Pruning cherry trees: timing and procedure

When should you prune cherry trees? Is there a difference in pruning young and old cherry trees? How do you cut sour and sweet cherries? You can find out everything you need to know about pruning cherries properly here.

For many gardeners there is nothing more beautiful than a cherry tree in their own garden. However, in order for the tree to produce many sweet or sweet and sour cherries, care is required: A cherry tree should be cut regularly so that the tree remains vital and presents itself in its full splendour can. But not every cherry tree has the same requirements: The larger, but lighter sweet cherries (Prunus avium) are usually much faster growing than the smaller, mostly dark red sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) and therefore need a different cut. In this article, we will tell you how to proceed with the pruning of the cherry tree and what differences you should consider when pruning sweet cherries and sour cherries.

When do you prune cherry trees?

Cherries should be pruned annually, as they do not tolerate an infrequent and then radical pruning.

When do you cut sweet cherries?

While most other fruit trees are pruned in late winter, a summer pruning is more appropriate for sweet cherries. In the case of sweet cherries, pruning takes place after the harvest, i.e. usually between the beginning of August and the end of September. Pruning in summer curbs excessive growth, which is typical for sweet cherries. In addition, cuts heal better in warm and dry weather, making the cherry tree less susceptible to disease.

When do you cut sour cherries?

Sour cherries tolerate the typical winter pruning between November and March very well, so like most fruit trees they are pruned in the cold season.

Tip: Many gardeners are afraid that their cherry tree will lose vitality after pruning. The best way to prepare the tree well for pruning is regular maintenance. Fertilize your cherry tree in spring with a good, mostly organic one like ours Plantura organic universal fertilizer. Depending on the size, you only need 50 to 150 grams of this. A healthy, well-groomed cherry tree usually copes well with heavy pruning without any problems.

Cutting the cherry tree: instructions on how to proceed

Pruning cherry trees is extremely important if you want to grow a vigorous, well-fruiting tree. It is important to think about your own tree and the goal of the cut before you cut it:

How strong is your cherry tree?

Fast-growing varieties are encouraged to grow even more through regular pruning, but this tends to produce fewer fruits. Weak-growing varieties may have to be stimulated to produce new shoots by pruning in order to produce enough fruiting wood. That is why it is important to consider vigor when pruning the cherry tree. Weakly growing trees are pruned more radically than strong growing ones.

What effect does the thickness of the cut have?

Radical pruning measures stimulate vegetative growth, i.e. the formation of new shoots and leaves. They can therefore be useful if a tree is hardly producing any new shoots and therefore no new fruit wood. The generative growth, i.e. the formation of new flowers and fruits, is also reduced by excessive pruning, the tree then only reacts by forming more leaf mass.

How is the pruning done on the cherry tree?

In the case of cherries, branches are not cut "on a ring" but "on a cone". Regardless of whether you want to remove a branch from the central shoot or divert it to a side shoot: it always works leave a stub at least 7 cm long, as cherries rarely overflow wounds, only "dry back".

Which tool do you use?

From a certain size, cherries are primarily cut with a pruning saw or, even better, a fruit tree saw and hardly ever with rose scissors. The reason for this is that whole branches and not just individual twigs are usually removed from the cherry tree. In any case, make sure that the tool is clean, sharp and rust-free. If the blade is dull or rusty, the cutting edge can fray. On the other hand, if the blade is dirty, the wound can become contaminated - both of which can lead to a worse one Healing of wounds on the tree can lead to infection of the cut and should therefore be avoided in any case be prevented.

How do you decide which branches to remove?

Sour cherries in particular tend to form unwanted dominant side shoots again and again. In order to prevent this, one should systematically look for the cut when cutting knot ratio proceed: First, the trunk and the central shoot are viewed from bottom to top: If the trunk narrows at a point where a branch emerges, this branch is shortened. The following applies: the more the trunk tapers, the more the said branch has to be shortened.
Incidentally, the whole thing can also be transferred to the leading branches attached to the trunk. If the leading branch is noticeably narrower at one point, the outgoing side branch should be shortened accordingly. This encourages the desired leaders and branches and creates a beautiful crown instead of a chaotic bush.

What is the difference between the cut of sweet and sour cherries?

Overall, sweet cherries and sour cherries differ significantly in their taste, despite their close relationship Growth and are therefore cut differently, which is why we will go into more detail about the different methods below will.

What is the goal of the cut?

A distinction is made between planting pruning, training pruning, maintenance pruning and rejuvenation pruning. All of these are explained in more detail below.

Summary: Important principles of cherry tree pruning

• Adapt pruning to growth: pruning strong-growing plants less than weak-growing ones.
• The harder the cut, the more the tree responds with vegetative growth. Fruit formation can be adversely affected.
• Never cut on knots, but on cones.
• Tends to cut more with a saw than with scissors. Remove whole branches instead of small twigs.
• Avoid the development of too many dominant knots: Cut branches where the main shoot tapers off significantly.
• Sweet and sour cherries are cut differently.

Pruning an old cherry tree

If an old cherry tree slowly begins to age, i.e. hardly grows, forms little new fruit wood and accordingly only bears sparse fruit, it can with a taper cut be encouraged to new growth. But be careful: Since the tree has to expend a lot of energy for the new growth, the generative growth (i.e. the formation of flowers and fruits) is often less pronounced immediately afterwards. But don't worry - once the vegetative growth levels off after being agitated by the pruning, the tree's yields will increase significantly again. The steps involved in pruning an old cherry tree are as follows:

1. All dead or diseased branches of the old cherry tree are cut off at the cones.
2. The leading shoots are shortened to a quarter, overhanging skeletal branches are cut back to young branches.
3. Branches that grow into the crown or cross each other are also removed.
4. Avoid trunk wounds over 10 cm.
5. In the case of trees that are very old, extend the pruning for several years.

Rejuvenation pruning of old cherry trees is best done in late February. However, it is important to ensure that the old cherry tree is only cut in dry, mild weather, otherwise the wood may be damaged by frost.

Important: A radical rejuvenating pruning can revitalize an old cherry tree. However, this very likely also shortens the lifespan of the tree, because cherries do not cope well with such invasive interventions in the long term.

Pruning young cherry trees

Many gardeners believe that a young cherry tree does not need pruning. In fact, pruning the cherry tree at a young age lays the foundation for a beautiful, even crown. Before pruning the plant, however, you have to decide on a crown shape: sweet cherries are best Spindle or pyramidal crowns, sour cherries raised to funnel crowns, the growth of multiple shoots accommodate. Once you have made your choice, you will already be involved in the first year after planting the cherry tree plant cutting laid the foundation for its later form. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Determine the central shoot or several leading shoots depending on the desired crown shape.
2. Select several branches evenly distributed around these main branches as side branches, remove excess branches on cones. Optimally, the selected side branches should be at a 45° angle to the main branch. Unfavorable branches can be damaged by being raised or lowered. be corrected in their growth by tying them down.
3. Shorten the main branches of the cherry tree by about a third, making sure that the length under the main branches is the same. When training to form a spindle or pyramid, the central drive should be left significantly longer.
4. Buds standing on top of the leading branches are removed.

But pruning a young cherry tree doesn't stop after pruning. Especially in very young trees less than 5 years old, the crown is still sparse and must be encouraged to branch out. This should be at least 3 years in a row education cut respectively. To do this, proceed as follows:

1. Shorten the central shoot and leading branches by a third. Make sure that all main branches are about the same length and that the cut is made on a leaf bud pointing outwards.
2. Cut off branches of the main branches that grow inwards on the cones.
3. Branches of the central branches that grow outward are regularly trimmed to encourage branching.
4. In the years that follow, when pruning the cherry tree, the removed fruit wood is shortened to a cone with about four eyes, from which new fruit wood can then develop.
5. Side shoots attached at an angle to the leader can be tied at a 45° angle if they arise in the right place. Vertical shoots are removed on cones.

