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Fruit & Orchards Far North Trees

Should I prune this young sour cherry tree?

12 months ago

Hi everyone,

I am in central Edmonton, Alberta (Zone 4a) and I have a 3 year old Juliet cherry tree that was planted from a 5 gallon pot. It has since grown tremendously but the branches have become rather unwieldy! I guess partly it is because Juliet cherry is supposed to be a sour cherry shrub but in this case, it has been trained as a tree:

As you see, some branches are pointing down and they are just all over the place! At this point, should I prune this little guy? Or just trim off the branches that are pointing downwards and let it mature more before really training it? What is your recommendation please?

Thank you in advance!

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Comments (3)

ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
12 months ago

the usual default.. is to prune after bloom ... if any ...

i would probably sit on my patio.. with a few molsons or so.. and my pruning shears.. and artistically remove a few of the branches that start to piss me off as the beer take effect ... lol ..

any that are rubbing on each other.. one or the other should go ... those would be the first ...

then the down growing ones... but not too many at once ...

i wouldnt remove more than 3 or 4 ... never forget.. you can always take more later.. you cant glue them back on ...

i would insist someone take away the shears before the 3rd beer.. lol ..

tree time is counted in decades .. and pruning is required within said decade .. there is no hurry ever ... unless its a 3 foot branch hanging over your house and you live in hurricane area .. and that aint z4 canada .. lol

ken
ostrich thanked ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
12 months ago
If it still needs to be staked it should be tied more loosely. The trunk needs to move in the breeze.

tj
ostrich thanked tsugajunkie z5 SE WI ♱
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thx soooo.. if you prune it at the wrong moment.. and you miss it setting fruit next season.. who cares .. eh?? i used to be with you.. on i got to save everything in the world for mother earth .. sorry.. that ship sailed along time ago ... if it annoys me.. its gone ... not soon after.. to be replaced with something of year around interest that does NOT annoy me ... net loss to mother earth .. ZERO ... that which i took.. i replaced ... get over it.. and get rid of it ... there are too many really cool things that are better ... cut it flush to the ground.. treat the stump.. and figure out what to plant a few feet over.. where you can dig a new hole .... ken
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ostrich
Original Author
12 months ago
Thanks, Ken! What I am hearing is that I need to relax!!! LOL! You're right, I should not worry so much... maybe just trim some branches if necessary, but let it grow a bit first. Thanks!

tj, thanks. The tree actually is tied very loosely to the stake. I think that it is actually ready to have the stake removed this year. It was almost ready last year but I think that it should be OK now. Thanks!

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