North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Jason MacArthur <rotread@localnet.com>]

I have a few dwarf apple trees going into 3rd leaf with lower tier 
branches which are almost equal to the size of the trunk.  In fact, the 
trunk narrows significantly above these branches- clearly they are 
draining significant resources from the central leader.  Reading 
through the pruning literature there seems to be a great deal of 
conflicting advice on how to deal with a situation like this, from 
"never prune  a branch until it's fruited" to "don't bother growing a 
whole side of the tree you will only need to cut out later".
        
	The longer I wait the larger these branches get, so I am wondering 
what to do.  Is there any way to significantly slow them down enough to 
allow the trunk to regain dominance?  Or should I hack the tree back to 
a whip and start all over?
        
        Thanks and happy growing,

Jason MacArthur
Marlboro, Vt.