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Trim cherry blossom tree


Cherry Ornamental Trees- Pruning, Winter Care and Fertilizing

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These trees should be pruned in early spring, before the sap starts to flow (March). This will remove some spring flowers, but promotes better growth. Pruning can also be done right after flowering. The time to make a long lasting effect on the form and structure of the plant is when the tree is young. Crossing or crowded branches, suckers and water sprouts should be removed. Low branches should also be removed, if desired, when the tree is young. This is best done by removing one or two branches a year, over a period of a few years, until the needed clearance is obtained. As the tree gets older, pruning every three to five years will keep the tree in good general shape. Water sprouts and suckers, however, should be removed each year. Newly planted trees respond very well to fertilization.  Either granular, liquid or stake type fertilizers can be used. Granular fertilizers can be worked into the soil around the plant at a rate of 2 lbs or 2 pints per 100 square feet of planting bed. An alternative way to apply granular fertilizers starts with drilling or punching 6” deep holes at the drip line of the tree. Poured into these holes should be a total of 2 pounds of fertilizer per 1″ of trunk diameter (divided up and poured evenly between all of the holes). These holes should not be filled with more than 1/3 of the fertilizer and then they should be top filled with soil. This method of fertilization should only be done once a year, and is best done in late fall after leaf drop, or in early spring before the buds break. Multi Purpose 10-10-10 Fertilizer works well.

Liquid fertilizers (such as Miracle Gro) are mixed with water and applied the same as you would water the plant (see product for specific details). This should be done three or four times per year starting in late April and ending in mid July.  Stake type fertilizers can be used following the directions on the package. With any of the above techniques, a higher nitrogen mix should be used; 20-20-20 or similar mix. Organic fertilizers, like manure, can also be used with good results. The material should be worked into open soil at a rate of one bushel per 1″ of trunk caliper or 100 square feet of bed area. As a tree matures, less fertilizing or lower nitrogen mixes should be used.

It is important to protect young trees from the winter sun. The trunks should be wrapped with a commercial grade tree wrap for the first two or three years. This wrap can be removed in the summer and then re-applied in fall.

Rabbits can do a great deal of damage to this plant in the winter. The plants can be protected with a fence formed with hardware cloth (looks like chicken wire but with small square holes). To do this, the plants branches should be tied in towards the center on smaller plants, and a circle of hardware cloth can be placed around the outside. Take care that the fence dose not rub and injure the bark. The base of the hardware cloth should be buried in the soil or mulch. This protection should be installed in late November and removed in mid April.

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How to prune a cherry tree – and when to prune it

Cherry trees make a lovely addition to any garden, but you need to know how to prune a cherry tree to keep it healthy and a good shape. 

With their colorful foliage in fall, pretty spring blossom and some bearing delicious fruits, cherries offer both ornamental and productive appeal in a garden. You can also find compact and dwarf cherry trees suitable for containers – perfect for kitchen garden ideas.

Alongside those that are just grown for their beautiful blossom, there are both sweet cherry varieties – producing delicious, plump cherries  that can be eaten direct from the tree – and sour cherry trees, with fruits more suited to use in cooking, baking or preserves. 

The pruning method you adopt will differ depending on the variety you have, and whether your cherry is grown as an open centred bush, trained against a wall or trellis in a fan or espalier, or a weeping variety.

(Image credit: Getty Images / Shobeir Ansari)

How to prune a cherry tree – tips for beginners

'The goal when pruning cherry trees is to open up the center of the tree to allow sunlight and air to penetrate the branches and air to flow through,' explains Nikki McAteer of My Perfect Plants family-owned plant nursery in North Florida.

'The more sunlight the tree's inside branches receive, the more it will flower and then more fruit will be produced,' she continues.

Annually pruning cherry trees helps maintain a healthy balance of older fruiting wood and younger branches, and will keep the trees more compact, making it easier to pick the fruit.  

Maintaining a clear flow of air through the cherry tree will also help to protect the tree from diseases. 

'Reduce the risk of infections by disinfecting any tools with alcohol or dilute bleach before starting to prune,' explains Dan Neuteboom at Real English Fruit .

To make sure you have the right tools for pruning a cherry tree, you will need:

(Image credit: Getty Images / Igor Stevanovic)

When should a cherry tree be pruned?

When should a cherry tree be pruned?

Opinion is a little divided and there are those that prefer to prune cherry trees in winter, others are spring pruners and some are summer pruners. 

Summer pruning a cherry tree

Those who prune a cherry tree in late summer believe this is the best way to avoid the tree developing disease. In addition, it encourages slower growth of the tree. 

'Great candidates for spring or summer pruning include cherry trees, which, if left alone, can grow up to three stories tall,' explains Susan Poizner of Orchard People , who provide education and consulting on fruit tree care. 

