Cornelian Cherry (cornus mas)
 

I bought a 3' bare-root tree this spring, and it has just now really
started growing. It has probably been growing roots all this time,
because it didn't have many when I bought it. The most vigorous growth
is near the bottom. It has little branches coming out all over the
trunk. I want this to be a small specimen tree, not a shrub, but
multi-trunked like an river birch might be nice. I definitely want it
open at the bottom and not all twiggy.

Do I need to leave all these new twigs for now and then start trimming
it next year? I'm hesitant to remove any leaves this late in the
season. I'm in the southern part of zone 4, which is pretty far north
for this tree.

If I let it grow 2 or 3 trunks, will these be from suckers that come up
from the ground next year, or this year's new twigs that are right at
the ground level?

Thanks, regards,
Bob

Cornelian Cherry (cornus mas)
 

Re the Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) I have grown C mas for many years and
have four trees in my yard. I do not feel that they are a single trunk
tree. All nurserymen that I have talked to say that it is a multi trunked
tree. I know some people that have tried to keep it pruned to one trunk and
it is a constant pruning job. Also as you prune out of season you have
wounds that can get infected. My point is not that you can't keep it pruned
to a single stem but it is more beautiful in most cases when you let it bush
out and has more flowers in early spring.
I call it my ChristMAS dogwood because of the C. mas and it blooms here
in late January or early Feb. It is a beautiful tree to be covered in
yellow blooms that time of the year when other things are not blooming.
Good luck in trying to make it a single trunk
Neb

Cornelian Cherry (cornus mas)
 

craterr wrote:
Re the Cornelian Cherry (Cornus mas) I have grown C mas for many years and
have four trees in my yard. I do not feel that they are a single trunk
tree. All nurserymen that I have talked to say that it is a multi trunked
tree. I know some people that have tried to keep it pruned to one trunk and
it is a constant pruning job. Also as you prune out of season you have
wounds that can get infected. My point is not that you can't keep it pruned
to a single stem but it is more beautiful in most cases when you let it bush
out and has more flowers in early spring.
I call it my ChristMAS dogwood because of the C. mas and it blooms here
in late January or early Feb. It is a beautiful tree to be covered in
yellow blooms that time of the year when other things are not blooming.
Good luck in trying to make it a single trunk
Neb



Can you keep it a multi-trunk tree without constant pruning, or is it
always trying to revert to a giant shrub? (like an old-fashioned lilac)
All the pix I've seen have been a ball-shape that branches all the way
to the ground. I don't want to try to force it into an unnatural form.

I'm not going to remove any of the new twigs coming off the trunk this
fall (don't want to remove any leaves), but I may pinch the growing tips
out to divert energy to the upper growth. I will thin the lower growth
this winter, or maybe remove all of it.

Bob

Cornelian Cherry (cornus mas)
 

--
Bob: Cornelian cherry, in my experience, wants to look like a shrub. Mine
tried hard to be one, and I had to trim it constantly to get it to look like
a tree.
It sends out suckers every year fromthe base to the lower branches, and I
keep cutting off the suckers. What you might do is let maybe two or three
twigs grow for a year, see which one is the most vigorous, and prune out the
others. Of course, the line of least resistance is let it do it's thing
and be a shrubby tree, but if you end up with a lot of leaders as Dave says,
it'll be subject to splitting. It's a great tree, tho, very attractive with
its
fuzzy yellow blooms well before forsythia blooms. I've never had fruit on
mine, but when they produce well, it's very colorful then too. Good luck
with it!
Wendy in Zone 5