Cut sour cherries

As with any cherry tree pruning, the above-mentioned principles of the sour cherry must also be observed when pruning the sour cherry Cherry tree pruning are observed: Depending on the growth strength, pruning is done with a saw and with a view to that knot ratio, as described above. The goal of pruning is to avoid forming an overly dense, bushy crown and reduce it to a few desirable leaders in the funnel crown. The sour cherry is cut between November and March.
Within the sour cherries differ the Morello Types from the Sweet Vistula type:

• Morello Types only bear fruit on the one-year-old shoots, so that the crown is quickly full of bare, worn-down shoots that will not bear fruit the following year.
• It is therefore essential to cut off every harvested shoot or at least shorten it - this is the only way to ensure that enough new fruit shoots form for the coming year. As a rule of thumb: Three quarters of the fruit shoots are cut back to at least a quarter of their length.
• Remove diseased, dead or very old wood and otherwise after knot ratio proceed to support the desired leading drives.

When cutting the Sweet Vistula type you have to do something different:

• Overall, cutting these sour cherries is less demanding, as they often develop a balanced mourning crown even without cutting.
•  The sweet sour cherry differs from the morello cherry in that it can also form bouquet shoots and thus fruit on perennial wood.
• For this reason, the sweet sour cherry is cut in a similar way to the sweet cherry.

Cut sweet cherry

As with any cherry tree pruning, the above-mentioned principles of the cherry tree pruning are adhered to: Pruning is done according to growth strength, with a saw and with a view to the branch strength ratio. The aim of the pruning is to maintain the dominance of the central shoot and to generate new fruit wood. Sweet cherries are cut in summer after harvest.

In contrast to the morello cherry, the sweet cherry forms most of its fruit on short shoots on its one-year shoots and on the perennial bouquet sprouts. Because of this, a sweet cherry tree will too cut much more reserved, so as not to remove the fruit-bearing wood:

• In order to prevent the inside of the crown from becoming bald, thinning out is the top priority when pruning sweet cherries Location: Branches growing inward are pruned as well as heavily branched branches with over-aged fruit wood.
• Younger twigs with bouquet shoots, on the other hand, should be retained and are only removed if they grow steeply upwards or cross or intersect with other branches. rub. By removing old fruiting wood and retaining new one, the so-called "moving about" of the fruit wood - because younger fruit wood yields higher quality, larger fruit than very old ones fruit wood.
• In addition, when cutting the sweet cherry tree, you should look out for rotten, diseased or dead branches - these should also be removed.
• Compared to the sour cherry, the sweet cherry has a stronger apical dominance, which means that it grows more tree-shaped. Looking at that knot ratio should competing, steeply striving side shoots be cut back.
• Summer pruning is particularly recommended for sweet cherries in order to limit their strong growth.

Info: The short, whorl-like side shoots of cherry trees are called bouquet shoots. These often have a particularly large number of flower buds and are therefore particularly important for a rich harvest.

Cut columnar cherry

If you don't have space for a large and sprawling cherry tree, you'll want to use a columnar cherry: Because of its slender shape This growth form of the cherry is ideal for smaller gardens or can even be planted in a large tub will. So that the tree does not lose its elegant shape, the columnar cherry should be pruned regularly. In fact, pruning a columnar cherry turns out to be much less complicated than pruning its larger relatives. So the columnar cherry does not have to be cut regularly, but only when necessary. When cutting columnar cherries you should proceed as follows:

1. Cut back side branches that are too long to 10 to 15 cm in length.
2. Start well above one outward-facing eye.
3. Remove diseased, weak or steeply growing wood.
4. The central shoot is not pruned in the first few years, but can then be shortened if necessary.

Cut dwarf cherry

Especially for smaller gardens dwarf fruit trees, such as dwarf cherries, are interesting because they take up little space and can therefore be integrated even where space is limited. But even the mini cherry tree has to be cut regularly. Since dwarf cherries were also raised as spindles, pruning dwarf cherries does not have to be done any differently than pruning large fruit trees:

1. All side branches should only be at a slight incline upwards and should not be cut.
2. Steep branches are diverted to a slightly sloping shoot or tied down.
3. Closely spaced, parallel branches are thinned out by removing one.
4. Always cut branches above a bud to the cones.
5. The middle shoot is shortened to about 30 cm above the last side shoot.

In addition to pruning, fertilizing is another important care measure for the cherry tree. You can find out how to do this in our article on the topic “Fertilize cherry tree“.