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This gentle culture, which came to us from warm lands, has a peculiar character and gives very tasty healthy fruits. Relatively recently, thanks to the efforts of breeders, we got the opportunity to grow cherry plum not only in the southern regions, but much further north. Varieties have appeared that can withstand frosts down to -30 degrees. Like any fruit tree, cherry plum must be cut to form a crown. Pruning cherry plum in spring is very important for productivity, and pruning cherry plum in autumn often performs sanitary functions.
Features of trimming
This culture has tree-like, bushy and hybrid varieties. All of them require pruning, but for each species it is necessary to form a crown in different ways, since they have different strength and growth rate of shoots, and fruits form on peripheral or main shoots of different ages. This individual approach to the process of pruning cherry plum differs from other fruit crops.
Pruning of cherry plum occurs not only for the formation of the crown. Competent pruning should regulate the number of fruits and even affect its quality. If you know how to properly prune a tree, you can protect it from many diseases, rejuvenate it, and continue the fruiting period. Therefore, before cutting cherry plum, you need to know exactly the goals and the best timing for this important agrotechnical event.
Most gardeners believe that the main pruning should be carried out in early spring, while the buds have not yet blossomed. This is the time when pruning is most painless for the plant. In summer, the tree actively grows, accumulates in its leaves the useful substances it needs for life. Pruning shoots in summer inflicts painful wounds and deprives the tree of these reserves accumulated for the future. Therefore, pruning only if it cannot be postponed until autumn. The reason may be a disease, when it is necessary to urgently remove the affected parts, or a branch growing in the middle of the crown, which will still have to be removed, it is better to do it as soon as possible so that it does not draw on the strength of the plant.
In autumn, sanitary pruning is carried out, dry, damaged, diseased branches are removed, which can become a breeding ground for pests or diseases. Remove non-fruitful branches that direct their growth downward, descend to the ground. But there are such varieties of cherry plum, the main pruning of which is recommended to be carried out in the fall or at the end of summer, for example, “Kuban Comet”. 
In winter, pruning is not done – fragile and brittle branches due to frost exposure then heal for a long time, and it would be difficult to follow the pruning scheme with such material.
Video “Trimming”
From the video you will learn how to properly trim.
Pruning a young plant
As soon as the seedling was planted in its permanent place, the correct crown is formed near the cherry plum, in three to four years the skeleton of the tree is usually created. Most often, trees and bushes are given a cup-shaped shape so that sunlight can freely penetrate into the center of the tree, and the branches do not cover neighbors from it, their interweaving and too dense growth should not be allowed. This form suggests that there is no central conductor at all, and the skeletal branches are directed in different directions from the trunk, forming a wide crown bowl. The conductor is present only in the columnar cherry plum.
The central conductor in some varieties itself deviates to the side, so that it will not have to be cut out, and it simply will not work to form a pyramidal crown. Sometimes immediately after planting (first – second year), a couple of branches can be distinguished, from which the skeletal first tier will be formed.
They are cut to 50 cm so that branches of the second order are formed on them. If those shoots that should become the main ones are shorter than 50 cm, then they are cut off by a third of the length, and the rest of the pruning is transferred to the next year, branches of the second order are formed later.
When creating a flattened crown (as a sparse-tiered, vase-shaped), the second branch, located above the first, is shortened at the same level as it, and the shortening of the central conductor must be at least 30 cm. Another pair of skeletal branches is formed from the third year after planting.
Many varieties of cherry plum are characterized by rapid growth of branches and the formation of a large number of shoots already at a young age, so they have to be thinned out. Strong semi-skeletal branches are left 20 cm apart on the trunk and main branches. Extra branches thickening the crown must be removed immediately, otherwise, when removed in a year, tops will begin to form around the cut, which are also subject to immediate removal, thereby increasing the number and size of wounds on the tree.
All sections must be treated with garden pitch for better wound healing, as well as in order to prevent the occurrence of infections.
Pruning an adult plant
For an adult plant, sanitary pruning is mandatory. It is necessary to remove or shorten damaged, withered branches growing contrary to the planned crown scheme. They cut out shoots that cover their neighbors, rub against other branches, grow inside the crown or vertically down.
The crown formed at a young age should have 4-5 skeletal branches with many shoots growing in the right direction. It is necessary to ensure that the distance between the tiers remains at the level of 45 cm. The main shoots are shortened by a third, and the side branches – up to 5 or 7 buds.
Every 5 to 6 years, a rejuvenating pruning is carried out. The older the tree, the more its branches are shortened. All work is carried out with a sharp instrument, which must be disinfected before and after work. Each cut must be treated with garden pitch or at least oil paint.
Reaching 5 – 6 years of age, cherry plum begins to bring large yields, and the growth of branches decreases. If you allow the shading of the central part, then the formation of fruits will move to the sides, to the periphery. Therefore, it is necessary to constantly monitor the growth of shoots and prevent thickening of the central part of the crown.
Pruning of an adult cherry plum tree or bush is mainly aimed at regulating the formation of fruits, the quantity and quality of the crop. 
The condition of the plant after wintering tells you how much you need to shorten the branches so that the number of fruits does not worsen their quality (after a good winter). On the contrary, if half of the fruit buds freeze after winter, then the adult tree is pruned heavily, and the young, but already formed, is shortened less.
Features of pruning different varieties
Tree-like cherry plum has tall varieties reaching 8–9 meters (“Beauty”, “Iona”, “Cultural yellow”), medium-sized, growing up to 7 meters (“Zelenka early”, “Cultural red”), undersized – up to 4 – 5 meters (“Ashtarak” and its hybrids). All of them form fruits on 8-9-year-old overgrowing shoots.
Bushy cherry plum bears fruit on one-year-old branches, on 1-2-year-old fruit wood, and after 3-4 years, fruiting is transferred to the sides if pruning is done incorrectly. The bushy cherry plum produces much more shoots than the tree-like one, its crown thickens rather, although its varieties differ in the length of the shoots. Common varieties: “Lyusha”, “Beauty”, “Pioneer”, “Purple”.
Varieties of the hybrid group (“Victory”, “Strawberry”, “Kubanskaya Comet”) do not differ in strong growth, the shape of the crown is flat-round, since the central conductor itself is “lost”, that is, moves aside at a young age. Fruits are formed on a one-year growth and on 1-2-year-old branches of bouquets.
Here, based on such different abilities for fruit formation, growth rate and the emergence of new shoots, cherry plums of different varieties are pruned.
If the crown of the tree is columnar, then you need to remove the shoots that form on the central conductor in time. In hybrid cherry plum, its cup-shaped crown is maintained by timely (permanent) thinning of branches.
Proper pruning is very important, as crown formation brings the fruiting period closer, and subsequent pruning regulates the quality and quantity of the crop.
Video “Spring pruning”
From the video you will learn how to prune a tree in the spring.
