Heading a Newly Planted Bare-Root Apple Whip at 30 Inches With Bypass Hand Pruners: One Cut Above a Bud to Start the Scaffolds

Newly planted bare-root apple whip being headed with bypass hand pruners above a bud

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A bare-root apple whip arrives as a single unbranched stick about chest high. Leaving it uncut feels safer, but the first cut on planting day is what decides how high the tree's first branches will grow.

How high should you cut a newly planted apple whip?

Head an unbranched whip at about 30 inches, and no higher than 36, right after planting. Cut just above a healthy bud. By summer, shoots grow on the top 8 to 10 inches; keep the top shoot as the leader and use lower, wide-angled shoots as scaffold branches.

Iowa State University Extension's guide to pruning and training young apple trees says to cut whips to 30 inches just above a bud. It says the leader and side shoots develop on the upper 8 to 10 inches of the trunk by summer.

Utah State University Extension's training and pruning apple trees page gives a heading height of 30 to 36 inches. It says to keep one shoot, usually the top one, and pinch out the competing shoots right next to the cut while they are still young and succulent.

First Two Seasons at a Glance

When Cut Source
Planting day Head whip at 30 to 36 in. ISU, USU
Early summer Pinch competitors near the cut USU
Next March or early April Keep leader plus 3 to 4 wide-angled laterals ISU
Same spring Shorten laterals by 1/4 ISU
Same spring Shorten leader by up to 1/2 ISU

Why the Heading Cut Matters

A heading cut removes the shoot tip, which pushes the buds just below it to grow. Without the cut, a whip often grows tall with few side branches in useful places.

USU adds that a leader growing hard with little branching can be headed again by about one-fourth of its new growth to stiffen it and encourage laterals.

Picking the Bud

Choose a plump, healthy bud near the 30-inch mark. Make the cut about a quarter inch above it, slanting slightly away from the bud.

Count a few good buds below the cut. If the buds right at 30 inches are damaged, move the cut a little higher or lower to a sound one.

Materials and Tools

Planting-Day Steps

  1. Plant first. Set the tree at the right depth and water it in.
  2. Measure. Mark 30 inches above the soil line on the whip.
  3. Find the bud. Pick a healthy bud at or just above the mark.
  4. Cut cleanly. Make one bypass cut about a quarter inch above that bud.
  5. Guard the trunk. Add a trunk guard before rodents find the bark.
  6. Pinch in summer. Remove competing shoots right below the top while they are soft.
  7. Select scaffolds next spring. Keep three to four wide-angled shoots and remove the rest.
  8. Shorten. Cut the laterals back by about a quarter and the leader by up to half.

Mistakes and Hazards

  • Skipping the cut and ending up with high, sparse branches
  • Heading too low, which ISU and USU heights help you avoid
  • Leaving several tops of equal size to compete
  • Crushing the stem with a dull pruner
  • Letting narrow-angled shoots become permanent branches

If the whip needs support, see staking a newly planted tree with two stakes. Later training uses the same leader rules as subordinating a codominant leader, and deer protection follows caging young yard trees against buck rubs.

Young apple bark is a favorite winter food for voles. The hardware cloth mesh size and gauge guide explains mesh for trunk guards.

FAQ

Do I head a branched nursery tree too?

USU notes that larger nursery trees may already have the heading cut and branches in place for scaffolds. ISU says to select well-placed branches on a branched tree.

When do I choose the scaffold branches?

ISU says to select them the following spring, in March or early April.

What if all the new shoots grow upright?

USU says spreading branches to a wide crotch angle may be necessary.

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