Hi...I just completed picking big, juicy and dark red cherries from my backyard tree. The tree is growing very fast and I would like to control it. When is the best time for pruning? Some specialist says middle of winter and some in the summer. Which one is correct? What should I look for when pruning? Any recommendation would be great appreciate. Thanks
Search www for "orchard cherries pruning", "pruning cherry trees" etc., can probably get pages with diagrams as well as discussion.
Pruning cherries in mid-winter is a bad idea. Pruning too early in winter can make trees vulnerable to diseases like silver-leaf and cankers. Cherry trees should be pruned during the growing season after bud break. Young trees in the spring so that they can be trained to desired shape, older trees can be pruned then as well or later after harvest. See this for a good guide to pruning cherries (Adobe PDF format).
