Cherry Plum Pruning: How To Prune Correctly In Spring And Autumn? Crown Shaping Schemes For Beginners Of A Young And 3-year-old Tree

2024 Author: Beatrice Philips | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-18 12:09

Pruning trees is an important part of your tree maintenance routine. Cherry is needed for the plant to always remain strong and healthy. This procedure should be carried out regularly, following all the recommendations.

What is it for?

Cherry plum pruning benefits both young plants and adults. It performs the following functions.

• Accelerates the growth of a young tree . This is especially important for those plants that have been planted in the soil only recently.
• Improves the appearance of the plant . Well-groomed cherry plum looks much more beautiful on the site.
• Accelerates the fruiting process and also improves the quality of the fruit … The berries that grow on the crown cleared of unnecessary branches become sweeter and tastier.
• Makes the tree healthier … Gardeners usually remove any dry, weak, or diseased branches. This makes the plant healthier and stronger. The tree uses all nutrients for its development and growth.

In addition, it becomes much easier to care for a tree with a well-groomed crown, as well as to harvest from it.

Timing

In order not to harm the plant, it is important to always prune in a timely manner

• In the spring … The most suitable moment for large-scale pruning of cherry plum is spring. This procedure must be carried out even before the first buds open. In this case, the tree will quickly be covered with new green shoots. As a rule, gardeners living in the middle lane prune cherry plum at the end of the first spring month. In colder regions, cherry plum is cut in the second half of spring.
• Summer … At this time, pruning is recommended only if necessary. It is worth pruning branches, provided that the summer is not too hot or rainy. This is best done in the first weeks of summer. After trimming, all cut sites must be treated with antiseptics. This will lower the risk of cherry plum disease. In addition, in the summer, branches damaged by pests or diseases should be cut off as needed. This is done in order to prevent the spread of disease or contamination of the garden.
• In autumn … Traditional autumn pruning is done in the second half of October, when the leaves have already fallen from the tree. At this time, the plants are completely ready for hibernation. It is very important to finish pruning all branches before the first frost. If you do not have time to do everything in time, the tree may suffer from frost.

Types of trimming

There are several types of cherry plum pruning. Each scheme has certain features.

Formative

This procedure is carried out after the first branches appear on the young tree . The formation of a neat crown improves the appearance of the tree. Gardeners do pruning about a year after planting cherry plum in a permanent place of growth. It is recommended to carry out this procedure in early spring. The process removes the following types of branches:

• tops and shoots that grow too close to each other;
• young growth that has appeared at the trunk of a tree;
• shoots growing towards the center of the crown;
• too long apex edges.

Crown shaping should be done until the tree reaches the age of 4-5 years.

Sanitary

This procedure is necessary for mature and old trees. It can be held twice a year. The branches are cut first in the spring and then in the fall. In warm regions, it is allowed to carry out this procedure at the beginning of winter. The main thing is that the temperature is not too low.

The following types of branches are removed during the sanitary pruning process

• Too dry . It is necessary to remove dried shoots both in spring, after wintering, and in autumn. In the process, you need to remove the healthy part of the branch. Very often shoots are cut right at the base.
• Frost victims . If the winter has been too harsh and there are frozen branches on the tree, you should also get rid of them. Most often they are not restored. Therefore, it is best to cut them right at the base.
• Shoots growing inward . They do not allow the cherry tree to develop normally. In addition, these branches take up most of the nutrients. This makes the plant too weak.

When cleaning the crown, it is also worth removing vertical and too old branches, on which no fruits have appeared for a long time. After sanitary pruning of cherry plum, it is recommended to either burn all damaged branches or take them somewhere outside the site.

Thinning

The main task of the procedure is to make the crown less dense . As a rule, mature or old trees are pruned in this way. During thinning pruning, it is best to remove the weakest or diseased branches.

Rejuvenating

As the name implies, this procedure helps to rejuvenate the old cherry plum. It is worth taking it out if the cherry plum has begun to bear fruit less actively. This should be done even if the berries become small and tasteless. There are several options for carrying out this pruning.

