I had this cherry tree for many years now and it produces very well(too much!) even with brown rot and rain. Now, it is at the perfect size and I want to keep the cherry tree like this. How can I prune this cherry? How much do I prune off the new shoots,1/3?2/3? Also, I would like someone to identify what variety of cherry it is. And in the third picture, there is a tiny hole on the cherry. After carefully looking at each cherry, I have found that half of all the cherries I harvested have a tiny hole on them. Could this be western cherry fruit fly stings?
I have several cherry trees that I prune back 100% every year because they are as large as I want them. Actually, lately I've been pruning more than 100% because I'm trying to shrink them a bit. I prune practically at any time of the year, mostly in late spring and summer. I cut down the largest cherry tree last year after harvesting a meager crop due to damage from Spotted Wing Drosophila fruit flies. You probably have the same pest; google "swd british columbia" to learn more about it.
I prune off all of the new growth on the outside of the tree so that it doesn't get any larger. Most of the pruning is done right after harvesting the crop, with additional pruning of late growth at the end of summer. I like to prune the new growth while it is still green because the prunings compost much faster at that stage.
