The Best Time of Year to Prune Ornamental Cherry Trees

Ornamental Cherries

• Ornamental trees, including cherry, are closely related to their fruiting cousins. In fact, they do bear fruit, though it is not as tasty or as abundant as cherries bred for food. Ornamental trees are generally grown for their blossoms, which occur in early to mid-spring and are often one of the first signs of the changing seasons. Pruning encourages flowers and the resulting fruit, so good technique is essential.

Reasons to Prune

• Pruning keeps a tree healthy by removing limbs that are dead, cracked or exposed -- perhaps with damaged wood or bark -- to diseases that could harm the rest of the tree. Pruning also removes the unneeded growth that forms on the tops of tree branches, which when removed lend the tree a rounder, more cultivated appearance. Removing harmed or unnecessary branches allows the tree to focus more energy on the ones that remain.

Light Pruning

• Light pruning should be conducted whenever needed. Trimming a single damaged branch after a storm or other small catastrophe is a good way to keep a plant healthy and disease-free. Cutting a branch or two will not harm an ornamental cherry, no matter what time of year it occurs.

Heavy Pruning

• Maintenance pruning, where you remove smaller, less hardy, less attractive limbs to perfect the overall shape and health of the tree, should be conducted right after the cherry flowers in spring using sharp pruning shears to remove unwanted growth. Heavy prunings help establish the shape of small, young trees and keep them healthy. The task becomes less necessary as trees mature, but pruning should be conducted anytime the tree is damaged, unwanted growth occurs, or yearly flowers start to slow.