Hi Kubotabx2200, Thank so much for your suggestion. I have been debating a lot between NorthStar and Montmorency. Its not an easy decision for me. I love the look of dark red cherries. And they say NorthStar bears heavily too. And it stays a small tree. But since I already have two red cherries, my husband is pushing to get the dwarf Montmorency. Besides, my neighbor has a standard Montmorency (I am certain its a Montmorency, he does not know) and the birds and squirrels don't eat the fruit and they are tasty when cooked. Can you describe the flavor of NorthStar to me if you a little time? Yeshwant, I got my Surefire from Raintree and I planted it in 2004. It is a small tree no doubt. Now its just about 6 feet or so and upright. Last year it had flowers but set only a few fruit that fell off. This year it had many clusters of flowers and all of them have turned to baby fruit. I have big hopes for this tree(!) I don't have a picture of the tree in bloom but I could still take a picture now. But for the life of me I can't figure out how to post a picture into a message? So the answer is I think you will have to wait 2-3 years for good fruit on the Gisella 5 rootstock that Raintree sold it on. I live around Riverdale. Some parts of my yard does seem like 7a but some parts are definitely colder. The trouble with Starkbros is not that they sell you poor trees but that they don't tell you what the rootstock is so I don't have some important information. But I still did get some trees from Starkbros in the past and I ordered dwarfs only. However some of my trees turned out not to be dwarfs, they are huge. So I find them hit-or-miss. I think your Suerfire will grow quite a bit more, specially this year but it won't be a big tree. If I figure out how post pictures I will share. Katyajini

Pruning a new tree is done at planting time when it is still dormant. The problem is the tree is trying to get established now and if you prune off that new growth you are going to set it back. The instructions you are reading are not about the new shoots like c-f, its about the limbs that were the dormant ones, a-b. You also need to decide how tall you want the tree, if you want to pick from the ground you will need to lower it. Given the fact that you didn't prune it at planting you could either wait til next year or since the tree is looking reasonably happy give a go now. I keep my trees low for picking from the ground so if I were to prune it now I would cut off b right above f to make that a more outward-growing scaffold and cut a off right above d for the same reason. I put in a potted cherry this year that was already about as far along as your tree and I just left it as-is, I will prune it back next spring. Once you have good roots you can butcher a tree in dormant pruning and it will pop back in spring with a vengeance. Scott

Well you can cut it back now in the late spring before it grows. To wherver you want it to sprout again. Right before, or same time as cutting it back, water it with fert. Try some mircale grow or osmocote. Anything high in nitrogen. Looks like it could use more air movement and bright light. Looks like leaf scabs/blight, maybe a cheap fungicide?

Wait until your Spring, when both your tree and the rootstock are actively growing. Ask your local nurseryman for a good rootstock for your area; get 10; then do 10 T-buds or chip buds; and if you do them carefully, you should get at least 2 or 3 to take. When they are strong and growing well, I would take out the old tree or leave it and put the new tree(s) in another place. You can prune the old tree quite heavily, if you want to save it; as long as the trunk is solid and healthy; it will grow new shoots. BTW, one of the reasons the oranges from the old tree taste so good is the age of the tree; the new grafted trees should produce fruit in a year or two and they will be "clones" of the existing tree. Be warned, though... fruits from the new trees may not taste as good for a few years.