How/when to prune kiwifruit?

Originally from China, the kiwi fruit has spread throughout the world. Although it prefers the heat of summer and the mildness of winter, this liana with its juicy fruit acclimatises easily. Ideally, plant one male and three females to ensure good production. Pruning must be done properly to ensure a satisfactory yield.

Palming before pruning

Kiwifruit trees can grow to over ten metres. It is therefore essential to trellis them, either against a wall in your garden or using sturdy wooden poles. Against a wall, it is useful to add spacers so that the tree is not stuck to the wall. It can also be trellised on a fence or on an arbour.

Untangling the plant

Before pruning, kiwifruit should be untwisted as much as possible, taking care not to break the branches. A voluble plant whose twigs wrap around the main branches, the kiwifruit tree needs to be thinned out. The gardener reorganises the plant and then extends the branches horizontally to provide a wide span to encourage kiwi fruiting.

Start with cleaning pruning

Once the vine has been properly disentangled and trellised, the cleaning pruning can take place. Ideally, the kiwifruit tree should be pruned at the end of winter, outside periods of frost, when it no longer has any leaves. Dead branches and snags should be removed. Anything that is dry or too old should be removed either with secateurs or with a tree saw if the branch is too thick. Cuts should be made flush with the creeper.

Perform fruiting pruning

Once simplified, the kiwi tree is ready for fruiting pruning. The gardener takes care to keep the year's branches. His aim is to favour the branches that will bear fruit. He then cuts off the shoots vigorously at two or three eyes, leaving the spurs (the branch that remains after pruning) ready to develop. They will bear kiwifruit within the year.

Summer pruning

The methods are the same for all kiwifruit trees, whether self-fertile or not. When the fruit appears, it's a good idea to remove adjacent spurs so that the strength of the sap is concentrated in the fruit. Similarly, removing some of the fruit allows the remaining ones to grow larger. The gardener also takes care to remove any suckers growing at the foot of the tree. Good pruning guarantees a good crop of kiwifruit!