Watching TV yesterday, the presenter spoke of pruning fruit trees and mentioned that while its ok to prune apple and pear trees now... it is not the right time to prune plum or cherry trees, but then neglected to mention when the right time to prune cherry or plum trees was. I have two overgrown fruit trees, one plum and one apple and Im desperate to cut them both back to something more manageable...

Thanks

Gary Thomlinson

GaryThomlinson wrote:
Watching TV yesterday, the presenter spoke of pruning fruit trees and
mentioned that while its ok to prune apple and pear trees now... it is
not the right time to prune plum or cherry trees, but then neglected to
mention when the right time to prune cherry or plum trees was. I have
two overgrown fruit trees, one plum and one apple and Im desperate to
cut them both back to something more manageable...

Thanks

Gary Thomlinson

I prune my plum and apple trees all at the same time. Before a 40 below
zero winter killed my cherry tree, I pruned it at the same season as
well. For me, that time is late April or early May. (later than most of
the world)
One possible explanation to what you heard is plant hardiness. You don't
want to prune trees when the weather still might get close to the
coldest they can tolerate. Apples are hardier than most plums and cherries.
If your trees are way over grown, don't try to get them into shape all
in one year. Heavy pruning will cause a ton of water sprouts. People
tend to be afraid of summer pruning but it is a good way to prevent too
much regrowth. If they use up all their energy making this years growth,
they can't put out much more after you prune.
At the very least, the summer pruning you really should do is remove the
water sprouts that grow. Catch them at the right stage and you can pull
them off by hand, like pulling weeds.

Steve