Keeping Your Apple Tree Pruned to One Main Leader

Step back and view the tree again. It should have one main leader or central trunk. On the tree here, the leader is a bit curved, from not being staked and bending in the wind. This is OK, but the side branches on the leader will have to go. They were left there when they were young and thin, but now they are becoming competing branches and will distort the shape and openness of the tree. Prune them back.