Hello, I'm new to the forum (and gardening), but have benefited a lot from others here. I've been reading all I can about pruning, and believe I have somewhat of an idea, but would like some advice from the group. I've recently moved to Richland, WA (Eastern Washington) and have several trees that were growing in my yard that are struggling to say the least. We are zone 7 (although, probably closer to a high 6). My soil is like beach sand when I dig. I have plenty of water available, but this is a desert (hot summers, cold winters with minimal precip ~7 inches a year). At the recommendation of the local nursery, I added soil ammendments to try to help the trees (cutting out grass around the base) and mixing native soil with compost. I've also staked these younger trees to assist them with our high spring winds. Attached are photo's of a "4 in 1" Cherry tree. My goals for this tree are to grow it much larger for shade and to produce fruit for my children to pick as they grow up (newborn and 2 1/2 years). I'm a little puzzled on pruning this because of the different varieties grafted on. The first photo is unedited. The second photo includes labels of the branches for easier discussion. The third photo shows my proposed pruning cuts (in red) and added spacers (in Orange - correct me if I don't need them). I planted this in early fall to replace a dead tree that the original occupants planted with the rootball still wrapped in plastic. I plan on pruning all of my trees in the late winter, but before spring (probably early February). Can you please give me advice? Thanks!
One problem with multiple grafts on a fruit tree is that some varieties are more vigorous than others and will dominate the tree at the expense of the less vigorous ones. In this case branch J seems to be the most vigorous and should be pruned back far more severely than shown. You will have to determine which 4 main branches are the grafted ones and eliminate the 5th branch, which will be the same as one of the other varieties. Spreading the branches apart to provide wider crotch angles would also be useful. To keep the most vigorous variety or varieties in check, summer pruning will be beneficial.
