Removing apple tree bottom branches

Hi

I have been off for 2 ways and my garden has turned out into a mini jungle!

the apple tree has started to grow a lot and I am struggling to see any use for the bottom two branches, I think they are consuming a lot of energy and will rarely produce any fruit

would you recommend removing those to enforce the tree to grow upwards?

 

I'd leave them for this year and maybe think about removing them next winter.

 

Yep I would agree with this

 

those bottom branches at the moment are being very useful as they are helping the tree to grow I would leave alone for now

 

I would also leave them, its a young tree and it needs all the energy it can muster to grow roots. I see some grass poking it's head up in the picture and you'd do more good for the tree removing this and adding a nice mulch around the base to reduce competition.

 

Yeah I need to cut the grass, that’s a jungle right now!

I thought cutting the branches would help to use better the energy as it won’t use it feeding those branches but I am wrong

As per the grass, do you reccomend removing the grass around and put mulch there then? If so, how far big should it be the radius?

 

The branches feed the trees and you will always have more growth from the upper parts of the tree because its where most of the energy goes.

With the grass it's an idea to cut away a few feet from the trunk. It's not this simple but for young trees the roots will probably be around the width of the canopy after a couple of years, so if you can leave that amount around the base clear it would be good, if not i would go for a 2ft radius. You could use the cut grass as part of your mulch, just leave the trunk clear.