If you have planted a cherry tree in the garden, you also want to harvest cherries. To ensure abundant flowering and a good yield, the cherry tree should be pruned regularly and carefully right from the start.
When and how should a cherry tree be trimmed?
Pruning the cherry tree is an important care measure to promote yield and growth. It should be done in August-September (summer pruning) or from the beginning of March (winter pruning). Planting, renewal and fruit pruning influences flower and fruit formation and thins out the tree.
Interesting facts about cherry tree growth
The sweet cherry and sour cherry trees have different growth characteristics. While the sweet cherry grows strongly upright and forms a distinctly stepped crown, the sour cherry likes to branch out and has a large number of long shoots. This is why sour cherries require regular fruit pruning, while sweet cherries only require planting and renewal pruning at the appropriate time.
How to cut properly
Pruning helps the gardener achieve a rich harvest and should therefore be done carefully. For both sweet and sour cherries, it is important to note the following general instructions:
- The training cut influences the direction of shoots and thus the flower and fruit formation,
- the twigs and especially the branches are cut vertically; Small cuts heal faster, larger ones are smeared with wound closure agent (€24.00 on Amazon),
- For thinning, the inwardly growing and crossing branches are removed,
- When pruning fruit, the removed branches are cut back to new growth at the base in order to enable the annual shoots to fruit again,
- Summer or winter pruning slows down or promotes growth,
- Plant cuttings are used after planting; the middle and two to four strong leading shoots are cut back to four to six eyes, taking the sap scale into account, and the remaining shoots are removed.
- The radical pruning rejuvenates the over-aged trees, the trunk extension and the scaffold branches are shortened significantly, which enables the formation of new shoots.
The right time to prune the tree
The cherry tree is pruned in August-September (summer pruning) or from the beginning of March (winter pruning), depending on whether you want to promote or slow down growth. Carrying out the tree trimming in spring has the advantage that the tree is still leafless and therefore offers a better overview.
Tips & Tricks
Coating the cut wound with wound closure agent is recommended if the cut surface is larger than 4 cm in diameter or if the cut was made during the rest period, as no new tissue can form during this time and the wound will otherwise dry out without being closed.
