how do i turn a cordon cherry tree into a bushier one?

[blondiewonder]

Hi, i have a 3 year old cherry tree on a dwarf root stock and when it came it had already been trained into a cordon, it has 3 branches and although i dont keep it against a wall (not enough wall space) it has kept it shape perfectly over the last 3 years. its in a pot, its healthy, it produces fruit every year but just not much a 3 branches is sparse i think. is it possible to prune it in such a way that new shoots and branches will form? so far i have done nothing to it in 3 years, in this time it has neither grown in shape or size even though it has been repotted into a bigger pot. any advice is welcome.
regards
Emma

i have just watched a couple of video online and this highlighted 2 things, they were showing me how to keep a fan tree a fan shape, so logically if i dont train new shoots onto wires they should technically bush out, but this leads to my second problem, i have had no new shoots in 3 years!!!! the damn tree looks the same as it did the day i got it despite producing good fruit? so i really need to address why it hasn't produced new shoots first - heeeeeeelp....

[FB.]

Cherries are normally given pruning to train them in very late winter/very early spring just as the buds are beginning to open.
Pruning cherries or plums while dormant risks canker or silverleaf infection because the plant has no resistance while it is asleep.
Pruning in summer de-vigorates the tree and should only be used where a tree is sending out lots of new growth, or to keep a mature tree within its allotted space. Any summer pruning should only involve the young shoots and not the woody shoots.

RHS page is here:
Cherries: sweet / Royal Horticultural Society

I think the RHS size guide is rather generous and only applies to good soils and climates - Colt reaches about 3-4m in my area, while seedlings reach about 6-8m (which is a large size for a tree around here).

I doubt there's much can be done until spring 2014 (probably around March, depending on how long winter lasts).

Can you show a picture?

[blondiewonder]

It looks the same as it did 3 years ago?

[FB.]

It looks the same as it did 3 years ago?

You mean it hasn't grown at all?

The picture comes up quite small, but from what I can see you'll have to sacrifice a year's fruit in order to try to train it and encourage more branching.
As best I can tell from a small picture, I think my approach would be to wait until early spring 2014 ( just as the buds are beginning to open but before they fully emerge as leaves) then cut the two lower side branches back by half, followed by cutting the main stem back to a length roughly equal to the shortened lower side branches.
During 2014, any I'd also pinch just the tip off each new shoot once it gets to about pencil-length. This will encourage further branching and encourage formation of additional fruiting spurs for resuming of normal cropping in 2015.

Make sure it is adequately fed and watered.

Cherries naturally tend to have sparse branching (or, to put it another way: they tend to naturally have large spacings between their branches).

[blondiewonder]

Hi, it has grown slightly in size, in 3 years I'd say about 2 or 3 inches but the shape has remained the same with not one new shoot, I'm prepared to sacrifice next years fruit, the sooner I do it the sooner it will shoot. It is only a small tree it's I a pot and I am 5'6" and it's not much taller than me. 🌳

[FB.]

.

Picture and sketch below of what I would do very early in spring 2014, if it was mine, based on what I think I can see in your picture. If I am seeing incorrectly, please say!


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[FB.]

Sometimes pruning doesn't go according to plan. If you decide to prune it next year, please take a picture every couple of weeks after the pruning, so its progress can be monitored and corrective action taken before it is too late.
For example: sometimes taking a large chunk off the top of a tree will cause it to only send out one new shoot almost exactly the same as what was removed! However, this can be corrected if caught very early, by pinching-out the top of the shoot.
Sometimes a branch will grow at a strange angle and be best if tied to a cane until it hardens off.

Lack of attention after pruning can make a bad situation even worse.
One of my favourite phrases comes to mind: it is better to do it right, than to later have to put it right.

[WendyC]

Completely irrelevant question but why buy a cordon if you didn't want a cordon?

[blondiewonder]

It didnt say it was a cordon in the catalogue, I also ordered an apple and a plum tree as part of an offer and both of those are bush types, I knew absolutely zilch at the time and because it was cordon i just thought it was new and bare and still a baby and it would bush out (stop laughing). The other 2 trees are grand especially the apple and all 3 are healthy. I've had some good advice so far on here so I'm hoping I can give this cherry tree a bit of attention and it will come good for me.

Yes your drawing was spot on, I will do as you suggest and take pictures too and hopefully I'll be able to report good result in the future. Thanks so much 😀

[veggiechicken]

Sorry but I'm confused. You didn't buy a cordon cherry but the one that's been supplied you consider to be a cordon? Can I ask why you think this?

[blondiewonder]

Because it has 3 branches that which are all at an angle that if I put the tree on a wall it would stand flat against it? is that's not a cordon, I told you I knew zilch!

[blondiewonder]

Next door has a cherry tree and it looks like a proper tree and not 3 twigs lol

[rustylady]

Because it has 3 branches that which are all at an angle that if I put the tree on a wall it would stand flat against it? is that's not a cordon,

No, that's not a cordon. A cordon is a single stem with short fruiting spurs, otherwise known as a minarette. Like this Minarette Fruit Trees

What you're thinking about is a fan trained tree, but your's isn't really that either because the branches are too high up the stem.

[blondiewonder]

Haha well what ever it is I would like to get it bushier 🌳