Hi all:
When watering near my second year Honeycrisp apple tree (on M-7 / B-9 interstem) today, it started to lean quite a bit. I had noticed it leaning before, but never quite this much.
I've put up pictures at on plantworking.com: bending or leaning apple tree
Did I do the right thing? Should I be pruning it now?
I've been wanting to train it to a central leader form, but I'm love your suggestions!
Since the people who know what they are talking about aren't answering, I'll give my two cents.
I'd tie the trunk 6 or 8" higher to straighten it out. I'd bend the vertical branch on the right to the angle of the one one on the left and head it back. When you straighten the trunk the branch on the left will be a little more vertical. I'd tie it back to about the angle it is now relative to the ground.
Finally, I'd head off a significant portion of the bent over leader so its weight isn't flopping it over and so you won't have a big vertical distance between tiers of branches.
I'm hoping the heading back of the long, spindly, unbranched growth will encourage branching and thickening. I'm thinking these cuts would have been better earlier in the season.
I could be all wet.
Jade, I wouldn’t do anything right now, just keep it from falling over… Allow those healthy nutrient producing leaves to feed the trunk and back into the roots, then deal with it in early Spring… doesn’t that sound good, early Spring…
I’d checked your link yesterday but on ‘dialup,’ it took forever to load… I just gave it 15 minutes to do the same ...with finally two pictures to look at… I know, but it’s satellite or nothing here in the woods, and I’m too cheap. DSL’s a couple miles away and we’ve got a new phone company I’m told ‘invests more in their rural customers’ than the last ... and cable will never come to Arkansas (we’ve barely got electricity), I mean Yamhill County. So I wait …and wait …and wa… 
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