Pruning Your Young Stella Cherry Tree: A Guide to Shaping and Maximizing Growth

Maximizing Growth and Shaping Your Young Cherry Tree

Cherry trees, particularly varieties like Stella, are a delightful addition to any garden. They offer beautiful blossoms in the spring and a bounty of delicious fruit later in the season. Pruning is essential for the health, productivity, and aesthetic appeal of your cherry tree. This guide will provide you with valuable insights into pruning your three-year-old Stella cherry tree, focusing on techniques that encourage lower growth and prevent a ‘pollarded’ appearance.

Understanding Cherry Tree Growth and Pruning Basics

Before diving into specific pruning techniques, it’s crucial to understand a few fundamental concepts:

• Tree Age and Pruning: Young trees require different pruning approaches than mature ones. The primary goal for a young tree is to establish a strong framework and encourage the desired shape.
• Stella Cherry Trees: Stella cherries are self-fertile, meaning they don’t require another variety for pollination. They are known for their early fruit production. Understanding the tree’s growth habit helps tailor your pruning strategy.
• Rootstock Influence: Your tree is grafted onto a rootstock that limits its eventual height to around 4 meters. This is a significant factor, as it means you can manage the tree’s size more easily. Pruning will play a vital role in maintaining this height and promoting fruit production at a manageable level.
• Pruning Timing: The best time to prune cherry trees is during the dormant season, typically in late winter or early spring, before the buds begin to swell. This minimizes the risk of disease and allows the tree to heal and respond to pruning during its active growth period. However, light pruning can be done in summer to remove any dead or diseased branches.

Goals of Pruning Your Young Cherry Tree

Your primary objectives for pruning your three-year-old Stella cherry tree should be:

1. Encouraging Lower Growth: You specifically want to promote growth closer to the ground. This makes harvesting fruit easier and can create a more aesthetically pleasing tree. This is achieved through selective pruning of specific branches and encouraging growth from the lower portions of the tree.
2. Developing a Strong Framework: A well-structured tree is less likely to be damaged by wind or heavy fruit loads. Focus on establishing a central leader and well-spaced, strong scaffold branches.
3. Preventing a ‘Pollarded’ Appearance: Pollarding involves severe pruning to create a dense head of branches. Your goal is to avoid this and maintain a more natural, open form that allows for good air circulation and sunlight penetration.
4. Promoting Fruit Production: Pruning removes non-productive wood and encourages the growth of fruiting spurs – the small, knobby structures where cherries develop. The techniques will also enhance fruit quality and yield.

Step-by-Step Pruning Guide

Here’s a step-by-step guide to pruning your young Stella cherry tree:

Step 1: Assess the Tree

• Examine the Overall Structure: Before making any cuts, carefully examine your tree. Note the existing branches, their angles, and their overall health. Identify any dead, diseased, or crossing branches.
• Identify the Central Leader: The central leader is the main, vertical stem of the tree. It should be dominant and continue upwards, forming the tree’s main trunk. If the central leader is weak or competing with other branches, address this first.
• Select Scaffold Branches: Scaffold branches are the primary branches that extend outwards from the central leader. Choose 3-4 well-spaced scaffold branches that are evenly distributed around the trunk. These branches should ideally form wide angles (around 45-60 degrees) with the central leader, making them stronger and less prone to breaking under the weight of fruit.

Step 2: Remove Dead, Damaged, and Diseased Wood

• Dead Branches: Completely remove any branches that are dead, dying, or broken. Make the cuts just outside the branch collar – the slightly swollen area where the branch joins the trunk. This is crucial for proper healing and preventing disease entry.
• Diseased Branches: Identify any branches that show signs of disease (e.g., cankers, unusual growths, or discoloration). Remove these branches, cutting well back into healthy wood to prevent the disease from spreading.
• Damaged Branches: Remove any branches that have been damaged by pests, weather, or other factors. These branches can be weak and may harbor disease or pests.

