Bayer Garden Arbrex Seal & Heal

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I have a 25 ft old cherry tree that produces only a few cherries. I don't think it has ever been pruned and is pyramid shaped. There are 2 main limbs but they are almost vertical. I would like to get some fruit and "top" the tree if possible. Can I do this now (February) or do I have to wait till the summer and how should I prune it. Bill replies... It’s all to do with light. It does us humans good to be in the sunshine, and the same applies to fruit trees, in the sense that they need good light throughout. If the trees have been left to themselves and have produced masses of shoots all round, virtually a solid mass of growth that creates darkness inside the canopy of the tree, then the leaves are no longer able to carry out the functions they were designed for. Photosynthesis goes into survival mode: the little energy that the shaded leaves manage to produce is used simply to keep the structure alive. There is no energy left to create productive fruiting wood as a replacement for older non-productive branches. If after 3 or 4 years you can throw your hat through the trees without the hat getting hooked up anywhere you will have done a great job. The old fruit tree will start a new lease in life and will thank you for it by producing wonderful fruits. I would like to ask for further clarification. The tree and the others have experienced the stress of reduction of size (no more than a third each year for four years) plus a recent drought and one season of a severe infestation of tent caterpillars. This tree is unfortunately placed in front of my house, so the appearance is a priority with this specific tree. I personally, would not take the risk of waiting until the summer months and have the limbs removed as soon as possible. To avoid infection from silver leaf, I would paint the cut limbs with a bitumin sealant which, can be obtained from any Garden Centre or DIY Store.

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There is a spring flowering cherry in the garden next door to us. It is over 25 foot high and is some 8 foot from the wall of our house. The roots have already caused the paving on our side path to lift. I am concerned about how it might affect or be affecting the foundations of our house. I would be grateful if you could say if it is likely to cause damage to the foundations. Bill replies... Your Prunus Avium - Wild Cherry - will grow to a height of fifty to sixty feet and produces in late spring profuse white flowers. With regard to your tree Allen if it is looking healthy I am sure that it will produce the flowers next year. Prunus Avium along with the majority of flowering Cherries produce their flowers late springtime. If your tree grows too large the time for pruning is early summertime to avoid infection from Silver Leaf Disease. The trunk which is left with the good branches should not be pruned the following winter. The tree will then be resettled. I would wait until early March time Licas before repotting your Cherry Trees. I would use a soil base compost - John Innes No 3 - and mix with the No 3 compost approximately 25% of multipurpose compost. I find the multipurpose compost gives the No 3 compost extra texture and body. I did say wait until early March for repotting but as you reside in the Channel Islands you may need to repot slightly earlier - basically they need to be repotted before they come into leaf. His knowledge is encyclopedic. After training at the under the then Ministry of Agriculture, Bill spent over twenty years at the Department of Biological and Environmental Services at Lancaster University. Now, he's a regular course tutor at Alston Hall, Longridge and Lancaster Adult College.How do you trim a Japanese weeping cherry tree? Do you trim everything from the bottom so that the top remains? Bill replies... We received an enquiry from a reader who has an apple tree with a double trunk. This is how she described the problem. In this situation, the best way to attain a complete reversal is not by removing lots of little bits of wood, but by opening the tree right up by removing four or five large branches, so that the sunshine can penetrate into the centre of the tree. Seal the wounds with Arbrex, feed the tree with organic matter, water the tree in dry periods and you will be amazed at the results. Be patient and give the tree at least two years to mend its ways. A tree with a double trunk

Radical pruning for restoring old trees - Suffolk Fruit and Radical pruning for restoring old trees - Suffolk Fruit and

If it turns out that the tree is cropping well, restrict the pruning to cutting out dead wood and crossing branches in the first year. The next year do a little more and improve the light entrance into the centre of the tree. Without good light the fruit tree is unable to make good fruit bud. I have planted my cherry tree last June, and this year it started to flower. I want to know what find of feed should I use for it to grow healthy and how many times should I feed it during the season? Bill replies... Cherry Trees come in all shapes and sizes Pam and quite a number of the larger species are very vigorous and the roots which are surface rooting, can be very troublesome if planted near a lawn. A lot will depend on what variety your Cherry Tree is. You mention your tree is conical shaped which suggests that it could be one of the dwarfer varieties and be far less troublesome. If you are still worried you could actually plant your Cherry Tree into a large container to offset this root problem. Acer(maple): Prune Japanese maples ( A. palmatum and A. japonicum) after leaf fall but before January; prune snakebark maples (e.g. A. davidii, A. pensylvanicum, A. rufinerve) in late summer.

