How to Prune a Cherry Tree for a Healthy Lawn
Your cherry tree just got a whole lot sweeter
Cherry trees not only offer a beautiful aesthetic to your yard, but they can also provide you with some delicious fruit. However, if you don’t learn how to prune a cherry tree as a sapling and take the right steps to maintain your growing tree, you could be stuck with a lackluster plant that yields very few cherries.
Thankfully, there are steps you can take to prune your cherry tree and prepare it for a gorgeous bloom. Time to put on your safety gear and get to work.
Why Prune Cherry Trees?
As with any fruit tree, cherry trees need routine pruning to maintain optimum health, yield the most fruit, and look attractive in your yard. Pruning is similar to tree trimming, but the main difference is that pruning keeps plants free of unhealthy branches by removing decaying, old, or diseased branches. Trimming beautifies your cherry tree and keeps the branches away from your home and other obstacles.
Here are some of the biggest reasons why you should prune your tree:
Pruning encourages growth.
It helps increase fruit production.
Pruning helps stop diseases in their tracks.
It can prevent safety hazards.
It also makes for a sturdier tree during severe weather.
How Much Does It Cost to Prune a Cherry Tree?
Tree pruning costs between $200 and $750 on average. How much you’ll spend to prune a cherry tree depends on the size of your tree and the amount of work required to prune it. If you haven’t pruned your tree in a while, expect to pay more on the higher end to get it back to a healthy condition.
When to Prune a Cherry Tree
The best time to prune a cherry tree depends on where you live and the type of cherry tree in your yard. Generally speaking, however, the best time is in the late spring, late winter, or summer. While it might seem like a good idea to prune a dormant cherry tree, this can set up your tree to develop diseases if you prune it too early in the winter—especially if it’s a sweet cherry tree or weeping cherry tree.
Instead, prune your tree well after buds and shoots have formed. Avoid pruning right when the buds emerge in early spring so that your tree hasn’t wasted energy on those new growths.
The main exception is if you live in a colder hardiness zone, such as Zone 6 or colder. This includes states in the mid-Atlantic like New York and goes across central states like Oklahoma before ascending all the way up to the Pacific Northwest. In this case, prune your cherry tree in the late winter or early spring before it blossoms. If your tree is young or under three years old, you can prune it in the early spring to protect it from the cold, as it’s more susceptible to extreme cold than mature trees.
How to Prune a Cherry Tree
Pruning a cherry tree might seem like a fun afternoon activity, but don’t let this project fool you—the process can be a little complex. Be sure to follow these steps to learn how to prune a tree correctly.
1. Identify Sick, Dead, or Broken Branches
Before you prune your tree, it’s a good idea to inspect the tree and identify troublesome branches or places where you’ll need to prune. This once-over will help you determine what tools you’ll need to complete this project. Look for any branches that crisscross or appear damaged or diseased. Make a note of the diameter of these branches.
2. Choose the Right Tools
There are several tools you can use to prune your tree, but the tools you choose come down to the size of the branches. Whichever tools you choose, make sure they’ve been sharpened and sterilized beforehand, as cherry trees are prone to disease.
Pruning shears. One of the best tools for cutting back cherry tree branches is a pair of handy pruning shears. You can be sure you’ll cut branches precisely with these shears.
Pole saws. A pole saw extends as much as 11 feet, allowing you to reach thicker, higher branches.
Pruning saws. You can prune thicker branches within reach with a pruning saw, designed for larger shrubs and smaller trees greater than 1½ inches in diameter.
Pruning loppers. This tool has a longer handle than pruning shears and helps you access branches that are just out of reach.
3. Put On Your Safety Gear
Handling tools and dealing with sharp branches requires safety gear to protect you from injury. Make sure you put on gardening gloves, close-toed shoes, a long-sleeved shirt, long pants, safety glasses, a hard hat, and a face shield before you get started. You may also need a ladder. Make sure you stand toward the center and middle of your ladder, keeping a 3-point place of contact while you go up and down the ladder to keep from falling. Do not attempt to prune trees in rainy weather or if your ladder is slippery.
Some branches can be heavy, so it’s important to have a helping hand when removing such branches—especially if you’re standing on a ladder.
4. Cut the Cherry Tree
Now that you’ve identified troublesome branches, selected the right tools to tackle the job, and put on safety gear, it’s time to prune your cherry tree. Keep in mind that the age and species of the cherry tree greatly impact how you go about pruning the tree. Here are the steps to successfully prune your tree no matter the type or age.
How to Prune Sapling Cherry Trees
For saplings of at least 30 inches, you’ll want to follow these steps to set them up for future pruning and maintenance.
Use sharp shears to head the tree down to between 24 and 36 inches at a 45-degree angle.
Leave around one-quarter of an inch of space from a terminal bud that faces away from the trunk.
Cut weak branches angled inwards at a 45-degree angle with the shears.
Remove broken, diseased, or otherwise unhealthy branches.
How to Prune Young Cherry Trees
The year after heading your tree is the perfect time to prune the branches in what is called a scaffold whorl. This type of pruning further prepares the tree for mature fruit-bearing capacities by angling and distributing the most fruitful branches so that they don’t compete with each other. It’s also more challenging than the other steps, so if you’re unsure how to prune a young cherry tree, you might want to call in the pros for this step. If you decide to do it yourself, here’s what you need to do:
Locate four to six primary branches that are approximately 8 inches apart and at least 18 inches above ground level. These branches should be healthy and at a 45-degree angle from the main part of the tree.