Winter pruning a cherry tree

If you live in a cold climate, pruning cherry trees in late winter, when the tree is dormant, with no leaves or fruit, will encourage more rapid growth. 

It is also easier to see the structure of the tree in winter, to help determine which branches to prune.

It is best to avoid pruning cherry trees in early winter as the tree will not have the stored energy to heal wounds caused by pruning.

(Image credit: Getty Images / Jacky Parker)

Spring pruning a cherry tree

Pruning in spring, after the trees buds have opened and leaves started to develop, is a way to identify and remove any unhealthy branches and encourage a desired branch structure. The downside is that is will not encourage as much growth in the cherry tree.

'The best time to prune fruiting cherry trees is in late summer after the tree has gone through its fruiting period,' says Nikki McAteer.

'Most other cherries can be pruned in late winter during dormancy, but with fruiting cherries, you don't want to risk cutting off the blooms that produce the sweet fruit in spring,' she adds.

(Image credit: Getty Images / Richard Newstead)

Pruning free-standing cherry trees

The method for pruning a cherry tree will depend on the age of the tree. 

For young cherry trees:

(Image credit: Getty Images / Jacky Parker)

How do I prune an old cherry tree?

Overall, sweet cherry trees require only light pruning once established. To prune a cherry tree once established:

'During dormancy, in winter, the deciduous cherries will be leafless and you will have the best view of the branch structure. Additionally, you can prune back any suckers at the base of the tree. These will never produce viable fruit,' says Nikki McAteer.

If you have an established sour or acid cherry tree, however, it will need much heavier pruning that a sweet cherry, as the fruit is mainly produced on the previous year's growth.

If you have an established acid cherry tree, as well as removing dead, damaged or diseased branches, as above:

(Image credit: Getty Images / Monty Rakusen)

Pruning dwarf cherry trees

For pruning dwarf cherry trees, you can use the same method as other free-standing cherry trees, above.

How to prune weeping cherry trees

Using sharp pruners, remove suckers coming out of the base of weeping cherry trees. 'Remove suckers at any time of year,' advise the experts at Bower & Branch .

Prune out dead or dying branches back to live wood in winter – by scratching the wood to see where the live green wood begins.

On grafted trees, prune off any branches coming out from below the swelling near the top of the trunk as these won't 'weep' and will spoil the shape of the tree.

Trim the weeping branches to fall at least six inches from the ground and also prune more upright growing branches.

'Don't, however, remove more than 25 per cent of the canopy at one time when pruning a weeping cherry tree,' add the Bower & Branch experts.

(Image credit: Getty Images / Leonid Eremeychuk )

Should cherry trees be pruned every year?

Cherry trees should be pruned every year to maintain their shape and encourage healthy growth. 

Pruning cherry trees will also result in a better crop of fruit, as removing branches will increase the exposure to sunlight of the remaining shoots.

'In general, when pruning cherry trees, try to make as few cuts as possible, removing a few complete branches in order to give the canopy an open structure,' says Dan Neuteboom.

how to prune correctly, scheme of crown formation of old and young trees

Cherry pruning is needed not only to form a beautiful crown. The main purpose of this procedure is to increase productivity. Unfortunately, not every gardener can boast of a good knowledge of pruning principles. In order for the cherry to grow more actively and delight its owners with ripe and large berries, you need to adhere to certain (not at all complicated) rules.

Contents

Should cherries be trimmed at all?

Many novice gardeners ask themselves the question: do you need to prune cherries at all? Of course, it is necessary. This tree boasts very fast growth and branching, therefore, if it is not pruned, the crown will tangle very quickly, the central branches will no longer receive enough light and air, and fruiting will deteriorate or stop altogether.

Regular pruning of a plant will have a positive effect on it:

General principles of trimming

The entire trimming process can be roughly divided into two steps:

When pruning cherries, thinning is most often used. This is due to the fact that her buds are located closer to the ends of the branches, so shortening will be less effective in improving fruiting.

To learn how to prune cherries correctly, you also need to be able to identify the type of branch:

Cutting methods

When pruning cherries, the following cuts are most often used:

The diagram clearly shows how a particular cut is made

Many gardeners know that most plants should be cut with preparations such as ground coal or garden pitch to protect the branch from infections and improve healing, but on cherry this rule does not apply. Processing cut branches of a cherry tree or bush will lead to difficulty in recovery.

When to prune cherries

Cherries (of any variety and type) are pruned every year. A fresh seedling, planted in March-April before the buds swell, is pruned immediately after planting to form a crown.

