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Pruning Stella patio cherry tree
Lancashire Lass
Posts: 367
in Plants
hi 
Hi everyone. I have a 2 year old potted patio cherry tree and am having trouble finding sound advice on t'internet about how to prune it properly and when. I want to keep it down to 6 or 7 feet if possible and I'd like to keep it fairly slim so that it doesn't look like a scarecrow!
I haven't had fruit yet but it is only young so that doesn't worry me (yet!)
I think I probably need a larger pot as mine is only about 14" across. But it is healthy so far.
Any advice anyone please?
0
Posts
It will be happier in the ground, or a much larger pot, as you suggest. This is not a columnar tree, so I would be wary about pruning off side shoots to make it narrow, as that is not it's natural habit, and it may reduce your crop.
Formative pruning, in the first couple years after planting, should be done in early Spring. After that, you should only prune in Summer, as they are prone to disease if pruned in Winter. You should be fine to prune it now.
1) You should aim to have one main leader. You currently have 2 or 3 main leaders, so I personally would decide which one you want to be your main one, and prune the others out.
2) There should be about 6-7 side shoots. These should be well spaced, so remove any weak/diseased ones, or any that are crossing or too close. You want your tree to have an open branch structure, to allow plenty of air through. Don't worry if you don't have that many branches at the moment. When you cut off some of the main leaders (as mentioned in 1), then this will encourage more side shoots to grow.
Worry less about fruit in the early years, and more about getting a healthy tree with the right structure. If you want even one Cherry, you will need to net it from the birds and Squirrels. We netted ours last year, and the ants got our only two cherries. You have to laugh!
If anyone with more fruit tree experience (mine is minimal) sees anything erroneous about this advice, then please shout out now!
I can see what you mean about the leaders and I will choose one of them tomorrow to keep, and cut off the others.
So I shouldn't trim the side branches at all if I understand you correctly?
I will repot next Spring probably.
I can follow the rest of your advice as I have other trees in the garden that I keep pruned in order to keep a correct air flow through the centre of the trees. I think the mantra is 'dieing, damaged, diseased' and removed cross overs and rubbing branches. 😉
I did expect it to be a columnar shaped plant when I purchased, which just proves they can photo shot anything!
Had to laugh at your experience with the fruit! I'll be glad of just a few flowers I think. 😊
Thanks again.