Old apple trees are tough, young ones not so much. I've read that the main issue is if it drops below at least -20, within 2-3 weeks of pruning, at least for mature trees. If you are worried, you can always leave 2 or 3 inches of stub on larger cuts.

I just started my "winter" pruning today and did a little work on younger trees, but in Z6.

My father grew up in the 20's and 30's in Western PA. He said the old farmers said you could prune an apple tree anytime except for 52 days out of the year.

Guess I'll just wait, freeze my butt off And do it in early March or late February just to be certain.

I prune apples all winter long here. Its one of my favorite times in the orchard since it gets me outside in the winter.

Scott

It is the test winters when one pays, apparently. I haven't heard of such injuries occurring before temps fall below -25 F, but growers around here tend to prune their youngest trees last (in March), even at sites it's never been that cold.

There are growers that prune everything in the fall and apparently wounds harden off after 2 or 3 weeks.

My trees are anywhere from 7th - 11th leaf +- 1. Maybe we'll have a nice start to March, I need to sharpen everything first for now. At least I got some of the big chain saw loops sharpened today, it's logging season for the wood stove.

Thanks for pitching in your thoughts all.

I guess that wood is already seasoned that you are sawing into rounds. I'm burning wood right now that has only been seasoned since Sept. Not the best, but once the stove is cooking it burns well. I split it as soon as it's cut- green wood is easier on the saw and chain so it all happens as soon as the tree is dropped.