We planted fruit trees in an abandoned lower lot left cleared by previous owners when we moved into our house approximately three years ago. We live in Halifax, NS, Canada.

I have read a lot of online articles, government documents, and books related to pruning fruit trees, and they all cover roughly the same ground: how to/when to. I follow the directions as best I can re: when to prune, and techniques for cutting properly.

What I am utterly lacking is any sense whether or not our trees, at 3 years old, look anything like they ought to. I have seen a few pieces of fruit here and there, but am not expecting any in the early years. I am just hoping somebody can look at these and say "Great, keep them going," or "What the #@$! have you done to your trees you callous butcher?!?!"

I am going for the "modified leader" style. I am keeping the heads at about 8' or so (is that a good height?) And the directions for sucker removal and dead branch removal all make sense, and I can do that just fine.

But the books also say to get rid of branches that are growing upwards of 60 degrees from the trunk... or branches overlapping each other... or branches growing back towards the trunk. Is that just for scaffolding branches? Or all subsequent offshoots? Because that would leave my pear trees practically barren.

The books say to have 3 or 4 scaffold branches, evenly spaced around the tree, no more than 6" apart. Some articles show a ring of 3-4 scaffold branches around the tree every 6" all the way up the trunk; others show just 3 or 4 main branches period, from bottom to top. Which is it?

So, here are my trees... please don't laugh. If they survive the insects again this year, maybe I can do better next time around...

Image order is: Apples 1-4, Pears 5-6, and two shots of our solitary Cherry tree.

Thanks everybody... any help is appreciated so very much...