple trees should be completely free of weeds or competing grass for a circle of half a metre radius around the trunk, so dig shallowly around the tree to leave bare soil and then cover with a mulch to retain moisture.   Only when well-established and fruiting well should grass be allowed to grow around the trunk to reduce growth and encourage fruiting.

Thanks for that. It's difficult to identify any main branches as they're shooting up from everywhere. I'll see if I can find the thickest ones and do as you advised. What time of year should I do it? Should I cut out any branches (they're more like stems) going into the middle so there's a better airflow?