Young Trees

• 1). Remove any branches less than 24 inches above the soil surface. If the young Gravenstein tree is a whip or a stick-like formation with no branches, trim it to about 32 inches high.
  
  
• 2). Select three or four branches to serve as the scaffold, or main, branches. Choose branches that are evenly spaced around the trunk but not directly across from each other. The top shoot, or the shoot growing directly out of the top of the trunk, serves as the "central leader."
  
  
• 3). Remove any branches other than the scaffolds and central leader during the tree's first winter, using pruning shears.
  
  
• 4). Cut off any top shoots competing with the leader shoot during the tree's first summer.
  
  
• 5). Choose another set of scaffold branches during the tree's second winter. Use branches that are about 3 feet higher than the first collection of scaffold branches. If the tree hasn't grown much, wait until the third winter to do this.
  
  
• 6). Repeat the scaffolding process until the Gravenstein apple tree has three or four sets of scaffold branches. Maintain the tree's shape by keeping the lower branches longer than the upper branches.
  
  

Mature Trees

• 1). Cut off any and all suckers, the shoots that grow up out of the tree's roots. These are near the base of the tree.
  
  
• 2). Remove any dead, diseased or broken limbs or branches.
  
  
• 3). Cut off any branches that exhibit improper growth, including stubs, broken branches, weak stems, branches that grow downward, or upward-growing interior branches (meaning branches that grow straight up under other branches). Trim any branches that rub against or cross one another or grow toward the trunk.
  
  
• 4). Shear off any whorls on the tree. Whorls are small clusters of leaves that grow from stubs on the branch. Do the same for narrow crotches, or twig-like branches growing closely to another branch.
  
  
• 5). Trim new growth, thinning it out to allow light to enter the tree's canopy.