• Gradual … This option is suitable for beginners. After all, such pruning does not injure the plant. It is necessary to delete unnecessary branches in three stages. In the first fall, all dry and old branches should be removed. The next year, the crown must be carefully thinned out. The last part of the process is removing one third of all skeletal branches.
• Half … This pruning is also carried out for two years. To begin with, the tree must be conditionally divided into two parts. In the first year, part of the skeletal branches is removed on one side, in the second - on the other.
• The global … This process helps to rejuvenate the tree quickly. One third of all skeletal branches are removed in one go. In the process of pruning shoots, it is important to ensure that the shape of the crown always remains beautiful. In this case, the tree will be not only a source of delicious fruits, but also a real decoration of the garden.

In general, anti-aging pruning of cherry plum is not much different from pruning any other tree or bush.

Recommendations for different trees

The process of caring for young and mature trees of different varieties is slightly different. Therefore, you need to study the features of pruning various plants.

• For the young … For a start, it's worth talking about caring for young trees. In the spring, gardeners are advised to engage in the formation of a two-year crown. For a 3-year and 4-year-old tree, sanitary pruning is important, as well as timely thinning of the branches. To keep the crown neat and compact, the branches that have grown over the year are slightly shortened.
• For adults . Mature trees are recommended to be regularly removed from dry, damaged or improperly growing branches. The crown of an adult tree consists of several main skeletal branches, from which healthy shoots extend. In this state, it must be constantly maintained. The main shoots should be regularly shortened, and the lateral branches should be pruned, leaving 6-7 buds on them. Anti-aging pruning is performed every five years. Young trees are pruned very carefully. In the process, a very small part of the shoots is removed. The branches of old trees are removed by about a third. All work is carried out with sharp tools. This is done in order not to damage the bark.
• For bushy . Pruning a bush cherry plum is different from pruning a regular tree. Learning to conduct it correctly is quite simple. The fruits of bushy cherry plum grow on young annual shoots. Therefore, they must be cut very carefully. Otherwise, there is a risk of being left without a crop for several years. In the first 2-4 years, the pruning process is not carried out at all. The tree remains intact. After the fruits appear, you need to start thinning the crown regularly. In the first year, only dry and weak branches are removed. In the second year, you can start shortening the shoots. In the future, trimming is carried out as usual.
• For tree … In such cherry plum, the bulk of the fruit is on the branches at the age of 8-9 years. These strong and healthy branches are best left intact. Only those shoots that have been broken or severely weakened need to be removed. More global pruning is needed for trees that stop bearing fruit. Noticing that the fruit is getting smaller, you can try to remove branches from the tree at the age of 6-7 years. This pruning is usually needed for plants over 25 years old. A similar process allows you to extend the life and fruiting of cherry plum.
• For hybrid . The main feature of these varieties is that their branches grow very quickly. Therefore, they must be pruned regularly. Otherwise, all vitality will be spent on the development of shoots. Because of this, the fruits will become small and tasteless. Already in the first year, you need to start the formative pruning of cherry plum. In the future, the crown is regularly thinned out, and the shoots are shortened. There should be enough free space between the main branches.
• For columnar … The crown of the columnar cherry plum should always be flat and neat. In the process of its formation, the central part of the tree should not be touched. You only need to cut off the shoots that extend from the stem branches. If done correctly, the crown of the tree will not become too thick. At the same time, the fruits will become sweet and tasty.

Follow-up care

To protect the plant from loss of strength, after pruning, it needs to be properly cared for

• Immediately after this procedure, all sections must be treated with garden varnish .… This is done in order to protect the cherry plum from common diseases. It is not recommended to use paint or lime for this purpose.
• In order for the plant to recover faster, it is important to feed it regularly .… In the fall, use high-quality organic fertilizing. In the spring, fertilizers are applied to the soil, saturating the soil with nitrogen.
• After pruning the tree is also recommended to be watered abundantly . The water should be warm. To prevent the soil from drying out, it can be covered with sawdust or any other similar material.

Pruning the cherry plum correctly is a great way to extend its lifespan and improve the taste and quality of the fruit.