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Pruning japanese cherry trees


The Japanese Cherry Tree - Minneopa Orchards

Every year Japanese cherry trees beautify gardens and parks around the world. Perhaps the most iconic Japanese cherry trees within the United States are the ones that line the National Mall in Washington, D.C. But the good news is that if you live in a location with mild weather, you too can have your own “cherry blossom time” by planting a Japanese cherry tree in your own yard or garden. 

Keep reading to learn all about these beautiful cherry trees!

History of the Japanese Cherry Tree

Japanese cherry trees, or sakura, are a group of about 100 species of flowering cherry trees that originated in Japan. For over 1200 years, Japanese gardeners bred the most beautiful cherry trees every spring by grafting especially beautiful branches onto existing trees or cross-pollinating other trees to create new strains.

By the time of the Japanese Shoguns (1603 to 1867), cherry blossom time had become a national holiday celebrated by drinking sake under a beautiful, blooming Japanese cherry tree. In fact, these considerably large cherry trees were and are bred for their masses of pink or white blossoms in spring, and not actually for their fruit. 

Japanese cherry trees are now beloved all over the world Japan thanks to the efforts of an eccentric Englishman named Collingwood Ingram, a British ornithologist and plant collector. Ingram and his wife fell in love with the sakura on their honeymoon in Japan in 1907.

Ingram buried a cutting from a Japanese cherry tree in a potato and took it home with him via the Siberian Express, and in the following years, spread the trees to over 100 countries. By 1926, Ingram had become such a renowned expert on Japanese cherry trees that he was invited to speak to the Cherry Society in Tokyo. At the conference, he was told that the white Japanese cherry had gone extinct in Japan. Ingram, however, had a white Japanese cherry in his own garden in England. By cloning it, he was able to save the white cherry tree in Japan.

The famous flowering cherry trees in Washington, D. C. that I mentioned earlier were a gift to the United States from the Japanese government in 1912. Every spring, hundreds of thousands of tourists from all over the United States come out to see these amazing Japanese cherry trees, which are now over 100 years old.

Unlike the spindly cherry trees found growing wild in Europe and North America, native Japanese cherries have always been cultivated close to places where people live.

Japanese Cherry Tree Characteristics

Japanese cherry tree characteristics have evolved over centuries of breeding efforts. The Japanese cherries of 1,000 years ago had a shape similar to that of a weeping willow. Their branches drooped down almost to the ground, forming a cascade of blossoms every spring.

In the Kamikura period, beginning about the year 1200, Japanese cherries were crossed with exceptionally long-lived cherry trees found deep in the woods. Some individual trees used to provide genetics for the evolving Japanese cherry are now currently 1,500 to 2,000 years old.

In the 1500s and 1600s, Japanese cherries were then bred to be “double-flowered.” This gave them as many as 50 petals on each flower. 

By the early 1900s, there was an amazing variety of Japanese cherry trees in Japan. As the population grew and Japan modernized, however, all varieties except the Yoshino were chopped down, leaving it to Ingram to preserve the trees that provide genes for modern Japanese cherries.

Japanese cherry trees today come in several well-known varieties:

There are Japanese cherry trees that grow to 50 feet tall, some that do well in containers, and others that are grown as bonsai. Some species of Japanese cherries have pendulous blossoms, hanging down like streamers, others that grow into a rounded shape, and still others with irregular, jagged branches. The variations seem limitless!

Planting Zones

There are varieties of Japanese cherry trees that are adapted to USDA Hardiness Zones four through nine. Some varieties grafted onto sour cherry rootstock are only viable in Zones four through six, while container-grown trees may even bloom in Zone nine.

All Japanese cherry trees can tolerate hot, humid summers (like those in Japan) once they are established, but the need for chilling hours during the winter is variable. Experts at your local nursery will know which varieties work best for your location.

Size and Spacing

Some of the pendulous varieties of Japanese cherry trees that bear flowers on long weeping willow-like stems that droop down to the ground, only need to be planted 12 to 15 feet apart. If you plan to train the pendulous tree to grow on an arbor or canopy, you should have all the woodwork done and painted by the time you plant the tree.

Full-sized Japanese cherry trees need to be planted 20 to 40 feet apart, depending on how you plan to prune and train them. Japanese cherry trees grafted to dwarfing rootstock, only need to be planted five to 10 feet apart.

