Photo: Franz Eugen Köhler, Köhler's Medizinal-Pflanzen, Public domain · source
Pruning guide · Fruit tree
Morello cherry: when and how to prune
Prunus cerasus
Prune a morello cherry straight after harvest, in July–August, in dry weather: cut the shoots that have fruited back to a young shoot, and remove part of the old, bare wood every year.
The morello or sour cherry bears its fruit on last year’s wood. Without pruning, the cherries move further out to the tips every year, with long, bare shoots behind them. Pruning every year keeps the tree young and full of new shoots that will fruit next year. Timing is important: prune in summer, straight after harvest. The wounds then heal quickly, and the risk of silver leaf and bacterial canker is lowest.
| Pruning months | July–August |
|---|---|
| Nesting season (15 March–15 August) | Take care in July–August |
| Flowering | April–May |
| Good for bees, butterflies and birds | Yes, for bees and birds |
| Native to Belgium | No, naturalised |
Morello cherry: when to prune it?
Prune straight after harvest, in July–August, in dry weather. That is when wounds close fastest.
Don’t prune in autumn or winter: that is when the risk of silver leaf and bacterial canker is greatest.
Cut out shoots with blossom wilt, with withered flowers and shoot tips in spring, straight away, even outside the pruning season.
Morello cherry: how to prune it?
- Cut the shoots that fruited this year back to a young shoot lower down the branch: that one will fruit next year.
- Remove part of the old, bare wood every year, so enough new shoots grow. Otherwise the tree only fruits at the tips.
- Keep the crown open: remove branches that grow inwards or cross, so light and air reach the fruit.
- Cut shoots with blossom wilt well back into healthy wood, and remove the dried-up fruits, the mummies, from the tree.
- A fan against a wall: tie the young shoots to the framework, and after harvest cut out the shoots that have fruited, so the young ones take their place.
- Disinfect your secateurs and saw before and after the work, and certainly when you cut out diseased branches.
How much to cut, and how often?
- Every year: the shoots that have fruited, and about a quarter of the older wood.
- Rejuvenate a neglected tree over two or three summers, part of it each time, never everything at once.
What does it mean for wildlife?
- July and early August are still in the nesting season (until 15 August): before pruning, check that no blackbirds or chaffinches are nesting in the crown, and spare an active nest.
- The April blossom feeds honeybees, bumblebees and wild bees. A morello is self-fertile, but bees give a better crop.
- Ladybirds, hoverflies and tits clear up the cherry blackfly. Only cut off badly affected tips and don’t spray.
- Starlings and blackbirds love morello cherries. A net over a small tree or a fan helps; leave the birds the fruit you can’t pick.
Common mistakes
- Pruning in winter, with silver leaf or bacterial canker as a result.
- Never pruning, so the cherries only hang at the tips of long, bare shoots.
- Pruning in wet weather, so diseases get in more easily.
- Leaving blossom wilt in place, so the fungus strikes again the next year.
Caution: Don’t prune in autumn or winter: that is when the risk of silver leaf and bacterial canker is greatest. Disinfect your tools.
Nearby: related pruning guides
Similar to: Difference from wild cherry
Plant profile: Morello cherry · Pruning calendar and basic rules