On 3 Apr 2017 05:05, 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?


Our 4 Cherry Trees are all in flower now. Planted a couple of years
longer than yours and on the most dwarfing rootstock Gisella 5.

Our experience is that Gisella 5 isn't that dwarfing as it's a constant
battle to keep them within the 2 metre tall fruit cage, indeed last
year some grew a metre + through it.
I suspect the pruning has something to do with it.

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?PID=318


--
Regards
Bob Hobden