You can also grow a Japanese cherry tree in a 40 gallon container filled with a mixture of sphagnum moss, perlite, vermiculite, and compost. You should need prune it so it does not grow more than six feet tall.

Pollination

Since you grow a Japanese cherry tree for its blooms, not for its fruit, you do not have to worry about pollination.

Tree Care

Sunlight

Japanese cherry trees, like other cherry trees, prefer to grow in full sunlight. They do well with dappled afternoon shade, and also need a good amount of sun in the morning. It’s important for the leaves of any plant to dry off the dew that collects overnight in the morning to prevent bacterial diseases and mildew.

Watering

Japanese cherry trees need constantly moist but never boggy soil. They don’t grow well in heavy clay, and they usually don’t thrive next to streams.

In the summer, give them a thorough soaking when their soil is dry at a depth of two inches (if you’re not expecting rain any time soon).

Pruning

When to Prune

The principle behind pruning Japanese cherry trees is the same as pruning other fruit trees. Excess branches need to be removed for sunlight and air circulation to reach the lower and inner limbs. Dead wood that can’t support foliage should be removed so the tree has more energy for flowering.

The best time of year to prune a Japanese cherry tree is in late winter. You don’t want to prune a tree so early in the year that new growth is stimulated while the weather is still cold.

For Japanese cherry trees with pink blossoms, prune about two weeks before your expected last frost. For white-blossom cherry trees, prune about the same time as the last frost of the season. For any Japanese cherry tree, you should wait until the flower buds are just beginning to show spring color but aren’t open yet.

You’re not worried about fruit production, but you still should avoid summer pruning. Summer is the time of year that your Japanese cherry tree adds height and width.

How to Prune

When you prune a Japanese cherry tree, you’ll need a hand pruner, long-handled lopping shears, and a pruning saw. Sterilize your cutting tools with bleach before and after each tree.

Remove any suckers growing from the rootstock or from the base of the tree. Then remove any weak branches, cutting flush with the stem or trunk where they are attached. 

Make cuts at an angle so moisture falls off of the cut; water pooling on a cut can grow bacteria.

If your goal is to keep your tree small, you should top it in the first year or two of growth to control its shape. If your tree is at least 30 inches tall, then cut the leader at a 45 degree angle about 24 inches above the ground. This is the only time you should ever top your cherry tree.

In subsequent years, trim the branches that grow out from the tree to give in the shape and size you want.

Consuming Japanese Cherry Blossoms

Japanese cherry blossoms make an interesting tea. You can steep fresh Japanese cherry blossoms in hot water or dry them for use later in the year. If you don’t have your own Japanese cherry tree, you can also find cherry blossom tea in larger supermarkets.

Japanese cherry fruits, however, are small, bitter, and mostly seed. The seed, like the seeds of all stone fruits, contains toxic amounts of a chemical called amygdalin, which your body turns into cyanide. Don’t eat the fruit!

The tree’s leaves also contain a blood-thinning substance called Coumadin, the same chemical used to make the drug Warfarin. Don’t eat them or use them in tea!

Moral of the story: stick to the blossoms!

Health Benefits of Japanese Cherry Trees

As far as consumption goes, there aren’t any health benefits to eating Japanese cherry fruit, because it is poisonous. Don’t eat it! However, there seem to be significant health benefits that result from the practice of shinrin-yoku, or “forest bathing,” which can certainly include the beauty of Japanese cherry blossoms and has been shown to lower stress hormone levels and blood pressure. 

Now You Know All About the Japanese Cherry Tree!

Ready to buy your own Japanese cherry tree? Find Japanese Cherry Trees online and make your garden that much more beautiful! These trees aren’t just beautiful, but also ancient, and with a very interesting story. Remember to stick to cherry blossom tea if you want to consume them, and if you’re feeling stressed, try some forest bathing in the shade of their beautiful pink or white flowers. Excited for more cherry content? Then visit our cherry page for more planting tips, growing guides, recipe ideas, and more!

Japanese cherry tree - planting, pruning, & caring for this astounding tree

The Japanese cherry tree is without a doubt among the most beautiful spring-blooming trees.

Japanese cherry tree facts

Name – Prunus serrulata
Family – Rosaceae
Type – tree

Height – 16 to 40 feet (5 to 12 meters)
Exposure – full sun
Soil – ordinary, well drained

Foliage – deciduous
Blooming – February-April

Very ornamental, it is a staple element of Japanese gardens.

