Help need easy advice to prune an apple tree

[Delan3y]

Everything online seems so complicated

Cut the branches in the middle and any that stick out on the edges. That’s it pretty much it in a nutshell.

How? And isn’t that all the branches?

How old is the tree? Do you know the variety? Where does it hold the fruit- in little groups along the branches ( spur fruiting) or at the ends of branches?
if you do nothing else look for dead or broken branches and prune back to where it joins another branch. Prune out any that are showing signs of disease. Look for branches that are crossing and rubbing, leaving the best positioned branch. Prune out any branches that are growing across the centre of the tree. Look at the pile of prunings and don’t take off more than a quarter of the canopy. Remove any fruit that has hung on over winter.

If you prune it now you'll remove some of this year's flower buds that are waiting to emerge. Removing diseased or dead branches would be advisable though.

It's an ok time to prune an apple; ideally a few weeks earlier would have been better, but it's fine.

Cut out anything dead (snaps when you touch it), diseased (spots/streaks of fungus etc.), damaged (bark ripped etc.). Then cut off anything that is crossing with another branch - you don't want them to rub up against each other and do damage; if they've very close, try to think about whether they might collide if apples weighed them down.

After that, you are just looking for a nice open shape. If there are massive long whippy branches, cut them back; if it looks like a hedge, take out some bits in the middle.

Try to cut into the 'heel' of the branch - the bit where it wrinkles as it meets the trunk or the bigger branch it's coming out of. It's only this part that contains the hormones that will let the bark heal over; otherwise you will end up with cuts that scar rather than healing. It's not the end of the world but it's better to avoid. Cut diagonally so rain water runs off.

That's it! It's not really complicated. If you are worried, just stop and leave it for next year.

It’s a 7 year old red Windsor and a 51/2 Rev Wilks. Snipped according to all the advice below. Many thanks.Shape already pretty good, no whippy bits. Didn’t end up needing to take a lot off. The red Windsor over fruits. Too many tiny apples even if I do pick off fruitlets so not worried if pruning now impacts fruiting.