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How to care for cherries: planting and pruning. Video
Sweet cherry is one of the most widespread and high-yielding fruit trees in the southern regions of Russia. Its fruits are delicious. Therefore, gardeners in the central and even northern regions of our country dream of growing cherries. However, this tree is quite capricious, therefore, in order for it to develop well and begin to give yields, it is necessary to strictly observe a number of rules for caring for it.
How to care for cherries: planting and pruning
The main requirements for growing cherries
Sweet cherry is a plant that needs good light and loves warmth. Therefore, it is best to plant it from the southern, southwestern or southeastern side of a house or other capital structure, so that the seedlings are not only not shaded, but also protected from northern winds. Remember that cherries love light, warmth, space and good soil.
If the garden plot has an uneven surface, with noticeable differences in height, it is better to plant cherries on the southern (southeastern or southwestern) slope.
This plant loves sandy loam or loamy soil, enriched with organic and mineral fertilizers. It does not tolerate sandy and clay soils. Likewise, it does not tolerate a lack of water in the soil. Therefore, watering should be fairly regular and abundant.
Cherries are planted in early spring, when the snow melts and the earth dries out a little. Taking into account that an adult plant, as a rule, is large, the distance between young seedlings should be at least 4–5 meters. When planting, the root collar of the seedling must not be buried.
How to properly care for cherries
Caring for this fruit tree consists of frequent weeding of the trunk circle, fertilizing with fertilizers and pruning. Immediately after planting, it is necessary to carry out formative pruning, leaving a few of the largest (skeletal) branches. In the second year, the growth of each branch should be cut off the plant by about half, on the outer bud. This contributes to the rapid formation of side shoots, on which the future harvest will be located.
It is undesirable to remove the trunk shoots located below the skeletal branches for the first three years, since they strengthen the tree trunk. They are cut out only in the fourth year.
Once every 3 years, it is necessary to feed, it is better to do this in the fall. In the near-trunk circle of each cherry tree, ½ a bucket of humus, 50 grams of phosphorus fertilizers and 30 grams of potash fertilizers are added. Fertilizing with nitrogen fertilizers must be done every spring, at the rate of approximately 20 grams per 1 square meter of the trunk circle.
Gardeners of the central and especially northern regions of Russia should choose cold-resistant and late-flowering cherry varieties for planting in order to reduce the likelihood of flower death during spring frosts. It must also be remembered that for pollination, at least two varieties of cherries are needed, located close enough to each other.