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Hard pruning a cherry blossom tree

ThebigeasyThebigeasy Posts: 190
in Problem solving
Complete newbie to gardening. I have two mature cherry blossom trees that I would like to cut right back. When is the best time to do it? Is it OK to use a chainsaw for the bulk of the cutting?  The main bodies of the trunk is roughly about 450mm across to give an idea of size. Thanks. 

Posts

  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Hi @robertrsteven1 and welcome to the forum 😊 

    Can you show us some photos do we can get an idea of your options?

    To post pics click on the picture icon above. If the pic doesn’t appear reducing the size usually works. 

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • Ladybird4Ladybird4 Posts: 37,906
    Hello Robert. Cherry trees are best pruned in mid summer to avoid a specific fungal disease called silver leaf. This can cause the death of branches. The spores of silver leaf are active from September to May so to avoid them getting into the tree its best to do any pruning as mentioned above.
    Cacoethes: An irresistible urge to do something inadvisable
  • ThebigeasyThebigeasy Posts: 190
    Dovefromabove said:
    Hi @robertrsteven1 and welcome to the forum 😊 

    Can you show us some photos do we can get an idea of your options?

    To post pics click on the picture icon above. If the pic doesn’t appear reducing the size usually works. 


    This has the widest trunk the is about the same height tho can provide more pictures if needed 
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Posts: 88,147
    Can you tell us the end result you’re hoping to achieve?

    Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.





  • ThebigeasyThebigeasy Posts: 190
    Dovefromabove said:
    Can you tell us the end result you’re hoping to achieve?
    I would like to reduce the height to no more than 3m, slightly less for spread, the one in the picture will be above the driveway and new garage once built, so a nice fan shape if that makes sense. 
  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    You might find that the garage foundations and/or diggers will damage the tree roots - it's a bit difficult to see how much there is behind the white car. On looking at the photo, it occurs to me that the tree branches to the left are diffusing the light from the street lamp, so you may want to think about that. We found that cutting back the height of our cherry trees resulted in rather ugly regrowth and they lost their gracefulness so rather wish we hadn't done it!
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
  • OmoriOmori Posts: 1,674
    I’ve never seen a mature tree that has had its limbs lopped off that looks good. Always looks rather gruesome to me. 
  • ThebigeasyThebigeasy Posts: 190
    Lizzie27 said:
    You might find that the garage foundations and/or diggers will damage the tree roots - it's a bit difficult to see how much there is behind the white car. On looking at the photo, it occurs to me that the tree branches to the left are diffusing the light from the street lamp, so you may want to think about that. We found that cutting back the height of our cherry trees resulted in rather ugly regrowth and they lost their gracefulness so rather wish we hadn't done it!
    There will be about 4m from the base of the tree to where the garage foundation will be. Not too bothered about the light from the street light.  Do you happen to know how destructive their root systems are, if destructive I may have to take that one out. 

  • Lizzie27Lizzie27 Posts: 12,494
    As a general rule of thumb the root spread sideways of a tree equals it's height. Whether your tree's roots would be destructive, might depend on the depth of your garage foundations. I think from memory we had to have at least 2 metres of concrete under our garage as there were very large mature trees nearby. Your builder should be able to advise. 
    North East Somerset - Clay soil over limestone
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