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How to prune cherries correctly?
Cherry fruits are tasty and healthy. However, not everyone succeeds in getting a good harvest: the plant is quite demanding in care. One of the mandatory activities is pruning.
Dates and appointment
Cherries are cut literally from the first year of growth of the seedling in a permanent place. And they do it both in spring and summer and autumn. Each manipulation implements specific tasks.
Why prune in spring?
It is carried out in several stages:
- in the beginning of March, immediately after the snow melts, they carry out sanitary pruning, removing branches damaged during the winter;
- in April, before the active movement of tree sap and swelling of the buds begins, formative pruning is started, designed to correct, and in the case of young trees, begin the formation of the crown of the tree.
Is crown formation necessary in summer?
About the need for summer pruning, the opinions of gardeners are ambiguous.
Stages of summer pruning of cherries:
- late May, early June, after flowering, but before the start of fruit ripening, in order to stimulate the growth of horizontal branches and correct the direction of their growth, pruning is carried out by the method of pinching (pinching) of still non-lignified shoots. At the same time, the main trunk is shortened;
- mid-July to early August, after harvesting, the shoots that have grown after the first pruning are shortened by 10 cm.
Correct pruning in the fall
Carried out after the foliage has fallen with the aim of:
- thinning: removal of broken, old and weak branches and branches growing at an irregular angle;
- shortening the length of the shoots by a third.
Autumn processing must be completed in September... In the fall, cut wounds heal more slowly. The tree must recover before the arrival of cold weather.
Cherry pruning:
Rules of conduct
Formative pruning is required in the first year after planting.... It will allow you to form a compact, regular shape and good density of the crown.
The growth of young shoots at an acute angle in relation to the fruiting branch is corrected with the help of a load or a garter to the branch growing below. This eliminates the risk of breaking the fruiting branch.
Every 5 years anti-aging pruning is performed.
These simple rules will allow you to avoid mistakes, grow cherries with the correct crown and achieve an excellent harvest.
Types of trimming
Formative: Years One to Six
It is carried out in order to form the correct crown, consisting of 2 or 3 tiers.
Formative pruning held in the spring during the first 6 years after planting cherries.
Work in the first, after planting, spring:
- mark the height of the trunk on the seedling. Usually it ranges from 30 to 60 cm;
- put a mark, count up a maximum of 6 buds along the shoot;
- making a cut.
Next spring:
- we select 3-4 young shoots growing in the lower part of the crown on opposite sides of the main trunk.They will form the basis of the first tier. We trim these branches, leaving half a meter in length;
- among the shoots of the lower tier, choose the one that grows higher than the rest. We measure 70 cm along its length, then we count 4-6 buds and make a cut.
On the third spring we continue the formative pruning from the lower tier:
- cut the upper branches to the level of the lower knot;
- we remove branches growing at an acute angle or inside the crown.
It is important not to touch the bottom, often poorly developed, branch.
Processing of branches of the second tier:
- we select strong, less than 30 cm long shoots. We carry out their trimming. The length of the branches of the second tier should be 10-15 cm less than the length of the branches of the first tier;
- among the shoots of the second tier, we single out the growing one above the rest. We measure about half a meter along its trunk and, counting 4-6 kidneys, we make a cut;
- adjust the length of the remaining branches of the second tier: it should be 20 cm shorter than the central trunk.
Crown formation in the spring of the fourth year:
- select and shorten one of the weak lateral shoots to half a meter;
- cut off the center conductor, making a cut above the shortened shoot.
If the cherry has branches located above the second tier, then we will form 3:
- cut the branches to a length less than the length of the main trunk by 20 cm;
- we remove short branches together with the central conductor, making a cut below the discharge of the thinnest shoot.
We finish the work by adjusting the length of the branches of tiers 1 and 2:
- we shorten the outward growing and long (over 80 cm) shoots of the first and second orders to a length not exceeding 75 cm;
- cut off the shoots growing inside the crown.
In the spring of the fifth and sixth years we continue to work on the formation of the crown according to the scheme similar to the previous one:
- we shorten the shoots more than half a meter long;
- we get rid of intertwining and inwardly directed branches of the crown;
- among short, up to 50 cm, shoots, we remove all growing at an acute angle;
- along the central trunk, we cut off all large elongation shoots, thereby transferring them to short lateral branches.
