Arbor Day is officially this Friday, April 29.  Because school is 'in session' on that date, we arranged to do our day of volunteering a week early, while the kids were on April vacation.  So last Friday put a full day of work in and pruned a lot of trees on the school grounds.  
We were thinking of 1) safety and 2) aesthetics.
First we pruned many trees for large deadwood and other potentially dangerous branches. Then we moved on to quite a few specimens that had not been pruned in YEARS, like the apple trees at the entrance to the building.  
It was a great day of service.  Thanks to JBES, Daryl Mazzaglia & the Bartlett Conservation Commission, and the Mountain Garden Club of Mount Washington Valley!

While it's technically possible to prune year-round, late winter and early spring, while trees are still dormant, is the perfect time to prune fruit trees.   Whether the goal is maximum fruit production or shape aesthetics or 'releasing' an old/wild tree from surrounding trees, pruning before bud break will put the tree in the best place to energetically benefit from the pruning. This means that once the tree begins to allocate energy and produce new growth in late spring, the tree will send those energies to zones that are intentioned by the savy pruner.   
Emerald Tree Experts will gladly come and prune your fruiting trees --apple, peach, pear, plum, etc-- or offer consultation. There are also a number of great resources out there to guide you if you are a DIY pruner! Here are a few: 
http://modernfarmer.com/2015/02/right-cut/
http://umaine.edu/fruit/growing-fruit-trees-in-maine/pruning/
http://www.groworganicapples.com/organic-orcharding-articles/how-to-prune-apple-tree.php
http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/education/mgprogram/mgmanual/07pruning.pdf
http://chemung.cce.cornell.edu/resources/pruning-apple-trees
https://anrcatalog.ucanr.edu/pdf/8502.pdf
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This gives me the serious heebie-jeebies!  Two massive boa constrictor-like vines have grown for 19 years (according to the homeowner) up a cedar tree in Byfield, Massachusetts.  The poison ivy vine eventually killed the tree, but I am sure that in the summer months it looks like a proper tree with all those shiny leaves of three draping down.   uggggh!      Thankfully, there is not too much of this kind of vining poison ivy in the Mount Washington Valley of New Hampshire, where Emerald Tree Experts does the majority of work.  Yikes!!!

Processing firewood with our awesome, powerful Timberwolf log splitter. It's pretty quiet, doesn't stink, and makes quick work of big rounds because of the 6 way wedge. But our favorite element is the side log lift--a back saver!
The pile of wood gets big fast with this machine!   Some of the wood we process we will keep for our own heating needs--we love sitting by a wood stove in the winter, and knowing that we are keeping heating costs down.  Some of the wood we will be selling to customers.  Do you need any firewood for next winter?