Planting a Japanese Cherry tree

It is recommended to plant your Japanese cherry tree in fall, before the first frost spells, to give it time to develop roots.

If you plant your ornamental cherry in winter, proceed only if it doesn’t freeze.

Just like most plants that have been purchased in pots or containers, it’s possible to wait for spring and even summer to transplant your Japanese cherry tree, if you avoid hot spells.

If this is the case, it will be necessary to water regularly over the first year after planting.

Potted Japanese cherry tree

It is perfectly possible to grow a Japanese cherry tree in a pot, on a terrace or on a large balcony.

Pruning a Japanese cherry tree

Like most Prunus trees, the only pruning that is really critical is the removing of dead wood.

Don’t prune before the blooming, but wait for the blooming to end before pruning, if needed, to reduce tree size or balance the branches.

Japanese cherry trees, like all the Prunus trees, are fragile and vulnerable to diseases such as fungus. The less they are pruned, the less they are infected by such diseases.

Follow these pruning tips

Japanese cherry tree varieties

The most common varieties are the great ‘Kanzan’ cherry tree, which has double flower blooms in spring that are most spectacular.

Three more varieties are the ‘Kiku Shidare Sakura’, ‘Hokusai’ and ‘Accolade’. These last ones are smaller than the ‘Kanzan’, and grow to be 20 to 26 feet (6 to 8 meters) tall, and also cover themselves with beautiful spring flowers.

Lastly, if a small Prunus tree for a smaller garden is what you are looking for, check out the ‘Amanogawa’ variety.

All the Japanese cherry tree varieties are very hardy to the cold and to freezing, since they hold to temperatures as low as 5° to -4°F (-15 to -20°C).

Learn more about Japanese cherry tree

The Japanese cherry tree, also called ornamental cherry tree, boasts spectacular blooming at the end of winter or at the very beginning of spring.

Absolutely magnificent, it brightens our first spring days with abundant flowers in hues that range from white to pink.

This time span, albeit quite short, will turn your garden in to a burst of color that signals that warmer weather is just about to come back.

It belongs to the large Prunus family, just like the cherry tree incidentally, and is native to Asia.

The time of blooming depends on the variety, which is why some bloom in February, some in March, and the latest varieties bloom at the beginning of April.

Smart tip about the Japanese cherry tree

Avoid places that are too exposed to wind so that the fragile blooms aren’t swept away too soon!

Japanese cherry trees also don’t cope well in spots that are too exposed to the sun and would be scorching hot in summer.

Credits for images shared to Nature & Garden (all edits by Gaspard Lorthiois):
Japanese cherry tree branches by Hans Braxmeier under Pixabay license
Single flower clump by Nhut Tran Minh under Pixabay license

Rules for pruning felt cherries. Photo — Botanichka

Felt cherry is one of the few stone fruits that grows literally by itself. It does not have industrial plantations, it does not indulge in a grandiose harvest, but it was named so because the leaves of the felt cherry are not as coarse as those of an ordinary one, but soft, like felt. Felt cherry often freezes slightly and remains without a crop, its flowers die, mainly due to recurrent spring frosts, during the onset of which felt cherry blossoms. But if there are no such frosts, then the cherry will please with a harvest, and although the fruits will be small and the bone in them is tangible, it is still pleasant and healthy to eat them. nine0003 Rules for trimming felt cherries. © Linnea Hendrickson

Today, let's talk about pruning felt cherries, because either no one at all, or few people do this, which is why the cherry crown turns into a kind of ball - the center is exposed, the crop is concentrated on the periphery of the crown, and naturally, it is seriously reduced. To prevent this from happening, we will give a series of useful tips.

Contents:

General features of felt cherry pruning


Although felt cherry and a shrub, it can easily grow one and a half or even two meters and will look more like a small tree, so all types of pruning are applicable to it, as for ordinary cherry . nine0003

Our goal is to show exactly the rejuvenation of felt cherries, which will certainly lead to an improvement in the appearance of the tree and an increase in yield, if everything is done correctly.

Usually the scheme is very clear: this is the removal of old branches, pruning of middle-aged branches by about a third, removal of all old skeletal branches to the point where buds or side shoots of the branch begin to grow.

