Tutorial with instructions and illustrations

Types of cuts and dates

The sweet cherry takes one among all fruit trees Special position a. Flowers appear on short, annual and biennial shoots. Furthermore, older shoots also carry valuable things Fruitwood, richly garnished with numerous flower buds, known in technical jargon as Bouquet referred to as. With a well exposed round crown Cultivated cherry trees are covered with fruit wood along their main branches deep into the interior of the crown. This unique growth behavior goes hand in hand with a pronounced sensitivity to cutting. Apart from the upbringing phase, a cherry tree should be pruned at intervals of 3 or 4 years. All Types of cuts The following overview summarizes the best dates:

Parenting cuts a profitable crown

In the first years of standing, pruning on the cherry tree aims to raise a perfectly shaped crown. On majestic sweet cherries, the crown structure extends over six to eight years. A space-saving spindle tree benefits from a careful crown structure in the first three to four years of standing. This is how the upbringing of a sweet cherry succeeds in an exemplary manner:

• The best time is in early spring, before budding begins
• Build up the crown framework with a dominant central drive and 3 guide branches at an ideal angle of 90 to 120 °
• Remove steeply upwardly directed competitors to the central drive or spread them into the inclined position
• Tie branches that are too flat up at an ideal angle of 45 ° to 60 °
• Side scaffold drives in the Juice scales hold by pruning the tip buds at the same height

Before you cut away a side shoot that is facing steeply upward, check out its Suitability for fruit wood. A green shoot is still flexible. If it is in a favorable position on the crown framework, tie the young branch in the advantageous incline. Spread at an angle of about 60 °, the sap pressure is reduced, growth calms down and the first flower buds flourish. To spread it apart, you can fix the shoot with a cord to its guide branch. On the spindle tree, you can easily direct the growth into the ideal position with clothespins. In addition, the specialist trade has special struts available.

In the first 4 to 8 years you will raise a high-yielding crown on the cherry tree. The perfect frame consists of a central drive and three evenly distributed guide branches. Starting from the tip, the middle forms an angle of 120 ° with the side branches.

Digression

Time of pruning influences growth strength

Cut at 4-year intervals - instructions for maintenance cut

At the beginning of the harvest phase, the pruning of the cherry tree flows from the upbringing to the maintenance. Sweet cherries already bloom and bear fruit on unbranched, annual shoots that are shorter than 10 centimeters. As illustrated in the figure below, they are located at the drive base Flower buds. Biennial, slightly branched shoots are richly garnished with flower buds over their entire length. Three-year-old and older branches also boast numerous flower buds in spring. In combination with a pronounced pruning sensitivity, a maintenance pruning is on the maintenance program for a cherry tree every three to four years. How to correctly complete the conservation pruning on sweet cherries:

• The best time is after the harvest in summer
• Remove dead branches that are growing into the interior of the crown, intersecting one another
• More than 5 cm thick, drooping shoots lead to a side shoot further inwards
• Old, aging branches thin out to 10 to 20 cm short cones
• Cut back unbranched long shoots from previous years to 10 to 15 cm
• Start the cut just above an outward-pointing, pointed leaf bud or a leaf

Short, whorl-like arranged shoots with numerous flower buds are spared from the cut. The so-called bouquet shoots are extremely fertile and will bring you a rich fruity hang in the next year. After a professional maintenance cut, the crown of your cherry tree looks empty. This is not an indication of wrong practice. As early as next summer, the crown structure will be loose, flooded with light and bear a large number of juicy, sweet cherries.

The focus of the conservation cut is the valuable fruit wood. Where there are rounded flower buds, a cherry tree is not cut. Thin out dead wood, steep and inconveniently positioned shoots with pointed leaf buds.

Deriving is better than shortening

It is characteristic of sweet cherries that they react to the loss of their shoot tips with unfavorable whorls at a young age. In doing so, drive out sleeping eyes thick tufts that shade valuable fruit wood and flower buds. You can prevent the unwanted reaction by working on young trees Derivative cut a simple cut back prefer. A leading branch is diverted to a subordinate side shoot in order to obtain a light-flooded crown. This is how the perfect one succeeds Derivative cut in the cherry tree:

• Do not simply cut back any excessively long cherry tree branches
• Instead, choose a young, outward-facing side shoot further in
• Cut the old and young branches at the fork
• Set the scissors a few millimeters into the old wood
• Result: young side shoots replace the ablated fruit branches without whorl formation

With a derivative you also go against Zwiesel before. So be in gardening language V-shaped bifurcations that make the cherry tree unstable in the long run. Look out for the double shoots on young sweet cherries in order to remove one of the two in good time with the help of the derivation on the better positioned shoot. If a Zwiesel thrives as a vertical competitor to the central shoot, it should be removed completely.

Rejuvenate the old cherry tree in stages - this is how it works

Have you prescribed a makeover to an old cherry tree that has been uncut for many years? Then please proceed in stages. Instead of thinning out the aged crown in one go, spread the measure over two to three years. The sensitivity to cuts makes it necessary that you do not have thick, dead shoots on Astringsaw off. It is more gentle with a cut on tenons. The following procedure has proven itself in gardening practice to revitalize an old sweet cherry:

• The best time is over a period of 2 to 3 years, always in late winter
• In the second and third year, also prune in summer
• Important: Avoid cuts with a diameter of more than 10 centimeters
• At the beginning, cut out dead wood, inward, vertical or cross-growing branches
• Overhanging leading branches narrow to a young side shoot close to the trunk

The transition from the tapering to the maintenance cut is fluid. If your cherry tree responds well to the first stage, carry out a first conservation measure in the rejuvenated crown area in the summer after the harvest. If all regions of the crown are rejuvenated after three years at the latest, the pruning is reduced to a summer maintenance pruning every three to four years, as this tutorial explains.

