Tree Pruning Gone Wrong

Lady_K

Last year I had to get my cherry tree pruned at the front of my house. it was really big and touching the house walls. The cost for a proper tree pruner was going to be about £140 and I couldnt afford that so the local window cleaner and his friend did it for me much cheaper. It was a really difficult job as it was so big and the size was more than halved, in fact it was prob 1/4 the size after pruning leaving just the main branch stems left. To be honest the way they did it was a real mess but I couldn't complain coz it was much cheaper and the werent tree specialists after all. They just cut all the branches off in straight flat cuts not slanted as they should be. The tree looks really stupid when its not covered. I was just concerned that it wouldn't die. Anyway it seemed ok after a few weeks there were signs of life and it grew over the summer although it still looked odd as the growth was straight.

But looking at it now the leaves are off it looks a right mess. There are lots of the same type of trees down my road and thier branches are twisty and curly as they should be. Its one of the red leaved ones. But looking at mine and the severe flat sliced off branches(thick ones aswell) the growth after the pruning is just straight up shoots not twisted, they look like canes shooting straight up about 5ft high from the main branches and lots of them, just odd. I don't know what to do about it, I can't afford to have it properly pruned.

Does anyone know if it might get back to normal or if theres anything else I could do to it to make it right or gradually grow back ok? Or anywhere I might be able to get advise?

Rhino666

Hi

I guess you are talking about a wild cherry tree. Unless these have been properly shaped and pruned from day one, most of the growth comprises long straight branches that grow up and out.

Your chaps probably did the best they could with their pruning, as long as they managed to retain the basic tree shape. If you leave the tree unpruned for a few years those thin sticks will get longer and thicker and the tree will get back to as it was. Unfortunately your tree will never look like one of those with twisted ornamental branches - it doesn't sound like the correct type and it has not been pruned regularly from the start.

I have a wild cherry in my garden and when I first moved in, it was about 60ft tall and 45ft wide. I pruned a huge amount of long thin sticks off the tree and now it is 40ft tall and about 25ft wide - looks a bit daft with no leaves but great in summer when in leaf and blossom.

Lady_K

No its been there for years and all the branches were normal until the pruning last year. Its the same as all the others down the street but mines weird now. I've been here 17 years and its been pruned a couple of times by friends but no where near as severe as that and it was ok. I don't know if its wild or not but its just an ordinary cherry tree to me with rust coloured leaves. I've rang a tree surgeon up to see if he can give me a quote and I will see what his opinion is of it and what chances there is of getting back to normal and how long. If I think I can sort it out myself I'll try but if his cost is reasonable and he can guarantee putting it right I prob will let him do it

Rhino666

Hi again

It seems like they may have pruned the tree back a long way to get it to a desirable size. I guess the main tree trunk and branches are too large and out of proportion for the size it is now. Hopefully the tree surgeon will be able to help but I reckon you will need to let the tree grow unpruned to a larger size so that it can get back into proportion - may take three years or so.

Best of luck.

GreenNotM

lady k cut the new upright growths above an outward facing leaf joint - the tree will then grow out in that direction of the leaf bud and possibly any lower leaf buds ( that is a simple explaination)

But best done in summer on a mature tree to avoid silver leaf. The tree surgeon may mention root pruning to control the growth/size of the tree as well

Lady_K

GreenNotM

At the moment though there are no leaf buds that I can see but it may be better to see as the weather gets warmer. There are an awfull lot of the straight cane type growths. It looks like its just gone mad and got overcrowded so would it be ok to take those off completely flat to the branch they are growing from to thin them out a bit. I know I could leave it this year but I just dont want the cane things to get too thick and more difficult to cut. It prob would be easier though before it gets too covered so its easier to see.

Rhino666

I think you are probably right that the trunk and branches are now too big and out of proportion so I guess the tree just went berserk and tried to catch up. I bet it will take some years to get back to normal if it ever does at all. I'm going to see if I can get someone to do what GreenNotM suggests and try and ease it gradually back to some kind of normality but not overdo it.

Thanx for the advise

shammyjack

Cherry trees are as tough as they come, don't worry I butchered a few in my youth and they all came back stronly !

shammy

GreenNotM

Lady K

Your cherry tree growth no doubts look like the apple tree in the top pic here a classic case of over pruning - the "canes" will keep growing upwards unless pruned. leave 1in3 and cut the other 2 flush with the major branch. Trim the remaing "canes" they will grow outwards

But have a read of the cautionary note at the bottom of this page

Legal-ish tree pruning info here
Some practical advice here

You may be lucky but everyone apart from shammy recommends pruning in summer HTH sorry if it is info overload, but I am not making it up .... :rolleyes:

Lady_K

Thanx very much GreenNotM great info there I've saved all the pages and I'll look through them properly.

Yes it does look like he apple tree picture, pretty sad really as the tree before was lovely.

The tree surgeon did come round, well 2 of them actually as the first one didnt seem to know too much about it so I thought I'd try to get a second opinion. 1st one said it wouldnt ever grow back to normal and to leave it for this year as all he could do is just trim the tops off to make it grow thicker but thats all. The 2nd one said it could possibly get back to normal but it would take a long time. He said it needed to be trimmed to encourage side shoots to get the shape back, more or less whats been said here. He didnt say anything about thinning the canes out though but I think that was because he was thinking/talking mainly on getting the shape back I just think he would take some out anyway. He did say it might be better to leave it for this year though aswell and call him in Dec or Jan but he could do it now if I really wanted.

I am just a bit concerned that leaving it will just make the new growths bigger and stronger though. I'm still undecided whether to wait or not as I just dont want any trimming to send it crackers again and grow even more of the new straight shoots. But then I think if it gets trimmed a little bit at least retraining it will be in progress...

It was pruned last year in spring, I always thought spring was best so it can recover before frost

I'll have a read up and think about things and keep you posted Thanx

GreenNotM

Lady K - have a cane near the end of each old big branch cut so that the top/upper most bud is facing away from the trunk, in the direction of the branch. Pruning the canes will cause the tree to make the top leaf bud change to a banch bud and you will get a branch growing in that direction of the leaf. Allowing the canes to grow up will enable you to shape the tree, over the next few years as well. The shock of the heavy pruning made the tree grow to survive.

Always check where the tree surgeon has studied - unfortunately some haven't and others will have done a full course - even to degree level.

Lady_K

Yes I know there are a lot that say they are tree surgeons but havent qualified.

If I could get up there myself I would do it but I will have to pass this info on to a friend and hope they can do it. I know exactly what you mean. I'ts going to be a bit of a project but hopefully it will turn out ok I'll let you know what happens