dwarf weeping cherry tree

greenmaid

I am quite new to this and put the question originally in the 'problem solving' section but had no replies.  Please can anybody help ...  this is a very healthy looking 4 yr.old weeping cherry and has been pruned once.  At the moment a few of the branches are dragging on on the ground and concealing the back of my small garden.  I believe this is not the ideal time to prune but without harming it, could I cut back 2 or 3 branches now?   I do have some sealing material which I could paint on the cuts.

SwissSue

Hi greenmaid. I presume it has finished flowering now, so if it was mine I would cut it back. You could cut out any branches that criss-cross each other to lighten it up a bit. Unless the branches are very thick, I don't think you need to seal them.

greenmaid

Thanks for your advice Sue, that was just what I was hoping to hear  -  will now be the plan for tomorrow   

Woodgreen wonderboy

I trim mine when the low branches get in the way of my mowing!!

Dovefromabove

It's fine to prune cherry and plum trees at this time of year - in fact now is the best time, when the sap is rising - to prevent infection with silver leaf which can occur if you prune them at other times of the year, so go ahead.  

Just don't forget to stand well back and get a good view of the overall shape of the tree and plan what you're going to remove, so that it retains an elegant balance 

Fairygirl

I've inherited a weeping cherry here which is weeping a bit too much as it's very damaged and will need to come out but I cut back all the dead and damaged branches before it flowered and it didn't affect it so  it should be fine greenmaid. Like WW I also trimmed back the ones which were touching the grass as they get in the way of the mower and I have a couple more to do. It's still flowering - just - as it's so late up here but I will do it in next few days.

greenmaid

Thanks so much everyone for your advice,