Heavy Prunning Cherry Tree

Ankit Patel

Hi, 

I have attached photo of the cherry tree which i want bring it back to 7-8feet size. Right now its at 18-20 foot. Also, I want to grow climbing rose on that tree if possible. 

I have done prunning on small tree but this one can be bit difficult as i am not aware of growth habbit of cherry trees. I want to do top heavy prunning to reduce the size of it. 

Also, i have marked the photo with red line where ideally i want to make cuts. Only thing i am thinking about is water shoots. In any case, I want to sort the whole tree out at once.

 

 

 

Steve 309

I'm not an expert on cherry pruning, Ankit (although I bet someone who is will be along shortly) but I know two things:

1. Cherries, plums and their relatives (unlike apples etc.) should only be pruned in summer, ideally May/June, when they're growing vigorously.  This helps them to resist the disfiguring and fatal fungal disease 'silver leaf' to which they're susceptible.

2. If more than about 1/4 of the tree is removed at once, the shock might kill it.

So you might have to spread the pruning over two summers.  And yes you will get water shoots - rub them out as soon as they appear.  And make each cut just above a joint, otherwise the intervening wood will die back and could cause disease.

Personally I wouldn't want a rose climbing on a cherry tree, but as you will, I suppose.

Hope this helps