If the felt cherry tree is very old and its center begins to dry out or has already dried up, then you can safely cut out all the shoots that are located on the side branches, but be very careful with annual growths, because these are the life forces of our future felt tree and they are better do not touch at all. nine0003

If you have got a site with heavily neglected felt cherry trees, then do not grab a saw and a pruner to immediately, in one season, put the site in order, do it gradually. Bring about one-third of the plants in proper condition in one season, otherwise felt cherries may die from abundant pruning, that is, you will not do better, but harm the plants.

We slow down the growth of felt cherries

As you know, felt cherries do not grow very actively, however, it is better to restrain it slightly so that the crown does not thicken too much and does not overgrow with unnecessary shoots. Every year, usually in late February or early March - the timing considered optimal for pruning felt cherries, you need to cut each shoot by about five centimeters and cover each cut with garden pitch or garden paint. nine0003

Opening the crown of a felt cherry

Although the crown of a felt cherry can be called a crown with a big stretch, it is still there and, as a rule, it is pulled together, dumped on one side. To change the direction of shoot growth, usually from vertical to horizontal, you need to take a new and clean twine, a piece of wooden stick, and a hacksaw (in case the stick is too long). Next, it remains for us to fix the stick in the ground so as to bend the branch we need with the twine in the right direction. This procedure can be carried out until about the second decade of the last summer month, but not later. nine0003

Please note: it is easy to bend and orient felt cherry shoots when they are young, but felt cherry shoots that are over three years old are usually very fragile and you need to be careful not to break them inadvertently. Before carrying out such an operation, the tree must be well watered by pouring a couple of buckets of water under it and wait an hour for the plant to be saturated with moisture. For this operation, it is better to choose a cloudy day and evening or morning time, so the risk of breaking a fragile and moisture-free branch will be minimal. nine0003

Sometimes a branch on a bush is directed so unsuccessfully that it is easier to cut it into a ring than to torment the plant and suffer yourself, but do not forget that all cuts, cuts, cuts, accidental wounds must be covered with garden pitch or garden paint.

Getting rid of vertical shoots

Pay attention to vertical shoots - these are tops (felt cherries also have them). They are useless, draw on nutrients and do not bear fruit. Such shoots can be cut into a ring or, leaving the strongest ones from the heels, try to bend them back, tying twine to them and tying them to the shoot below. nine0003

Then a branch bent at an angle close to 90 0 can begin to bear fruit, and if it breaks in the process of bending, then cut it into a ring. By the way, in the future, follow the constrictions, and use twine, not wire, which cuts into the shoots very easily. If you are worried about your tree, then put a piece of rubber between the twine and the shoots, which will protect the bark from injury. This procedure is appropriate to carry out in March or early April, when the branches of felt cherries are most pliable. nine0003 Even very old and neglected felt cherries can be rejuvenated with pruning. © Ruslan

Pruning very old felt cherry bushes

Sometimes you may end up with an area where felt cherry trees are so old that you don't know how to approach them. Usually this age of shrubs is much more than five years old, but if you do not want to uproot them, then you can help them.

First of all, remove all vertical shoots of felt cherry and skeletal branches by cutting into a ring, they have already become obsolete. The best time for this is from the end of March to the first days of April. nine0003

Pruning of a tree that is still bearing fruit, but already considered quite old, has an overgrown crown, dry and irregularly growing shoots, is permissible only in early spring - until the end of the first decade of May. You need to start by removing all the shoots of felt cherries, which greatly thicken the crown, while leaving those branches that depart from the trunk at angles close to right.

The next step is to cut out all the crooked shoots, which are often found in felt cherries. Such shoots are usually formed due to the thickened crown, when literally every branch fights for a ray of sun. The next stage is the removal of all competing shoots: it is very easy to single out pairs of competing shoots - they grow in one direction. nine0003

It remains to shorten the central conductor at the felt cherry, making it so that it rises above the rest of the branches to a height of 14-17 cm and no more.

What must not be touched are annual shoots and shoots without lateral branches, but with live buds on them.

When is the best time to prune felt cherries?

The best time for pruning felt cherries is the end of March-beginning of April, when serious negative temperatures are no longer expected, but this time may be shifted. The main thing is that the pruning of felt cherries must be completely completed before the moment when flowering begins - this is very important. nine0003

Pruning felt cherries in summer, is it necessary?

