How to prune a cherry tree

Inspired by a guide from The Orchard Project UK. This walk-through draws on "Pruning cherry trees properly and correctly" from The Orchard Project, a UK charity that works with community orchards across England and Wales. Their approach is practical and grounded in real orchard management - well worth a watch before you pick up the loppers.

1. Prune in summer - not winter

This is the most important thing to get right. Apple and pear trees are pruned in winter when they are dormant. Cherry trees are different. They must be pruned in late spring or summer - typically June to August - when the tree is actively growing.

Pruning in winter or autumn leaves the cuts exposed to silver leaf disease (Chondrostereum purpureum) for months. Summer pruning allows the tree to heal the wounds quickly before the fungal spores are at their most active. It is not something you can skip.

2. Start with the 4Ds

Before making any structural decisions, go through the tree and remove the 4Ds: dead, damaged, diseased, and crossing branches. These come out first, regardless of where they are in the canopy.

Dead wood is easy to spot - it snaps cleanly and has no leaves. Diseased wood often shows silvering or discolouration. Crossing branches rub against each other and create wounds that let disease in.

3. Open up the centre of the tree

Cherry trees fruit best when light and air can get into the canopy. The goal is a goblet or open-centre shape - stems radiating outward and upward from a short trunk, with an open middle.

Remove any large branches that are growing back toward the centre, or that are shading the interior heavily. Do not take too much at once - removing more than a third of the canopy in a single season stresses the tree badly.

4. Thin out overcrowded branches

Where several shoots are growing from the same point, thin them down to one or two. Pick the strongest and best-positioned, and remove the others back to the main branch.

Avoid leaving stubs. A flush cut close to the collar (the swollen ring of bark where a branch meets the trunk) heals much better than a stub, which usually dies back and creates a disease entry point.

5. Make clean cuts with sharp tools

Use sharp, clean secateurs for small shoots and a pruning saw for anything thicker than a thumb. Blunt tools crush the wood fibres rather than cutting them, and that slows healing considerably.

Wipe your blades with methylated spirits between cuts if you see any sign of disease - you do not want to carry it from one branch to the next. For large cuts, a wound sealant such as Arbrex or a similar tree paint helps protect the exposed wood, though it is debated whether it is strictly necessary on smaller cuts.

6. Clear up and compost carefully

Collect all the prunings and dispose of them. Do not leave diseased material on the ground under the tree. If you have any silver leaf infection, burn the affected wood rather than composting it - the spores can survive.

Healthy prunings from a cherry tree can go on the compost heap or be chipped into mulch. Cherry wood also smells pleasant on a fire if you have a log burner.

When to call a handyman

Pruning a young or medium-sized cherry tree is manageable on a ladder with good secateurs. If the tree is large, if branches overhang a roof, fence, or neighbouring garden, or if significant crown reduction is needed - that is work for a qualified tree surgeon rather than a handyman. Richard can help with general garden clearance around the base, or tidying up once the main pruning work is done.