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Old 03-04-2017, 07:21 PM posted to uk.rec.gardening
Charlie Pridham[_2_] Charlie Pridham[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,520
Default Help needed growing a cherry tree

On 03/04/2017 13:05, earthstick wrote:
3 years ago I bought a fruiting cherry tree along with an apple. The apple tree is coming along fantastically but the cherry refuses to grow any branches.

When it arrived it was shaped like Y and it has remained shaped like a Y. It gets buds, leave and even a few cherries. The two branches grow longer but the are no side branches growing.

Last year I tried trimming off every other bud to try and promote side branches but that didn't work. This year I cut the two branches down by about a third with the hope that the ends would grow new branches but it looks like it's just going to bud again. What if I had let the two branches grow long enough to bend down? Would it have branched at the bend?

I prune in early March because I have read they are susceptable to frost damage if pruned earlier.

It is on a vigorous rootstock in a sheltered but sunny space and I choose a variety that has no special soil type requirements.

One thing I remember is that when I planted it I could not tell where the soil line had been and guessed. I planted it with the rootball was a few inches below the soil line. I can see the graft is probably 4 inches above the soil line now. Could this be the cause?


The most likely reason is the variety, if its an upright grower then its
doing what its supposed to do, not sure why you would have to prune a
young tree? It only really becomes a problem planting too deep with
trees on dwarfing rootstocks as the more vigorous variety would take over.

Hopefully a more experienced fruit tree grower will pitch in!

--
Charlie Pridham
Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk