Hi, we have a large flowering cherry in our garden which is getting too big.
I need some advice on pruning it. I'm guessing now might be about the right
time as it is shedding it's leaves all over our and our neighbours gardens.

The main trunk must be about a foot in diameter and comes up to about five
feet height where, through some horrible arboricultural wizardry, the trunk
splits into eight to ten major branches. These branches go up in a roughly
conical overall shape to a guesstimated overall height of thirty feet plus.

Because of all these extra branches the centre of the cone / crown is very
crowded. I also wonder if they are 'over loading' the main trunk beneath,
because at times that has split and wept sap and there looks as if there is
a hollow area behind the bark at one point.

What I intended to do was select two or three of the major branches and cut
them out just above the five foot level. There are some on the 'down wind'
side that could go and give the main cone a more regular shape. Thereafter
I'd want to cut at least five foot off the top and thin the centre a bit...

Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time of year
to do it for example?

Thanks,

M

"McBad" wrote in message
...
Hi, we have a large flowering cherry in our garden which is getting too
big.
I need some advice on pruning it. I'm guessing now might be about the
right
time as it is shedding it's leaves all over our and our neighbours
gardens.

The main trunk must be about a foot in diameter and comes up to about five
feet height where, through some horrible arboricultural wizardry, the
trunk
splits into eight to ten major branches. These branches go up in a
roughly
conical overall shape to a guesstimated overall height of thirty feet
plus.

Because of all these extra branches the centre of the cone / crown is very
crowded. I also wonder if they are 'over loading' the main trunk beneath,
because at times that has split and wept sap and there looks as if there
is
a hollow area behind the bark at one point.

What I intended to do was select two or three of the major branches and
cut
them out just above the five foot level. There are some on the 'down
wind'
side that could go and give the main cone a more regular shape.
Thereafter
I'd want to cut at least five foot off the top and thin the centre a
bit...

Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time of
year
to do it for example?

Thanks,

M

I would advise being very careful, I killed a cherry by pruning it in late
spring.
I'm not actually sure when the *right* time is, but late spring, its isnt!

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

I believe that anything in the Prunus family is one of the few types of
tree which should be pruned in the summer to prevent disease entering.
Janet G


The message
from "McBad" contains these words:

Hi, we have a large flowering cherry in our garden which is getting too big.
I need some advice on pruning it. I'm guessing now might be about the right
time as it is shedding it's leaves all over our and our neighbours gardens.

The main trunk must be about a foot in diameter and comes up to about five
feet height where, through some horrible arboricultural wizardry, the trunk
splits into eight to ten major branches. These branches go up in a roughly
conical overall shape to a guesstimated overall height of thirty feet plus.

Because of all these extra branches the centre of the cone / crown is very
crowded. I also wonder if they are 'over loading' the main trunk beneath,
because at times that has split and wept sap and there looks as if there is
a hollow area behind the bark at one point.

What I intended to do was select two or three of the major branches and cut
them out just above the five foot level. There are some on the 'down wind'
side that could go and give the main cone a more regular shape. Thereafter
I'd want to cut at least five foot off the top and thin the centre a bit...

Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time of year
to do it for example?

Thanks,

M

McBad wrote:
Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time
of year to do it for example?



NO!!!!!!

All prunus are susceptible to a fungal disease that can enter via pruning
cuts.

Prune in the spring when sap is flowing to keep infection out of the cut!!

Do not seal the wound, let it bleed for the same reason

pk

"p.k." wrote in message
...
McBad wrote:
Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time
of year to do it for example?



NO!!!!!!

All prunus are susceptible to a fungal disease that can enter via pruning
cuts.

Prune in the spring when sap is flowing to keep infection out of the cut!!

Do not seal the wound, let it bleed for the same reason

pk

Didnt work for me, unless my memory is bad? Maybe they are just susceptible
to pruning anyway? I definitely didnt seal the wounds (far too many).
Currently I'm trying to grow 2 clematis up the dead remains.

--
Tumbleweed

email replies not necessary but to contact use;
tumbleweednews at hotmail dot com

"McBad" wrote in message
...
Hi, we have a large flowering cherry in our garden which is getting too
big.
I need some advice on pruning it. I'm guessing now might be about the
right
time as it is shedding it's leaves all over our and our neighbours
gardens.

The main trunk must be about a foot in diameter and comes up to about five
feet height where, through some horrible arboricultural wizardry, the
trunk
splits into eight to ten major branches. These branches go up in a
roughly
conical overall shape to a guesstimated overall height of thirty feet
plus.

....

Speaking from experience this is going to be a continuing problem.
No matter how many of the individual branches you cut out, they are
going to continue growing upwards. So that they may reach 40 feet
overall in five years time. And put an increasing strain on the main
trunk through the extra leverage they're exerting.

Maybe when the tree was planted, like some people with flowering
cherries you didn't anticipate it growing this large. Unfortunately
just hoping it may stop growing at the present rate is of little
use.

From the tenor of your post it appears you're thinking of doing the
work yourself. The short answer is don't even try. If it's possible to
prune the tree in such a way as to both save it and prevent it
from totally outgrowing its position, or becoming a danger then
the only person who can advise on that, and do the necessary work
is an experienced arboraculturalist.

If you start lopping off odd branches, all you may end up doing is
render the tree unsightly, and stimulate the remaining branches
into even faster growth.

The arboraculturalist/tree surgeon will advise at to the best time to
prune but speaking for myself I've lopped branches off a flowering cherry
after leaf fall in Autumn and in Spring before bud break with
no deleterious effect. Unfortunately - I'm almost ashamed to say.


michael adams

....


Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time of
year
to do it for example?

Thanks,




M

McBad wrote:
Hi, we have a large flowering cherry in our garden which is getting too big.
I need some advice on pruning it. I'm guessing now might be about the right
time as it is shedding it's leaves all over our and our neighbours gardens.

The main trunk must be about a foot in diameter and comes up to about five
feet height where, through some horrible arboricultural wizardry, the trunk
splits into eight to ten major branches. These branches go up in a roughly
conical overall shape to a guesstimated overall height of thirty feet plus.

Because of all these extra branches the centre of the cone / crown is very
crowded. I also wonder if they are 'over loading' the main trunk beneath,
because at times that has split and wept sap and there looks as if there is
a hollow area behind the bark at one point.

What I intended to do was select two or three of the major branches and cut
them out just above the five foot level. There are some on the 'down wind'
side that could go and give the main cone a more regular shape. Thereafter
I'd want to cut at least five foot off the top and thin the centre a bit...

Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time of year
to do it for example?

I wonder if you'll appreciate this comment... Yes, this is the ideal
time to prune it - prune at ground level and plant another.

No, seriously, now is not the time to prune anything of the Prunus genus
(plums, cherries, almonds, apricots, etc.) As someone mentioned
already, they are susceptible to silver leaf fungus.

Again, quoting from "RHS Pruning and Training" (Brickell & Joyce):

"The pruning of nearly all ornamental Prunus is best kept to an abolute
minimum. Where formative pruning is necessary, it should be done as
early as possible aiming to create well-formed trees that will need
little further attention in later life. Keeping pruning wounds small,
and pruning in midsummer, reduces the risk of diseases such as silver
leaf. In common with the stone fruits, ornamental Prunus are sometimes
affected by gumming."

It looks like you may have missed the boat with this tree, so be
prepared to be disappointed. It's quite late in its life for serious
pruning now and the signs of weeping and the hollow area may be very bad
news.


Perhaps think of planting a smaller tree?

On Fri, 18 Nov 2005 19:14:44 -0000, "McBad"
wrote:

Hi, we have a large flowering cherry in our garden which is getting too big.
I need some advice on pruning it. I'm guessing now might be about the right
time as it is shedding it's leaves all over our and our neighbours gardens.

snip
Any comments or advice would be apreciated. Is this the right time of year
to do it for example?

Thanks,

M

AIUI flowering cherries should only be pruned when in growth. This is
because they are susceptible to Silver Leaf disease, which enters
through open wounds especially over the winter months when they don't
heal. Pruning in the summer allows the cut surfaces to heal rapidly.


--
Chris

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

Thanks for all the replies on this; looks as if I have not chosen the right
time of year. In light of the weather outside that gives me the
perfect excuse for not doing anything for a few months!

However, next summer I will have to do something! We inherited the tree
when we moved in here and although it is very pretty at certain times of
year, forms a good visual barrier of the house behind and gives something to
hang our bird feeders on it is not a tree I am sentimentally attached to.
It is now far too big for where it is (= some idiot planted it in a garden
that would be much too small for it). So, I'll have to attempt a prune next
summer. If it dies it dies and if it doesn't I'll hopefully sell the house
before it gets too big again and it can be someone else's problem!

I will be doing the work myself - I regret that my experience of
tree-surgeons is that as a genus they are little better than vandals with
chain saws; any excuse to use the wood-chipper will do!

Thanks again,

M.