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You have to balance the risk of waiting till the summer months to prune your Cherry Tree against one, or even both of the large limbs which are hanging over the road - breaking off and causing damage. Having a 25 foot high Cherry Tree eight feet away from your house is quite close Bill and as you mention Cherries do produce quite a number of large surface roots which, will lift paving stones etc. Regarding the foundations of your house you will usually find that during a dry summer the roots of the Cherry will be searching for water and this is when they take available moisture from around the foundations and below the foundations and this is when problems can arise. I feel that you need to get a second opinion from a Tree Surgeon but, I personally, would be quite worried having a tree so close to the house wall. I'm planning on having a drive put in, however, there is an established cherry blossom tree nearby and I will have to cut away an area 2 metres from the tree. How can I do this without damaging the roots/tree? I would be very grateful for any advice. Thanks Bill replies... Fungicides for gardeners (Adobe Acrobat pdf documentgiving further details ofwound paintsavailable to gardeners) Links

Apple canker / RHS Gardening Apple canker / RHS Gardening

I have a small cherry tree which I planted last year. I am re-designing my garden and would like to move the cherry tree, am I able to do this without killing it if so what is the best time of year to do this? Bill replies... I have a two year old cherry tree which is pinned to my garage wall. The first year the tree fruited and looked healthy. This year the branches dont have any leaves until about half way up and any leaves that have appeared are badly damaged or eaten, also there has been no fruit. What is wrong with it and why is it dying? Bill replies... Often we hear the comment, “I have an old pear tree and an apple tree, but neither seem to do any good.” Let’s compare a tree to ourselves. If we don’t take care of ourselves and never go outside if and when we can, we gradually accumulate all sorts of problems too. You may say, what has that got to do with my fruit trees? Surely they are outside all the time? But what about a situation in which you have just moved house and you’ve found a totally neglected fruit tree in the new garden? What should be done? Your suggestions make good sense to me, but I would like to ask if because the tree has been stressed four years in a row, would it be less traumatic if I took off only part of the selected trunk, plus one top branch of the preferred trunk this year, and then remove the full selected trunk one year later?” This possible gentler approach is shown in the diagram below.I have got a flowering cherry tree which over the last few years has given plenty of flowers. This year there are only a few buds, on looking in the soil I have found the roots have got white fungus on them. The area it is planted in gets flooded when we get heavy rain and takes a long time to dry out. Could you tell me what I can do, and if I need to dig it out and could I plant another one? Bill replies... Inclusion of a product does not indicate a recommendation or endorsement by the RHS. It is a list of products currently available to the home gardener. For three decades, Bill has travelled the county with fellow judges as a regional judge for North West in Bloom.

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You can bring the height of the tree down, provided this is done gradually over a number of years. This operation should be carried out any time in August towards the end of the summer. NEVER during the winter months. Always seal large wounds with either Arbrex or Heal and Seal or similar wood healing compounds.

Fruit trees are a wonderful investment. If looked after well, trees will continue to crop year after year, even when the trees are 30 to 40 years old. You will need to use a slow release balanced fertiliser Vasanthi and one of the popular brand products is Vitax Q4 which contains trace elements as well as the main nutrients. For more information on Vitax Q4 log onto www.vitax.co.uk You can also use Grow More which is also widely used or Fish Blood and Bone Meal. On no account try to remodel the tree all in one year. Old fruit trees do best when you bring on improvements gradually. In my experience an old tree reacts very favourably if 4 or 5 large branches are taken out rather than lots of little snips here and there. You would Jobie be far better using a soil base compost such as John Innes No 2 or, you could use a mixture of a multi purpose compost and John Innes compost. It is important that until your trees get established to keep an eye on the watering and you will also need to feed occasionally throughout the summer months with a liquid fertiliser. If you intend to plant your trees out in the garden you would be far better doing this late autumn when the soil is still warm and the trees are dormant. I have a fruiting cherry tree and a plum tree. I would like to keep them in a 5 LT plastic pot for now, so what is the best soil to plant them in? Bill replies...