To rejuvenate an aged cherry tree crown, initially cut off dead wood to 10 to 20 cm long cones. The cones only open after 1 to 2 years Astring removed. Overhanging scaffold shoots can be slimmed down to side shoots positioned on the inside.

Saw thick branches on tenons in stages

If you find yourself forced to remove a branch more than four inches thick from the crown, do the following:

• The branch at a distance of 30 cm from the trunk saw from below to the middle
• Move the saw 10 cm to the right or left
• Stabilize the branch with one hand and saw from aboveuntil it breaks off
• Saw off the blunt on a tenon with a length of 10 cm

You can remove the remaining cones after one to two years. As a rule, vertical and flat young shoots sprout from a cone. Let one or two of the most promising, level candidates stand. There is a good chance that valuable fruit wood will develop from it. All other young shoots and the remains of the dried cones are removed.

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Perform rejuvenation pruning in winter

Tips on tools and accessories

The key to success in cherry pruning is a combination of the right approach and appropriate equipment. The following basic equipment is mandatory in order to cut a sweet cherry safely and professionally:

• One-handedSecateurs for branches up to 2 cm in diameter, optionally as bypass or anvil scissors
• Two-hand pruning shears with telescopic handle for branches 3 to 5 cm thick
• Folding saw(€ 17.68 at Amazon *) with Japanese toothing or hacksaw for thick shoots from 4 to 5 cm in diameter
• Knife for smoothing cuts
• Stable ladder with two legs
• Gloves, safety glasses

Modern pruning shears with telescopic handles allow cutting up to a dizzying height of 4 meters, which makes daring climbing in the mighty cherry tree superfluous. With an innovative cutting giraffe you can cut branches up to 6 meters high precisely and safely. When buying cutting tools and accessories, look for high-quality branded products. This makes cutting work easier, leaves smooth cuts and optimizes safety for gardeners and cherry trees alike.

frequently asked Questions

For cost reasons, I decided to buy two cherry trees as bare-root goods. Should I plant pruning the young trees?

On bare-root trees, pruning guarantees a good start and paves the way for the best possible upbringing. For the crown framework, choose the strongest shoot as a trunk extension. Three to four guide branches should be evenly distributed around the central branch, which are at an ideal angle of 45 ° to 60 ° to the central branch. Branches that are too steep are splayed. Tied up too flat shoots. Cut back the leading branches by a third. After the cut, the tip buds of the leading branches should be at the same height, in the so-called Juice scales. The central drive towers above the main drives so that an imaginary triangle forms with an angular position of 90 to 120 °.

I want to plant a cherry tree under whose crown I can still maneuver the lawn mower. How do the trunk heights differ that I can acquire in tree nurseries?

In the case of young cherry trees, nurseries differentiate between bush trees and quarter stems with 40 to 60 cm. Half trunks reach a height of 120 cm. High trunks have a height of 200 cm. This trunk height usually does not change. An exception applies in the event that the gardener cuts the crown and pries open the trunk. Bush trees just allow that with the hand mower Tree grate to mow. Cutting the lawn with a ride-on mower is worth a try under half a trunk. There are no difficulties with freedom of movement under one High trunk.

Our cherry tree was planted 2 years ago. When would be the best time to cut the tree?

The sweet cherry fruit on biennial or perennial wood. An adult cherry tree should primarily be pruned in summer, immediately after harvest. This time of cutting promotes the formation of fruit buds. In the case of a young tree that is only two years old, on the other hand, we recommend cutting in spring, parallel to the start of budding. The first short shoots with flowers appear in the third year at the earliest. From this point on, subject the cherry tree to a summer pruning, if necessary, to calm the growth and encourage fruit wood.

A year ago we planted a sweet cherry as a bush tree, which this year had a sparse 7 blossoms. What can I do to increase the number of flowers?

The number of flowers is completely normal and can even be rated positively. In the first years of standing, young cherry trees concentrate on root formation and growth. Please be patient a little longer. Over the next few years, more and more flowers will flourish, parallel to the larger growth. A supplementary supply of nutrients from the second year of standing in the form of compost and Horn shavings(€ 32.93 at Amazon *) or an organic fruit tree fertilizer.

I would like to plant two or three cherry trees in the garden. From what year can I expect the first harvest?

A cherry tree with a medium to weak rootstock bears the first fruits on average after 3 to 6 years. A sunny location and a competent upbringing with a light-flooded crown and horizontal fruit wood have a decisive influence on the beginning of the harvest phase.

There are three cherry trees in my garden that my predecessor planted far too closely four years ago. The trunk height is 100 to 120 centimeters. Is it possible to transplant such large sweet cherries? If so, what should you watch out for?

It is still possible to transplant cherry trees within the first five years. The best time is in autumn after the leaves have fallen. Prick the root disc with a sharp one spade starting in as large a radius as possible. The more roots move with the tree to the new location, the more promising the procedure will be. Since a large proportion of the root mass is lost as a result of the clearing, the cherry trees should be cut back accordingly. A sufficient supply of water and nutrients is important so that transplanted trees can take root quickly and firmly.

The 3 most common mistakes

Is a cherry tree characterized by a dense network of sterile steep shoots, massive growth dense whorls and large, non-healing cuts are typical cutting errors for the gardener undermined. The following overview draws attention to the three most common mistakes in pruning sweet cherries and gives tips for skillful prevention:

Tips

If a cherry tree does not bear fruit, the crux is mostly due to the lack of fertilizer. With a few exceptions, sweet cherries are dependent on a second variety in close proximity. Since not all cherry varieties pollinate each other, please ask exactly which combinations are suitable when purchasing them from your trusted nursery.