Cutting a tree for easy access (4 in 1 cherry tree)

[Allan A]

Hello all,

I hope everyone is managing everything as well as expected out there.

I have a question regarding a 4 in 1 cherry tree. The pic is as followed;

I have yet to trim the tree and it's going on it's 2nd season. I've yet to get any cherries. I want this to be a fairly compact tree. I don't want to be 20 ft in the air and collecting cherries. I think I'll be having to get a net for it too? I'm in the Sacramento, CA area. How much you think I should cut on this tree and what should I do to get a nice, easily accessed, and producible tree here?

As you can probably tell, I'm not the sharpest at doing this job, but I am capable of learning and I'm attentive. Also I do know I should clean the cutting tools before making any cut on a tree.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated here.

 

[oneeye]

Most fruit trees are pruned during the Winter dormancy. Cherries on the other hand should not be pruned during winter, to minimise the risk of infection by silver leaf or bacterial canker. Light formative pruning can be carried out in spring as the leaves JUST START to develop, but the time to prune established cherry trees is in early to mid-summer. It would be in the cherry trees best interest to wait until it gets hot and dryer in mid-summer to prune heavy. When the time is right to prune, just top the plant right above a node and make your cuts on a 45 degree cut. You can take a foot off the top without too much of a problem, just make sure you don't cut below any of the 4 grafts.

 

[DirtMechanic]

I was air layering a small maple today so I am thinking along those lines. My cherry in the yard is pretty big though, and room would be needed for a small orchard.