Pruning Cherries.

I have some cherry trees that have not been pruned.  They are beautiful trees, but it a requires a 24-foot ladder to get near the top limbs.  The side limbs reach from tree to tree.  They had a splendid crop this year.  People here tell me never to prune cherry trees.  One man who claims considerable experience with fruit says prune them as soon as the crop is off.

Your cherry trees should have been pruned for the first two or three years quite severely, in order to secure better branching and strength in the main branches.  If this is done, and the trees come into full bearing, very little pruning has to be done afterward, except removing diseased, interfering or surplus branches, if there are too many.  It is perfectly safe to cut back the trees which you now have as you have been advised to do, after the leaves have fallen or after they have begun to turn yellow.  The trees can be safely topped and thinned, for the cherry accepts pruning very readily.  Even considerable amounts of the tops have been cut off at fruit-picking time from trees which have been running too high, so that the fruit could be secured, and this has not injured the trees, according to our own experience and observation.  Cherries can be summer-pruned to check excessive growth and to promote fruit-bearing, but as your trees have already begun to bear well, this treatment does not seem to be necessary.  You should do fall and winter pruning for the shape of the trees.

Training Cherry Grafts.

I have grafted a lot of seedling cherries, leaving two or three buds on each piece of grafted wood.  In planting these out, shall I put the union under ground (they are grafted at the crown of the root) and shall I loosen the cloth a little later when they start to grow?  How can I get the head for the tree?  Should I let only one shoot form, and when it is as high as I want it, cut it off as I would a tree gotten from a nursery?

If you have used waxed cloth in your grafting, it will be necessary to loosen it after the tree gets a good start.  Common unwaxed cloth could be trusted to decay soon enough, probably, but it should be looked at to see that it is not binding.  The union should not be placed much below the ground surface, although it can be safely covered, and the future stem may look the better for it.  One shoot could be allowed to grow from each graft, choosing the best ones and pinching the others so that they will stop extension and hold leaves during the first season.  These can be cleanly removed at the first winter pruning at the time you head back the main shoot to the proper height.

Restoring Cherry Trees.

I have about two acres of cherry trees in Sonoma county said to be about 20 years old.  They are in a very neglected condition and I am desirous of putting them in good shape for next year’s crop.  They are in a very light sandy loam sail which is easily worked.