Cherry 1 year maiden initial pruning and support & regent grape.

[simon12]

I just planted 2 1 year maiden cherries on Gisela 5 root stock (1 Lapins 1 Napoleon) and from this guide Pruning a newly-planted fruit tree I should prune the top off. To confirm I emailed Keepers who I bought it from and they said
"Yes the information on the Orange Pippin website is correct. The only thing
I should add which I cannot see there is that it is best to prune cherry
trees in the spring just as growth starts say early May. You should avoid
pruning them in the winter."
While the guide in the link says
"before the tree breaks from dormancy"
Also I found other sites saying its important to do this soon after planting. So my question is which month is going to be best to do this now, end of winter or when the tree starts to grow or what? Or will any time from now until may be fine? I aso have read different views on if and how much support it needs with many sites saying it should only have a temporary support for a few months to it needs a stake for years to life any idea whats best?

Also I will be planting this weekend a Regent grape from the same order is there anything I need to do for now except put it in the ground?

Thank you in advance for any advice

[Paulieb]

What form (shape) are you aiming to produce? Not that it would necessarily dictate the timing, but will definitely make a difference on where on the maiden you make the cut.

[Kirk]

Best not to prune stone fruits when it is cold, damp and the tree is dormant. They are prone to infection - silver leaf being one of the main ones. As cherries count as a stone fruit I would leave them until they start growing.

I think I pruned mine quite late when in reasonable growth, meant I could see where things were trying to go and either stop or allow it.

[simon12]

I want to grow them as bushes so I assume around 80cm to 1m is correct. If I cut it lower would it reduce the size of the mature tree & or be a problem for growing as a bush? Thanks Kirk I will leave it until there is some growth them.

[orangepippin]

I'm the author of the article referred to above. Thanks for the feedback. I've adjusted the text to clarify that for stone fruit you can delay the initial pruning until late winter / early spring - i.e. when you can see the buds starting to swell as the tree comes out of dormancy.

It is worth noting that the purpose of this initial pruning is very different to the routine pruning that may be required from time to time with most fruit trees. It is purely to help the tree establish itself in its new home. Pruning the top of the tree helps to prevent the new leaves placing an excessive demand on the roots, which will not be fully "plumbed in" to the soil yet, and also have invariably been damaged during the transplant process.