What those guys said
I've worked on some pretty large commercial orchards, and that is when they prune, late winter. And you clean up every scrap, it gets burnt. Larger pieces get sold for firewood,(nice smelling and decent burning, sucks to split so..don't) smaller ones just get piled up and burnt, everything, the leaves, fallen apples, everything. Keep the ground immaculate under fruit trees, well mowed, clean. Imagine some drill instructor is bellowing at you to police the yard, that clean.
Rule of thumb on pruning, how I got it clear in my mind, think those egyptian hieroglyphics, you've seen them, what they look like with the people's arms and legs all "square". And you open the middle so all sides of the tree get some sunlight. Another trick is in the spring, take off at least half the buds/flowers, the remainder will grow into much better apples. The big orchard guys have foreign traveling crews come in and usually do this work..then the same guys come back and pick, we used to use these really tall jamaicans with huge hands..man them boys could do some work and hardly damage an apple/not miss a stem to stay on. They sing all day (really, not trying to be racist or anything, just relating what I remember from..aww shoot, 40 years almost now ago...) and they HOLLER to each other and carry on long conversations like hundreds of yards apart. It's like, who needs a cellphone or walkie talkie when you can just HOLLER!!! HAHAHA! Pretty cool really, I like those guys and liked working with them. the worst one of those dudes could outpick me 3-1, let alone handle those huge heavy old giant wooden ladders we used to throw up. I sincerely doubt I could set one of them bad boys today...no idea if they even still use giant wooden ladders.....heck, the probably have hover shoes now, who knows....robots...
I feel right now like telling some kids to get off my lawn....
...so, I am going to work at this big orchard one day, I am driving an old schwinn 10 speed, like a harley with no engine, one of those mass steel jobs.....there's this HUGE hill I really could pick up some speed on to get to work (sucked coming back home though..). I am really booking it one day, cruise out between the two lanes, peg it right down the middle and passing cars like nuthin...(45 MPH zone there)
Uh oh, dang cop with a radar gun..ya back then...he freaks starts waving me over...grumble..I sorta braked and eventually pulled over. Cop drives up laughing goes-paraphrased- "you &^%$$ idjit, you was doing over 70!!" "Do that again I'll give you a speeding ticket, mr fancy "ten speeder""!! hahahah...true story....