During the fruiting period of the tree
Hygienic or sanitary
Plants, like humans, tend to age. Its signs:
- a decrease in the number of fruits and the size of berries;
- deterioration in the taste of berries;
- frequent plant diseases.
All these manifestations of aging speak about the need for anti-aging pruning.
It consists in a significant, up to the length of a two-year-old plant, shortening of all branches and is carried out after fruiting.
Radical pruning of cherries - why and why:
In order to limit growth upward
What to do, if for some reason, the cherry is strongly stretched uptaking the fruit out of human reach?
We begin to correct the crown with the removal of all strongly raised and growing branches directly at the crown. This activates the development of external ramifications.
The grown branches will be located at a large angle of departure from the skeletal shoots and weaker than the previous ones. But this is exactly what we need.
After removing branches growing upwards the crown will become lighter, wider and lower. As soon as the cherry recovers from the cuts, its active growth will begin. Only slight bends will remain at the site of the removed shoots.
Important in the future avoid general thickening of the crown, in time tracking the growth of shoots directed inward.
Supportive
After performing formative pruning on the tree shoots replacing the conductor will appear... It's unavoidable. They are subject to unconditional deletion.
The sooner you notice such an escape, the easier it will be to remove it and the more painless the cherry will tolerate this procedure.
You will be interested in these publications:
- How to plant cherries in the fall.
- Top of the best varieties of cherries for the Moscow region.
- Correct planting and caring for columnar cherries.
Side branches will also give growth, which are removed after fruiting. They are cut from bottom to top in decreasing order, forming tiers and giving the crown a pyramidal shape.
Otherwise, the upper shoots will darken the lower ones, leading to their weakening.
Errors
| External manifestations of cropping errors | Causes |
| Instead of the expected intensified development of the outer branches, there was an intensive growth of tops upward. | The translation of the increment is transferred to a too weak side branch. |
| The appearance of a large number of tops, leading to thickening of the crown, late fruiting and displacement of fruits to the periphery of the crown. | Excessive shortening of shoots when pruning. |
| Dying off of weakened lower branches, leading to exposure of the stem and placement of fruits on the upper tier. | During the formation of the tiers, the branches of the lower tier were weaker than the upper ones. |
Trimming nuances:
- When trimming the trunk and shoot of any age, do not cut too low, but also do not leave stumps.
- When cutting 3-5 year old branches, gradually loosen the pressure of the hacksaw until the process is complete. This will reduce the risk of bark peeling.
- When removing the lower massive branches, make deepening cuts on the lower side of the shoot. This will prevent the branches from falling if you do not hold them, while maintaining the integrity of the bark.
Cherry pruning scheme with step-by-step explanations
Step 1. Formation of the skeleton of the crown and planning its height.
Is the main stage in the formation of the crown by lowering its height. It is convenient to carry out the work in the spring, before the foliage appears:
- The choice of skeletal branches of the lower (first) tier: carefully consider the tree, walking around it from all sides. Determine visually on the choice of the main (skeletal) branches.
- Trimming the side branches of the lower tier: select 3-4 lower branches growing horizontally in different directions from the trunk. By pruning these branches annually, you will be able to expand the crown.
- The formation of the basis for the next tiers is carried out in a similar way.
- Plan your desired tree height and mark on the main trunk.
Step 2. Gradual removal of the main trunk.
Complements the first and is carried out immediately after it:
- We make a cut above the mark on the main trunk (Step 1, point 4) and the third tier. It should go about ½ the length of the segment to the horizontal branch of the 3rd tier left by us (Step 1, point 3).
- We are waiting for the emergence of new escapes-leaders. We grow them by 20-30 cm. As soon as this happens (approximately in July), the tree is ready for the final procedure.
Step 3. Removing the main trunk.
We complete the gradual shortening of the leader, making a cut along the previously made mark (Step 1, point 4).
The process of pruning vigorous cherries:
A phased pruning tactic reduces the likelihood of a large number of tops occurring, and those that appear will be weak. The tree will direct the saved forces to development and fruiting.
As you can see pruning cherries is not a very difficult procedure... Having studied the relevant literature and understanding the diagrams, a beginner will also cope with it.
It remains to be recalled that the main condition for effective pruning is regularity. According to experienced gardeners, if you regularly show a tree what you want from it, it will understand you and will not run up.
