The Japanese cherry should not only be pruned if shoots of the wild form are growing up below the grafting point. When pruning this fruitless form of the columnar cherry, it is mostly about securing the shape, health and abundance of flowers of a plant.
The Japanese cherry tree also needs regular pruning
The first cut should not be too early
Since the Japanese cherry tree can react relatively sensitively to pruning, it should only be pruned for the first time about two to three years after planting. However, you should not wait too long with a shape cut or grooming cut, since the individual cutting measures should not be too extensive in each case. It can make sense to prune some branches immediately after flowering in summer and then pay special attention to removing branches that show signs of disease in autumn. Unlike many columnar fruits, the Japanese columnar cherry should not be pruned heavily during the frosty winter months.
Good reasons for pruning
Many gardeners believe that according to the name of a Japanese cherry, any pruning would be unnecessary. Although the extent of the necessary pruning measures is usually limited, occasional interventions in plant growth are nevertheless essential. As a rule, rejuvenation cuts, shape cuts and pruning complement each other in the sense of a maintenance cut with measures that flow into one another. The following reasons make pruning of the Japanese cherry tree necessary:
- Excessive growth in height (more than 5 m in height are possible)
- perceived as too wide columnar shape
- disease and fungal infestation
- decrease in the number of flowers
- branches growing too close together
Make cuts carefully and carefully
Before each cut, it should be checked whether clean and sufficiently sharp cutting tools are available. Larger cuts when removing thicker branches should be made close to the trunk without damaging the trunk itself. “Frozen” shoots should be removed in the spring after the last frost. Since these are usually associated with dry periods in the case of the Japanese cherry tree, you should stimulate root growth in deeper layers of the earth by watering more rarely and therefore more plentifully.
tips
Since Japanese cherry trees are relatively susceptible to disease, major cuts to the trunk after branch removal should be treated with an appropriate tree wound sealant.