The end of the summer cottage season is the care of fruit trees. With the onset of cool weather, gardeners try to have time to prune.
For cherries and other stone fruit trees, pruning is considered necessary to ensure healthy tree growth.
Anastasia Kovrizhnykh, an expert of the online publication "BelNovosti", a scientist, agronomist, landscape designer, told how to prune cherry trees in the fall.
Autumn pruning of cherry trees
Firstly, the procedure allows you to rejuvenate the tree.
Secondly, pruning is a means of disease prevention.
Thirdly, thinning the crown and pruning weak and diseased shoots allows you to strengthen the tree before frost.
Overall, the procedure increases crop yields.
Deadlines
Depending on the climate and weather, the timing may change. Experienced gardeners begin pruning stone fruits after the leaves have fallen.
It is believed that at this time the tree copes with stress more easily. But at the same time, at least a week should remain before the onset of stable frosty weather.
How to trim
1. When pruning young trees, the main attention should be paid to shoots growing inward to the crown, dry, diseased and damaged branches.
2. For older trees, rejuvenating pruning is necessary, during which old shoots and those growing inward into the crown are cut off.
The main long branches are shortened by about a third, and the very old ones are cut off without leaving stumps.
3. You can also shorten the upper branches to limit the growth of the tree.
After completing the work, do not forget to treat the cut areas with garden pitch.
Expert: Anastasia Kovrizhnykh