Any tree or shrub is pruned in early spring, before the buds swell. At this time, active sap flow has not yet begun, and the plant will tolerate the removal and shortening of branches well. If you did not have time to cut the cherry in March, you should not cut the branches after the swelling of the buds - there is a high probability that they will dry out to the very base.

Cherry pruning should be carried out before bud break

In summer, after fruiting, only mature, well-developed trees can be pruned. Autumn pruning is, as a rule, sanitary in nature - before winter, weak, drying, diseased branches are removed from cherries to make it easier for the plant to winter.

This sanitary pruning can be carried out in any month if necessary. If you notice a diseased or drying branch, remove it immediately. In autumn, it is worthwhile to carefully examine the tree for damaged or weak branches and cut them out, if any.

Crown formation

The best option for such a fruit tree is considered to be a sparsely-tiered crown. When shaping, they use the same methods as when trimming: shortening and thinning.

The formation of the crown is carried out only after planting the cherry in its permanent place. Therefore, if you dug a cherry for the winter, you need to cut it only after landing in the garden.

Skeletal branches of the first order are formed in the seedling immediately after planting in the spring. To do this, choose about 5 of the strongest branches, the lowest of which should be located at a distance of about 20–30 cm above the ground. All branches growing below this threshold are removed to the ring. For skeletal branches, those that grow at an angle of 40-50 degrees from the trunk are best suited. Shoots growing at sharper angles may break off under the weight of the berries. Choose branches that grow at the same distance from each other and are located along the entire diameter of the trunk.

The formation of skeletal branches after planting is an important stage in the care of the seedling

In the second year, branches of the second order are formed. To do this, remove the shoots growing on the upper side of the skeletal branches. It is also necessary to cut into a ring all the shoots that have grown from the trunk in a year. The central conductor (or, as it is also called, the leader) is cut in such a way that it is 25–30 cm higher than the uppermost tier of branches, no more.

When forming the crown of the seedling, branches growing inside the crown, weak twigs and small shoots on the lower part of the trunk are removed

Pruning features

Of course, pruning of different types of cherries differs from each other. Moreover, the same tree at different periods of its life also needs to be cut in its own way.

Tree cherry

For the gardener, the bouquet twigs and annual shoots of the tree cherry are of the greatest interest - it is on them that most of the berries are formed. The main operation is crown thinning to stimulate an increase in the number of fruitful areas.

Tree cherries are distinguished by their large size and high stems

When pruning tree cherries, the following procedures are carried out:

Bush cherries

A feature of bush cherries is fruiting on annual shoots. Accordingly, when pruning this cherry, special attention should be paid to their constant active development.

Shrub cherries have a low trunk and compact size

When pruning bush cherries, follow these guidelines:

Young tree

When the seedling is established in its permanent place, it is pruned to form the correct crown. For this, only skeletal branches are left, and the rest are cut into a ring, leaving no hemp. At the same time, the rings are treated, contrary to the rule, with garden pitch.

The young cherry tree is pruned mainly to shape the crown

The following year, the biennial tree is protected from excessive thickening of the crown. To do this, remove the branches growing inside the crown. In the summer, you can still remove the green shoots growing on the trunk until they have time to get stronger. If they were not removed during the summer months, then these lignified branches are removed only the next year, in the spring.

In the future, new skeletal branches are formed near the tree, choosing them from among the strongest on the trunk, so that their number gradually increases to 13–15.

Rejuvenation of old cherries

Rejuvenation pruning of tree-like cherries is carried out when the bases of the skeletal branches are bare, and the annual growth becomes large and amounts to more than 10–15 cm. It is necessary to shorten the branches by a four-year-old wood. If the entire branch or its tip is bare, then they rejuvenate to the side branch of an older - five- or six-year-old - wood.

Bush cherries are rejuvenated when the branches are significantly exposed and growth is weakened. Branches are pruned to strong lateral branches grown on three-year-old wood.

Rejuvenation of an old tree should be carried out systematically. If the old cherry tree is already heavily neglected, then such pruning is carried out systematically for several years so as not to injure the plant too much. Rejuvenation is carried out along with the planned spring pruning.

The principles of rejuvenating pruning of old trees are quite simple:

With regular pruning of old cherries, their age becomes less noticeable - they continue to bear abundantly. It is produced when the cherry reaches a height of 3-4 meters. Thus, the growth of the plant is limited. In this case, the conductor is transferred to a strong side branch.

The top of the cherry tree is also cut off when the conductor is more than 30 cm higher than the top skeletal branches.

You can easily see strong skeletal branches in this cherry
Young cherry after pruning gets a beautiful crown shape
Thanks to pruning, cherry blossoms do not prevent small branches from accessing light and air.

Proper annual pruning of cherries is not as difficult as it might seem at first glance. Give the plant your care and time, and it will thank you with ripe berries and beautiful foliage.