How to Prune a Cherry Tree
With the onset of winter comes the delightful season of pruning. However, the cherry tree blossoms in spring and begins to bear fruit in early summer, so pruning its branches in late summer will ensure increased productivity and a fruitful tree, and it will improve the quality of cherries and increase the number of flowers. If you want your cherry tree to preserve its magic, read this article. On OneHowTo we explain how to prune a cherry tree. Follow our instructions and prevent your cherry tree from dying by improving its conditions.
You'll need:
- Pruning shears
- Dressing to seal the wounds
Steps to follow:
For proper pruning, you need special pruning shears and adequate dressing to seal the pruning wounds. You will find all this in a gardening centre or plant nursery.
Most trees are pruned during the winter. However, the cherry is a fruit tree that is somewhat vulnerable, so it may be more optimal to do the pruning in late summer. If you cut the branches when it is still enjoying the warm weather, you avoid the cherry tree suffering from various diseases that attack during the mid-summer. Another option is to prune the tree in late winter, to ensure that the flowers in summer grow with much more vigour.
To properly prune the cherry tree, you must eliminate all the dead or diseased branches. Lop them off using the shears. This step will help make the cherry tree concentrate all its strength in growing stronger branches. You also need to remove such branches, as they can cause your cherry tree to be riddled with nasty diseases and horrible bacteria.
Clear the cherry tree of any small plants that may be growing around its base. To remove them, try not to damage the roots of the cherry tree. Therefore we suggest that you simply cut the invasive plants back. Remove these green shoots and that will help the cherry tree not have to compete for soil nutrients, so it will grow much more vigorously.
Then cut the branches of the cherry tree just above the cherry bud. This will prevent the branch from growing and, at the same time, you will not put the future health of the fruit-bearing tree at risk. Cut should be done at an angle to prevent water from gathering in the wound. That way, you avoid the onset of a nasty infection or a disastrous disease.
Finally, once you have all the cut branches, seal the cuts with the special paste. By doing so, you keep out harmful organisms and you'll ensure a healthy cherry tree. This will optimise rapid recovery. Pruning is like a surgical intervention, so the cutting will help make your cherry heal and grow stronger.
During pruning we suggest you leave the cherry tree in a V form or leave it rather open.
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