A few books confuse and frustrate more than they explain. They usually contain those really nice pictures of the perfect tree, but most of us have trees that more closely resemble a Picasso than a Norman Rockwell. The first rule is to simply clean up the tree. Some fruit trees such as cherry and plum may only need a good 'cleaning' each year and no other pruning. Cleaning a tree involves removing any water sprouts or suckers.
Suckers grow straight up from the base of the tree or the root system.
Water sprouts also grow straight up, but are located up in the structure of the tree. Some water sprouts can grow up to 10 feet in one year. They normally are very poor producers and just cause problems. Other wood to remove includes branches that are dead, diseased or have insect damage, he adds. Diseased branches or limbs do not drop their leaves in the fall, which makes them easy to identify.