and he favors delaying apple tree pruning until the time when the flower buds start swelling and through the start of leaf emergence. As Walla indicates, the risk of black rot canker fungus ...

Pruning prevents your apple tree from being invaded by diseases and pests that could kill it and allows it to grow healthy and provide delicious fruit. The best time to prune your apple tree is ...

The fungus, which lives inside the leaves, not only increases the production of defensive substances in the trees, but also produces an alkaloid itself that protects the trees from feeding damage.

In Fielding Questions, readers also asked about specific apple tree sprays and commiserated about fake hosta seeds.

This helps pruning cuts seal more rapidly, leaving less tissue open to invasion by the black rot fungus. Walla’s observations about delayed pruning are well worth noting. I’m following his ...