Many gardeners are still arguing about the need for summer pruning of felt cherries. Let's put an end to this issue - you can cut felt cherries in the summer, but only in July and if there is an urgent need for this. Usually, summer pruning of felt cherries is carried out only if the tree has broken shoots or if the shoots are affected by a particular disease. It is clear that such shoots after pruning must be taken out of the territory of the site and destroyed. nine0003

Sometimes, in especially warm and humid years, and even when the gardener has gone too far with nitrogen, felted cherries can literally shoot young shoots. With a high degree of probability, they will not have time to ripen by winter and will simply die (freeze). In this case, you also need to carry out summer pruning.

Broken or diseased felt cherry shoots can and should be pruned even in summer. © pruning

Pruning, depending on the crown of the felt cherry

The felt cherry can grow in the form of a real bush or in the form of a tree with a height of one and a half to two meters, less often - higher, so gardeners divide the felt cherry into bush-like and tree-like plants, in due to this, slightly adjusting the cropping rules. nine0003

Pruning bushy felt cherries

Such cherries very actively increase their vegetative mass literally from the first season after planting in the garden, which (planting), by the way, should be carried out exclusively in spring. You can understand that the tree is already old and it needs pruning by beginner shoots. Such shoots can be safely cut off by one third by carrying out this operation in late February or early March.

If there are too many felt cherry growths and the cherry looks like a hedgehog, it is necessary to cut the shoots not in one season, but at least in two or three, otherwise you will greatly weaken the plant, and it may even die. nine0003

At the end of this cutting, every year in early spring, be sure to thin the crown, removing all shoots that thicken it, or use a formation specially designed for bush felt cherries, which is called "slender spindle". Its essence lies in the fact that periodically it is necessary to remove shoots aged one or two years, cutting out shoots that bear fruit.

Pruning felted cherry tree

It can grow up to one and a half and two meters, it is important to reduce its growth by shortening all shoots by 20-25 centimeters in late February or early March. Such shortening will actively stimulate the formation of bouquet branches and create a compact and low crown. nine0003

Naturally, it is necessary to remove all those shoots that have managed to grow during the season and are directed to the center of the crown, creating unnecessary ballast for the tree. Pay attention to dry shoots, they should also be removed.

All shoots that are a year old and longer than the length of a simple pencil can be safely cut to five centimeters.

Shaping pruning allows you to give the crown of felt cherries a decorative spherical shape. © David Winger

Felt Cherry Crown Forming

Even an old felt cherry tree can either be restored to its former crown shape or recreated. And with young plants, things are easier. In the initial six seasons, about seven shoots should be left on the tree for a tree-like felt cherry and no more than a dozen and a half shoots for a bushy one. All skeletal branches of the second order should be shortened by half.

Naturally, it is necessary to remove all those shoots that grow deep into the crown, which will thicken this very crown in the future. Then it remains to shorten all annual growths to a length of half a meter, otherwise the growth buds can be damaged. nine0003

Then we thin out the crown of an old felt cherry: cut out all broken or damaged shoots, all shoots thinner than a simple pencil and those that grow deep into the crown. Those shoots that will become bare over time, having fruited, also need to be removed.

Conclusion. Felt Cherry, although a simple tree or shrub, usually growing somewhere in the corner of the garden, protected from cold winter winds and where more snow accumulates, but also needs to be pruned. First, decide what exactly grows on your site - is it a tree or is it still a bush, and then proceed to the pruning techniques that we talked about. nine0003

Correct pruning of young, old, felted cherries, spring or autumn?

Many novice gardeners find the question of pruning cherries in a state close to a stupor. Questions immediately begin: do cherries do pruning? Trees seem to bloom well without it. And if, after abundant flowering, the harvest was not very good, then gardeners, without hesitation, explain this by the fact that among the flowers there were many barren flowers, but is this true?

Not at all. The fact is that the buds are simple and are either flowering or deciduous. At the same time, the flower buds awaken much earlier than the deciduous ones, which creates the illusion of a crown completely dotted with flowering. nine0003

More experienced gardeners may notice that cherry care and pruning are two different things, as the removal of branches causes gum disease, which subsequently harms the plant. Such a scenario of the development of events is quite real if it is greatly weakened. But if the tree is healthy and has not frozen over in winter, then proper pruning of cherries will only benefit it.