Use pruning shears to cut each branch to around 24 inches or just above an emerging bud.
Leave two branches on each of the primary branches you cut.
Then, cut all of the other branches on each primary branch until they’re flush with the main branch. Your four to six primary branches should form somewhat of a sideways “Y” shape with the secondary branches.
Cut the remaining branches flush to the trunk. Only the primary and secondary branches should remain.
Repeat these steps the following year to make a second scaffold whorl that is higher up than the original scaffold whorl.
How to Prune Mature Cherry Trees
Well-maintained cherry trees older than three years require a lighter, more general pruning process.
Cut dead, damaged, or diseased branches off your tree.
Remove the suckers from the base of the tree trunk.
Remove vertical branches, which don’t yield as much fruit.
Make sure the cuts are flush with the main limb with minimal stubs.
Remove downward-growing branches and branches facing towards the trunk.
Cut off any branches 18 inches or less from the soil line.
Prune away branches that clash with one another.
You should cut away 20% to 30% of the previous year’s growth.
Cut a quarter inch above an outward-facing bud, pruning between two inches to four feet into the branch, depending on where there’s an emerging bud.
How to Prune Sweet Cherry Trees
Different types of cherry trees also require different shape formations. When pruning a sweet cherry tree, a central or main leader structure is the most common method. This method preserves the main leader of your tree and helps ensure the tree develops a supportive scaffold to protect the fruit from the elements come time to produce. It makes for a taller tree with a single central leader or main trunk and scaffolding in even layers.
How to Prune Pie, Sour, or Tart Cherry Trees
Pie, sour, and tart cherry trees can also benefit from the central leader structure or a modified central leader pruning, which keeps some of the main trunk intact, but these species also do well with an open-center or vase-shaped structure. This form of pruning focuses on keeping the cherry tree’s canopy open to receive the most sunlight and air circulation. The branches are lower to the ground, making them more accessible for picking fruit.
How to Prune Japanese Cherry Blossom Trees
Japanese cherry blossoms or flowering cherry trees come in over 3,700 varieties, so you’ll want to ensure that you choose the right cut for your tree variety. Yoshino cherry blossoms are the most common variety and benefit from having a central leader structure like with sweet cherry trees.
5. Remove Seedlings
You might be looking up at your cherry tree at the job you just completed, but before you call it a day, you’ll also want to look down—at rogue seedlings, that is. Seedlings compete with your sapling, young, or mature cherry tree by taking water and nutrients from the ground. The only difference is they won’t actually grow to maturity, making them almost parasitic in nature. So be sure to pull any seedlings out using gloves and a pointed spade if necessary.
6. Clean Up the Debris
Again, cherry trees are susceptible to disease, so removing the debris from your pruning project is the best way to ensure no pests or diseases make their way to your freshly pruned tree. Branch management and removal can take up more time than the actual pruning process, so consider hiring a junk removal company near you to get the job done quickly.
Tips for Pruning Cherry Trees
Pruning cherry trees may seem like a fun project akin, but a few wrong snips can turn your cherry tree’s trim into a bad haircut. Avoid making mistakes that affect the health, productivity, and appearance of your cherry tree by following these tips on pruning plants:
Only use sharpened, sterilized cutting tools, and be sure to sterilize them after every use with a solution of 10% bleach and 90% water for thirty minutes.
Measure your tree and avoid pruning any saplings smaller than 30 inches tall, as this could weaken the tree.
Trim weeping cherry branches so that they are approximately six inches above the ground.
Prune suckers that appear at the base of your cherry tree.
Prune your cherry tree every year to weed out unhealthy branches, inspect your tree for signs of disease, and encourage fruit to grow.
Avoid making multiple cuts on branches or over-pruning your tree. Don’t remove more than 25% of the tree’s canopy when pruning.
Prune your cherry tree when there are two days without rain or snow to prevent cankers.
DIY vs. Hire a Pro
Pruning a cherry tree requires the right tools, knowledge of which branches to cut, and a ton of physical labor. An ambitious DIYer can tackle this job, but if you’re not sure how to prune your cherry tree for maximum health and fruition, your best plan is to hire a pro.
A local tree pruning company that specializes in pruning fruit trees will help prepare your tree for a healthy life—all while making your yard look nice and your fruit bowl plentiful. Anticipate spending around $25 to $50 per hour for every employee.
Frequently Asked Questions
You can shape a cherry tree by trimming vertical branches, dense branches, and intersecting branches. Your personal aesthetic comes into play, as well. If you want to simply thin and shape the tree, you can get away with trimming the aforementioned parts of your cherry tree. If you want to shorten branches, however, consider thinning cuts, which alter the length of the branches while encouraging light penetration, new buds and shoots, and a structurally-sound shape.
You should avoid cutting off the top of mature cherry trees. This process is called tree topping, and it’s not recommended for cherry trees—or any trees, for that matter. Tree topping removes between one-third to half of the length of the tree trunk, resulting in structurally unsound, fruitless suckers. The only exception is for saplings. Young pie, sour, and tart cherry trees that are over 30 inches tall in the fall or winter before the tree blooms can benefit from heading cuts.