On Tue, 19 Apr 2005 11:09:33 GMT, Roger
wrote:

I have always considered that trees should be pruned before they start
to blossom. I also cut back any shoots coming out of the trunk or up
from the roots during winter.

Now we are in spring and the trees are starting to blossom. Many of my
trees allready have ambitious shoots coming out of the trunk/roots.
Should I cut these back as they appear or wait till the end of the
growing season?

In particular I have a decorative cherry tree that has been spliced
about 2M from the groung. The branches breaking out from the splice have
a pink blossom, but from the splice down I have the white blossom of the
'host tree'sprouting out of the trunk. Is this normal?

In the UK, ornamental cherries should be pruned while in vigorous
growth, say midsummer. This is to prevent infection by silver leaf
disease, which enters open wounds if they are pruned while dormant.
But you may not have silver leaf disease in the Piedmont, in which
case it's less important.


--
Chris

E-mail: christopher[dot]hogg[at]virgin[dot]net