Planting, care and pruning of cherries should be carried out according to a well-thought-out scheme, preventing growth by gravity. Indeed, despite the difference between bushy and tree-like species, flower buds will be formed mainly on annual branches. At the same time, if the annual growth is 0.5 m or more, then the buds will be vegetative and new branches will then form from them. Too short shoots, on the contrary, will be dotted with flower buds. Both of these options are unsuitable, so the grower will need to artificially adjust the length of the increments in the range from 0.25 to 0.5 meters. Only such growths will bear fruit in the current year and lay the foundation for a good harvest in the next. nine0003

Cherry pruning times are somewhat different from apple and pear pruning. The fact is that this culture is thermophilic and tolerates frosts worse, so the time for pruning cherries in spring falls in March, when the risk of frost is much lower than in February. In summer, processing can be carried out either together / immediately after harvest. If the plant is sick, then the so-called sanitary pruning is carried out, for which there are no special terms. With this type of cherry care, the most important thing is to remove diseased branches as soon as possible, which can later infect the entire tree or even the garden. nine0003

In autumn, the end of the growing season is considered a suitable time for care. It is desirable that the weather be calm and clear, otherwise there is a risk of gum disease.

The gardener should understand that there is no hard time for pruning cherries and other fruit trees. The main guidelines are made on the climate, soil fertility and weather forecast for the coming days. For example, if experts recommend autumn care after the leaves have fallen, but there are no frosts, and weather forecasters promise a sharp drop in temperature to -15 ° C, it is better to cancel all manipulations that do not require urgent intervention. nine0003

Cherry pruning in the spring

Cherry pruning in the spring is the most important and fundamental activity. If the gardener does everything right and sticks to the same pattern of action for several years, then in most cases only one spring care per year will be enough.

Proper pruning of cherries in the spring is necessary before the buds begin to awaken on it, and if the winter was very cold and there is a suspicion that some trees could freeze, then proceed to remove the branches after the buds start to grow. In this case, it will not be difficult to determine which shoots are frozen and which are not. That's when you can begin to form the crown, along the way removing frostbitten shoots. The disadvantage of this method is the severe tolerance of the wounds received by the plant. nine0003

If the length of annual shoots is 25-35 cm, then they are not pruned, limited only to the removal of competing branches and shoots that thicken the crown. In this case, the branches growing upwards are to be cut at the place of their departure, and the peripheral ones are left. The last part of cherry care is the shortening of the conductor, after which it should slightly rise above the ends of the skeletal branches (no more than 20 cm).

Pruning cherries in autumn

Pruning cherries in autumn is much less common than in spring, as many gardeners believe that this can harm future crops, because the wounds caused by removing the branch make the tree more susceptible to winter frosts. But this is not so, proper autumn pruning helps prevent the development of many infections, prolong the life of plantings and increase future yields. Cherry, like other representatives of stone fruit crops, needs at least two treatments per year - spring and autumn, so it is still worth preparing it for wintering. nine0003

It is necessary to plan the autumn care procedure in accordance with the climatic zone of residence. For warm regions, the last days of November may be suitable, and for cold regions, September 10th. The most important thing here is to catch the moment between the end of the growing season and the first frosts.

It should be noted that one-year-old cherry seedlings do not need autumn pruning, since a young, fragile tree can easily freeze out at the cut point, which should never be allowed. In older seedlings, diseased and broken branches are removed in the fall, and only then they look to see if the crown needs a little adjustment by shortening other plants. nine0003

Pruning cherries in winter

Contrary to the popular opinion among gardeners that cherry pruning is not done in winter, as this can destroy it, there is another opinion, which, on the contrary, recommends work at the end of winter.

Pruning cherries in winter allows the gardener to be 100% sure that they are in a state of absolute rest, which means that wounds will be transferred more easily than in spring. However, it should be noted here that work cannot be done in severe frosts, since the bark becomes too fragile, and in the process of removing branches it can be severely damaged. Also, do not forget that mature plants tolerate frost much better than young ones, which are not recommended to be removed in winter. nine0003

In other respects, winter pruning of cherries has a number of advantages, among which we can single out: easier sawing of wood with an even cut, low probability of bark tearing.

If the garden consists of cherries of different ages, then pruning should begin with the most mature and fruit-bearing trees, since the buds on them wake up earlier than on young or old relatives.

