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Generally, you should prune around 20% of an apple tree’s growth—and never more than 30%. This means that if you have a severely overgrown tree, it can take a few seasons to prune it back enough to produce the healthiest fruit. 

If you’re dealing with a newly planted or juvenile tree, hold off on pruning beyond the initial shaping. Wait at least a couple of seasons into fruit production since pruning can increase the number of water sprouts and unproductive foliage.

Unless there’s some sort of rule in your community’s homeowners’ association that requires you to remove a stump, there’s no law that says you have to take it out. If you’re not wedded to the idea of removing it, there are plenty of ways to get creative with this tree remnant. Using the stump as the medium for a wood carving or turning it into a planter are just two examples of ways to repurpose a tree stump.

On grafted trees, tree suckers will grow from the root stock, not the branches grafted onto it. Therefore, the leaves and characteristics of the suckers aren’t the same as the tree because they are different varieties. Root stock has more hardiness, strength, or drought tolerance than its grafted limbs, so if the suckers are from fruit or flowers, it might be different than the main part of your tree.

There are four common ways to prune a tree correctly: crown thinning, crown reduction, crown raising, and crown cleaning. The method you choose depends on the purpose of pruning. However, making the correct cuts is a vital part of the process, regardless of your method. Pruning incorrectly can damage or even kill the tree. So, you may want to hire a professional tree-trimming company to tackle the task.