we cam home from holidays last tuesday to find the landlord had our Bing cherry pruned HARD, all leaves and small branches are gone. Oi !!!!!! Very sad. What are the chances it will survive this harsh pruning and what can we expect in the next few years? Thanks for your time and info on this! Sonya and Anthony in Burkeville.
It may very well be okay. Early fall is the wrong time of year to prune, though. Later in winter would have been better. We like to be conservative with pruning beloved trees, but many fruit and nut trees will actually do very well with hard pruning. It could take a couple of years to recover really well, though. And you might not have blossoms and subsequent fruit next summer. Take a look at the pruned limbs' edges. Are the cuts clean, the bark intact and tight to the remaining wood? How about the angle? Is it a good angle for that cut? Did he leave the central growth: the leading straight up one? And did he seal the cuts? I think cherries are one tree where you still paint the cut edges if they are over an inch in diameter, or two centimeters.
THANKS so much for your reply. The cuts are smooth and the majority of the tree is still standing with good central growth. The cuts are not sealed though. It seems from previous threads I have read that sealing the trees, is not as necessary as once thought.
The cherry tree should survive the harsh pruning; but you won't get much, if any, fruit next year, if the small branches with fruiting spurs were cut off. One thing to look out for is the possibility of sun scald on the main trunk and major branches. Bark that has grown in shade is susceptible to winter injury if it is suddenly exposed to increased sunshine. I have a large sweet cherry tree that had quite a bit of bark injury after I pruned out the upper part of the main trunk to let more light penetrate to the lower branches. Some Web sites recommend wrapping the trunk in light coloured tree wrap to prevent sun scald. Painting the trunk with white latex paint may also work, but I haven't tried either remedy.