Wounds inflicted during the formation of the crown should be thickly covered with garden pitch, thereby protecting the bark at the base of the wound from frostbite. nine0003

Summer pruning of cherries

Summer pruning of cherries is essentially an additional way to care for the crown during its formation. Leaving for the summer the main work of shortening shoots and forming skeletal branches is extremely unreasonable. Firstly, this is extremely irrational: it turns out that the branches to be removed received nutrients from the beginning of spring, and instead of accumulating strength and directing them to young shoots and fruit buds, the tree wasted them completely. nine0003

Secondly, in summer cherry vegetation is at its peak, so it will immediately react to any wound. Yes, and insect pests, as well as various diseases of garden plants will be happy to be able to freely settle on them. Therefore, in summer, there are mainly two reasons for removing branches:

Remember, sanitary pruning should be carried out as soon as possible after finding the problem area.

Pruning of old cherries

Pruning of old cherries has its own differences for bushy and treelike trees, but the common goal for them is to rejuvenate the tree and increase its fruiting.

The fact that rejuvenating pruning of bush cherry will be necessary will be indicated by the bare ends of the branches. In this case, you can return the yield by reducing the number of branches by shortening them by 1/3 or even ½ of the length of the shoot. In addition to shoots, skeletal and semi-skeletal branches to the level of dormant buds or to well-developed lateral branches growing upwards are subject to removal. In order for the plant to have the strength to bear fruit after removing the branches, the skeletal and semi-skeletal branches are removed in different years, but the annual growths that have appeared should not be touched. nine0003

Rejuvenating pruning of old tree-like cherries is somewhat different: annual shoots are shortened only slightly, which allows you to get a large number of new bouquet branches and side branches, where the fruits will later appear. Such rejuvenation should be started when the skeletal branches are bare at the base, and the shoots grow no more than 15 cm per year. In this case, shortening to a length of up to three years of wood is possible. If the branches growing in the middle of the crown have dried up, then the rejuvenating pruning of cherries should be done on the side branches growing on five-year-old wood. nine0003

When pruning both types of old cherries, there is a general rule: do not remove a large number of branches at once! With a large amount of work, it is better to plan a multi-year phased rejuvenation.

Pruning young cherries

Pruning a cherry seedling immediately after planting makes it possible to form a shape convenient for harvesting, thereby helping the root system, weakened by the tree transplantation process, to take root easier, since part of the removed branches will no longer need to be saturated with nutrients. Planting and first pruning of cherry seedlings is best done before buds appear on the tree, this will enable it to get stronger before flowering and a period of active growth. nine0003

At the same time, five strong and most developed branches are left to the seedling, everything else is removed under the ring, and the wounds are covered with garden pitch on the same day. Ideally, the branches left should be more than 10 cm apart and point in different directions.

In the spring of next year, the gardener must ensure that the bush does not thicken, and the crown continues to form according to a given pattern. Therefore, all branches directed inward are cut out. The shoots that appear on the trunk are removed in the summer or cut out for the next spring. Young tree-like plants are pruned from above, thereby controlling the growth of the tree, and in bushy plants, shoots are shortened, from 0.5 meters long. nine0003

As the young cherry grows, new skeletal branches are left on the tree until their total number exceeds 15. Damaged and dried branches are removed.

Pruning young cherries should be approached with great responsibility, because during this period the nature of growth is laid and mistakes made during this period can significantly reduce its yield in the future.

Peculiarities of felt cherry pruning

In the felt variety, the main part of the crop is formed on annual shoots, so you should not be too zealous with pruning them, but if the shoot is more than 60 cm long, then it should be shortened by 1/3. nine0003

Felt cherries thicken quickly and should be thinned out annually. It is recommended to leave 10 to 12 strong shoots. All old and broken branches must be removed in a timely manner. Rejuvenating pruning of felt cherries on aging bushes will allow you to get good harvests for quite a long time. To do this, you need to remove several side shoots on the ring, without affecting the peripheral skeletal branches and the central part of the crown. Then it is necessary to carry out processing "for receding growth" and, when shoots appear from the dormant buds located near the place of shortening, the old crown, which is located above it, should be removed. nine0003

Landscape design studio "Sovereign" employs specialists who have not only theoretical knowledge of pruning fruit trees, but also practical skills in its implementation.

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