Pruning Standard Fruit Trees to Control Height?

A. Probably not. Standard sized apple trees may grow to
35 or 40 feet in height. You might be able to keep a standard sized tree under
20 feet tall (maybe 15 feet if you’re really aggressive) through pruning but I
don’t think you will get it to eight feet tall which is what I aim for in pruning
semi dwarf trees for backyards. I call the size of these fruit trees “ladder
less”. The standard sized apple tree is just too vigorous for pruning to short
heights.

            Standard
sized apple trees normally grow 30 to 40 feet tall. Buying these trees on semi
dwarfing rootstocks will keep them smaller than this but it depends on which
semi dwarfing rootstock the tree has been grafted onto. I have found that the
M111 semi-dwarfing apple rootstock is probably the best semi-dwarfing apple rootstock
for backyards in our climate.

            Using
this semi-dwarfing rootstock, I have been able to keep Pink Lady and Mutsu
apples, for instance, pruned at eight feet through appropriate pruning methods.
Apple trees grafted onto M111 rootstock will normally get to 80% of its mature
height if left unpruned.

            Nurseries
sell fruit trees with a tag that calls the tree a “semi dwarf” because most
people don’t know the different kinds of semi dwarfing rootstocks. In our area
an apple that is labeled as semi dwarf is most likely grafted on to M111
rootstock. 

There are online stores for fruit trees, such as Grow Organic and
Bay Laurel, that specify the rootstock used and the most common semi-dwarfing
rootstock available on apples for backyards in the Western US is M111.