Step 3: Thinning and Heading Cuts

• Thinning Cuts: Thinning cuts remove a branch back to its point of origin (either the trunk or another branch). These cuts open up the tree’s canopy, improving air circulation and sunlight penetration. They also help to redirect the tree’s energy to the remaining branches.
• Heading Cuts: Heading cuts involve cutting back a branch to a bud or a lateral branch. These cuts stimulate new growth in the area of the cut, making the tree more dense. Use heading cuts sparingly, especially on young trees, as they can encourage excessive vegetative growth rather than fruit production.

Step 4: Focusing on Lower Growth

• Pruning for Lower Branches: To promote lower growth, focus your pruning efforts on encouraging branches that originate closer to the ground. You can achieve this by:
  • Removing branches that compete with the desired lower branches.
  • Slightly heading back any lower branches to stimulate new growth.
  • Choosing a few of the lower branches to be the main scaffold branches, if the angles are wide enough.
• Remove Lower Suckers: These are unwanted shoots that grow from the base of the tree or from the rootstock below the graft union. Remove them completely by pulling them out or cutting them off flush with the trunk.

Step 5: Shaping the Tree

• Central Leader Maintenance: If the central leader is competing with other branches, prune out the competing branches, leaving the strongest, most vertical one to continue growing upwards.
• Scaffold Branch Selection: Ensure that the scaffold branches are well-spaced, and have wide angles. Remove any branches that cross or rub against each other, as this can cause damage and disease.
• Balance the Canopy: After pruning, the tree should have a balanced canopy with good air circulation and sunlight penetration. Ensure that the branches are not too crowded.

Step 6: Additional Considerations

• Pruning Tools: Use sharp, clean pruning shears, loppers, and a pruning saw. This will help to make clean cuts that heal quickly. Disinfect your tools between cuts to prevent the spread of disease.
• Avoid Over-Pruning: It’s better to prune less than to over-prune, especially on young trees. Over-pruning can stress the tree and reduce its fruit production. Prune no more than 20-25% of the tree’s canopy in any single year.
• Summer Pruning: During the summer, you can lightly prune your cherry tree to remove any dead or diseased branches, and to shape the tree as needed. However, avoid heavy pruning during the summer months, as this can reduce the tree’s energy reserves.
• Fertilizing: After pruning, you can apply a balanced fertilizer to help the tree recover and grow. Follow the fertilizer label instructions.

Avoiding a ‘Pollarded’ Appearance

To avoid creating a pollarded look, which results from severe heading back of branches, adhere to these principles:

• Prioritize Thinning Cuts: Focus on thinning cuts that remove entire branches back to their point of origin. This helps to open up the canopy and encourage a more natural form.
• Use Heading Cuts Sparingly: Limit the use of heading cuts, as they can encourage dense, bushy growth. Only use heading cuts to stimulate new growth or to control the size of a branch.
• Maintain the Central Leader: Avoid cutting back the central leader, as this can disrupt the tree’s natural growth habit and promote a dense, bushy crown.
• Allow Natural Branching: Encourage natural branching by avoiding excessive pruning. Let the tree develop a natural shape, and only intervene when necessary to remove dead, diseased, or crossing branches.

Long-Term Maintenance

• Annual Pruning: Continue to prune your cherry tree annually, following the guidelines above. This will help to maintain its shape, encourage fruit production, and keep it healthy.
• Monitor for Pests and Diseases: Regularly inspect your tree for any signs of pests or diseases. Treat any problems promptly to prevent them from spreading.
• Watering and Fertilizing: Water your tree regularly, especially during dry periods. Fertilize it annually with a balanced fertilizer.

Conclusion

Pruning your young Stella cherry tree is an essential task for ensuring its health, shape, and fruit production. By understanding the principles of pruning and following these step-by-step guidelines, you can promote lower growth, develop a strong framework, and avoid a ‘pollarded’ appearance, leading to a bountiful harvest of delicious cherries for years to come. Remember to be patient, observe your tree’s growth habits, and adapt your pruning techniques as needed to achieve your desired results. Happy gardening!