What to do with neglected tree, full of large water sprouts?

[Hugo Lefrançois]

Hi there!

I am a landscaper and I do some minor tree work at some of my client's. There's a client of mine who has an apple tree that's been neglected for too long, and it's full of water sprouts that are a few years old already. I am thinking we should get rid of at least a part of them. What would you say about taking them all off, which would mean pruning almost half of the tree crown?

I will come up with pictures.

Thanks!

 

[PJM]

Ideally you would wait until late winter to prune and don't take more than 20% of the live crown off in your first pruning. You should put it on a schedule over the next couple of years to work the whole crown over.

 

[Hugo Lefrançois]

Thanks PJM!
What would you start with? The inside of the crown or the outside? I know the idea is generally to open the inside, but in that case wouldn't it look weird if I cut the inside watersprouts and leave the outside ones? I feel like doing the outside ones first would make it look a little more like a "normal" tree (shapewise).

 

[Canyon Angler]

You want plenty of air inside an apple tree. Main limbs should be spread out. A tight "lollipop" tree shape isn't what you want.