Hi there, I have both a Bing and a Lambert cherry that are over 30 years old. They are still giving me a lot of fruit but the massive limbs have started to split so that I can see what I think is the heartwood. A neighbour suggested wrapping the limbs to prevent insects and/or woodpecker attack (a problem for the neighbour). The neighbour also suggested pruning some of the worst limbs off and using a tar on the wound. Other web sites discourage the tar practice. I'd hate to lose such wonderful trees! Any advice?? Many thanks!!! BTW - I also have a peach tree that lost a limb in a wind storm...would I treat it the same as the cherries?
When I worked down in a commercial cherry orchard (Okanagan) we had old trees that would lose limbs all the time. The best thing to do is if they are split or damaged is to remove them. You can encourage (train) new wood in the vicinity of the branch to replace the lost branch. Cherries will eventually die back and have to be replaced at some point but the life of the tree can be extended by proper maintenance and pruning. The same goes for your peaches. Peaches will not live as long as cherry tree in but are usually a lot more vigorous and come into production earlier. Its best to remove the limb and encourage new growth. Also peaches have a tendency to overbear so make sure you thin your fruit so that branches can handle the weight load of the fruit. There are different school of thought on using pruning paint and there are a lot of products. Some advocate that you paint the wound some don't. Big cuts can introduce diseases into cherry trees so you could use a pruning paint if you want. The same goes for the peach. In the summer if the large branches were removed we used a pruning paint to prevent any problems. Check to see if Art Knapps or Swan Lake have what you need. Cheers and good luck
Most kinds of cherry trees, both those planted for ornament and those planted as orchard fruits are by nature fast-growing short-lived trees. The wild species of different regions tend to be pioneer species that pop up in clearings to live there until the forest species come in and push them aside. In addition their lives are often diminished by their many pest and disease problems. Destructive pruning is also common, surely reduces the spans of specimens upon which it is inflicted (both the span of their branches and the span of their lives).
Thanks for the ideas - I think the peach tree had too much of a good thing going on! I'll have to thin it more next year. Do you think it is too late in the season to prune the large cherry branches or should I wait until early spring when it's likely that the big cherry limbs are dormant.
You can prune the cherry now, but it does open it up to disease problems so if you have I would apply a prunning paint to the big cuts 4 inches or larger. If it can wait late fall or early spring will work. This the methods we used when I worked for a large commercial cherry grower in the Okanagan. Cheers
