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Overpruned ornamental cherry tree
Feathermoss
Posts: 2
Hi all, my first post on the forum as I'm looking for advice please on what (if anything) I can do to help a tree recover after overpruning?
For context, I have a tiny concrete yard with a brick raised bed built into the corner. A previous owner put in an ornamental cherry tree and a silver birch tree, both quite large when I moved in. The survey I got when buying mentioned the trees were close to the walls but not a risk to foundations etc. Since the birch was taller than the property and becoming a concern, I hired a tree surgeon to remove it and, stupidly, thought I may as well get the cherry pruned at the same time. Mostly I wanted to get a bit more light in the rest of the yard and not have as many leaves falling into my neighbours' yards.
The tree surgeon came and I didn't communicate well enough because asking them to "prune" the cherry tree has resulted in them removing about 80% or more of the crown/branches, leaving no leaf buds left. I'm gutted and worrying about whether this will kill/harm the tree.
Is there anything I can do to help it and give it a greater chance of recovery, or do I just wait and hope? I've been panic-searching the internet and some places suggest feeding it so it has enough nutrients to grow again, but would that have any effect on what was a fairly mature tree (I think)?
This is my first time having outside space of my own but now it looks awful and I'm upset as I was really looking forward to the blossom, which won't be appearing this year. Feeling worse for having had to pay someone for it, and it being my own fault overall!
For context, I have a tiny concrete yard with a brick raised bed built into the corner. A previous owner put in an ornamental cherry tree and a silver birch tree, both quite large when I moved in. The survey I got when buying mentioned the trees were close to the walls but not a risk to foundations etc. Since the birch was taller than the property and becoming a concern, I hired a tree surgeon to remove it and, stupidly, thought I may as well get the cherry pruned at the same time. Mostly I wanted to get a bit more light in the rest of the yard and not have as many leaves falling into my neighbours' yards.
The tree surgeon came and I didn't communicate well enough because asking them to "prune" the cherry tree has resulted in them removing about 80% or more of the crown/branches, leaving no leaf buds left. I'm gutted and worrying about whether this will kill/harm the tree.
Is there anything I can do to help it and give it a greater chance of recovery, or do I just wait and hope? I've been panic-searching the internet and some places suggest feeding it so it has enough nutrients to grow again, but would that have any effect on what was a fairly mature tree (I think)?
This is my first time having outside space of my own but now it looks awful and I'm upset as I was really looking forward to the blossom, which won't be appearing this year. Feeling worse for having had to pay someone for it, and it being my own fault overall!
0
Posts
It seems unusual for a tree surgeon to remove 80%. Did they give you any reason for being that drastic?
Anyway, done now. I think you will have to wait and see. Personally I would not feed it as it is already very stressed. I would leave it alone and see if it produces some new growth this yr. Everyone makes mistakes when gardening, but plants want to live ... and they will do their darnedest in spite of our meddling. 😉 So, chalk it up to experience and buy some other flowering things to enjoy this summer despite the lack of blossom.
Can you load a photo so that we can get an idea of how it looks? The icon that looks like hills is the one for pix, and if you can keep them at around 1MB or so, they'll load better.
Also - when was the hacking back done? Are you in the UK or somewhere else? Cherries can be adversely affected by being pruned at the wrong time of year. It wouldn't necessarily kill it or harm it severely by being pollarded - which is what it sounds like has been done, but if it was done recently, ie through winter, that's where the problem lies. Unlike most trees and large shrubs, which are best pruned through their dormant period, cherries are best done in late summer.
Don't feed it - a struggling plant of any kind isn't helped by food, and it can actually do more harm than good.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I'm in the north of England and the tree was pruned this week, after I spent a while contacting local tree surgeons. This one had great reviews, had insurance, wasn't cash-in-hand and did a decent job on the birch removal, left everything very tidy etc. But didn't mention anything about it being a bad time to prune, and no discussion or warning signs about just how much was going to be removed! Lesson learned for me to make sure I'm on the same page as any contractor before they start work.
Getting to grips with uploading images and the photos aren't very clear but here's the tree in blossom last spring:
... and here's what it looks like from the same angle now (and my clumsy attempt at redacting out some of the surroundings!)