Pruning soft fruit before I even plant them?!

[d000hg]

I have a bareroot Victoria plum which was potted just as I bought it a month back... It's already about 12 feet tall with the main bunch of branches coming off about 5 feet up.

I also have a couple of potted cherry trees bought last winter. The trunks are getting on 2 inches diameter and they're probably 10-11 feet tall.

With the cherries in particular I don't want tall trees, as I plan to net them... Would it be reasonable to prune them now and if so how ruthless can I be? Ideally the trees would never reach more than 8 feet tall but nice and round.

[TrixC]

Absolutely don’t prune them now, you should always prune stone fruit in the summer, otherwise you’re at risk of introducing diseases.

What rootstock are the trees on? You can certainly limit height through pruning, but you’ll have an easier time if you start with a dwarfing stock.

[nickdub]

The main thing when planting fruit trees is to get the soil good and solid round the roots by ramming it down with some sort of implement. I wrote a bit of a "how to" of planting trees etc a few weeks ago which cover the main points of how I go about it myself.

I fully agree on never prune stone fruit until they have well developed green leaves on (except in exceptional circumstances) BTW.

[veggiechicken]

If you wanted trees no taller than 8', why did you buy some that were already 11-12' tall.

[d000hg]

That was what they had. They are established trees at a good price... I'd guess 3-4 years old rather than buying a whip.

So let them get established then cut them back basically? The issue is not just the height but the cherry especially is very narrow... Maybe I can bend it more like a cordon.

[nickdub]

Cherries can grow into big trees depending on what root-stock they are on. If yours are on a non-dwarfing root-stock, odds are you won't be able to restrict them to the height you want by pruning.

[TrixC]

That was what they had. They are established trees at a good price... I'd guess 3-4 years old rather than buying a whip.

So let them get established then cut them back basically? The issue is not just the height but the cherry especially is very narrow... Maybe I can bend it more like a cordon.

If the trees are several years old, I’d expect the nursery already to have done the formative pruning to decide what shape the mature tree will take - bush, fan, half standard etc. Left to their own devices cherry trees do tend to grow in quite an upright form. They don’t grow well as cordons either. Maybe post some pictures of the trees so people can advise you better on how to prune them?

[devonuk]

If it was me, I'd be ruthless and cut the main stems off, now, at 3-4 ft. If you don't, think of the stakes and guy ropes you are going to need to stop them blowing over in the faintest breeze.

I have the RHS Pruning & Training Guide which says that "Pruning tasks usually performed in winter are therefore (i.e. because of risk of disease) delayed until early spring for young trees requiring training, and until midsummer for older established trees" - it's early spring now, so you are just within the rules.

Edit to clarify: that quote refers to stone fruit, a category which includes plums and cherries. And they are top fruit, not soft fruit (as per your heading)!

[d000hg]

Photo as requested. Thanks for the correction over soft/top fruit, I never heard of that!




Other than the pots being too small they appear to be nice, shapely, healthy trees with a decent trunk... just tall!

I wondered if I could cut them a foot or two from where all the branches split off from the main trunk, and then get new branches from those points which I can train and control into a more of a globe shape rather than all going straight up?

I am happy to actively manage these trees - but seem to have some conflicting advice.

[nickdub]

Lovely looking trees and good varieties - judging by the label they are definitely not on dwarfing stock though.

Having grown fruit trees for over 30 years my advice would be to sell these to someone who wants some large cherry trees, and use the money to buy some others on dwarfing stock for yourself.

If money is no object you could plant these in the ground and festoon the branches down in an effort to get them to develop fruit quickly, but also buy some more trees on dwarfing stock with a view to replacing these large ones altogether in a few years time.

[Bigmallly]

I would not cut them. As Nick says above, I would Festoon them which will also give you a heavier crop. Yes, I am speaking from experience.

[d000hg]

Never heard of that, found some threads on this site but they were old and the pictures were missing. It sounds like something I was considering though I'd no idea it would cause the branches to erupt as described... anyone got some current photos?

[Bigmallly]

Not sure what you mean by the branches erupting........It's a simple process, what I did was tie empty milk bottles to the branches you want to bend then slowly add water till you see the branch bending without breaking, leave like that for a couple of weeks then add more water if more bend is reqd. After a further few weeks, the bottles are removed and the branch will stay in position. Some folk use sand bags or bricks but I would imagine using such a set weight could break the branches, you have more control using water............another method often used is to tie a string to the branch, bend it down & fasten it to the main trunk.

[Bigmallly]

[d000hg]

People talked about blossom breaking out the entire length of the branches as though the process changes the way the tree behaves rather than just changing its shape. Is that not the case?