Sour cherries are not to be confused with sweet cherries. Since they are very acidic, they should not be eaten raw, but they are excellent in cakes and pies. Regular pruning of the branches of the sour cherry tree is the most important measure for good development. However, garden owners often do not dare to pick up the secateurs. Pruning takes place immediately after harvest in August or September. In this way you stimulate the sprouting and formation of new buds. How to cut sour cherries so that you can curb the excessive terminal growth, we give the pruning methods below.
When to prune tart cherry trees
The rule of thumb for pruning fruit trees is that this should be done during winter dormancy. However, pruning cherry trees is an exception to this rule. Sweet cherries and sour cherriesare more susceptible toFungal and bacterial diseases, especially on freshly cut branches, and are therefore best cut in late summer. A mature sour cherry tree (Prunus cerasus) growing against the wall is a magnificent sight in full bloom; The butter-yellow autumn color of the leaves is also beautiful.
Binding is a tedious but rewarding job once a year, and you have the choice between one mess or the other. However, pruning is not easy. Conventional advice recommends foliar pruning stone fruit only to avoid the occurrence of dormant bacterial cankers. But when you cut so late, you can't see what you're doing.
A compromise is to cut at green bud time, when the sap is already rising but the buds are not so advanced that they could be knocked off when tying. Sour cherries tend to be very hesitant to form new shoots, especially in the lower part of the tree. If there is a young shoot that replaces the spent wood, it is clear what needs to be done. But it can also be that you only find a seemingly barren shoot with a few terminal buds, sometimes with more buds behind it, but often without.
What you can't do is simply cut back to get fruit, the same way you would spur an apple: without more buds behind it to draw the juice (even two or three are probably enough), the triple or multiple clusters will be easy die. Even at the expense of latecomers, if there is no prospect of fruit, one should cut back to two or three terminal buds until the next branch or tip and hope that another shoot will sprout next year. If space permits, there is no harm in leaving a long shoot for another season.
Cutting sour cherries: instructions
Prune the tree once the fruit is picked. First, remove any dead, damaged or diseased branches. Trim the tips of remaining branches by about one-third of their new growth to encourage fruit bud development. Cut out all side shoots that are over 30 cm long and thin out any shoots that are very close together. Sour cherries fruit on new wood. Here you have to be brave and remove the old branches until new growth and incorporate the young branches as replacements.
All old branches must be cut back and tied down until new growth occurs. Now what do you do with all those branches that are either facing the wall or facing you? Reduce this growth to just one leaf to form fruiting shoots. This is the same technique youUse on sweet cherries. Tie all branches in a fan shape. Once the branches are tied, cut back any horizontal or unwanted branches except for one or two leaves to form fruiting bases. Over the years, you should build up the fan in this manner, creating runners and cutting back the fan to maintain the shape.
Prune differently according to varieties
In order to learn how to cut sour cherries correctly, you have to know the variety. Varieties such as 'Heimanns Ruby Weichsel', 'Karneol' and 'Safir' bear abundant fruit on perennial wood. For these varieties, sour cherries should be pruned after harvest, removing only the weak, crossing and inward-growing shoots to maintain a healthy crown structure. Other varieties such as 'Morellenfeuer' and 'Gerema' develop whip-shaped shoots over the years that eventually become bald. In this case, you should only cut back the shoots that are more than three years old and the side shoots that are too long by at least two thirds. Pruning should be made at the base of a new shoot.
