A few years ago I purchased a weeping cherry tree – as a remembrance of my Mom.
It has grown quite a bit over the years, and I wish I had taken a picture of it then; but it looked like those pictured below. My weeping cherry is a Snow Fountain variety. It has white flowers with pink centers each spring.
It is not a dwarf tree, but will grow between 6 – 15 feet. But, no one told me how to prune this pretty tree to keep it’s natural weeping shape
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I love to see a large weeping cherry with its long fringes of flowers blowing in the spring breeze.
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HOW “NOT TO” PRUNE A WEEPING CHERRY TREE
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I drove around last week and snapped a few shots of weeping cherry trees with bad haircuts.
I’m not an expert, but I have learned a lot since I’ve had my weeping cherry. So here are a few tips for how to prune a weeping cherry tree that I wish I had known when I first purchased mine!
First, all weeping cherry trees have been grafted into a wild cherry tree. The photo above shows the grafted area of my weeping cherry tree. It looks like a knot. The growth areas you see there are called “suckers” and they need to be cut off and kept in check. These growth areas are from the wild cherry part of the tree.
HERE’S HOW TO PROPERLY PRUNE A WEEPING CHERRY TREE
The photo above shows where I pruned the branch falling down and left the part of the branch that is arching out.
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I will need to prune one more time in June or July (before the buds set for next spring’s bloom). By then, the branches will have grown down to the ground again and it’s hard to cut the grass near a tree with branches down to the ground!
I hope you’ve found this tutorial to prune a weeping cherry tree helpful! Don’t forget to share it with your friends on Pinterest! If you like this post, you might also like:
This was very helpful. We are getting a new tree, and I have been leaning towards a weeping cherry. Thanks for the info!
We just bought (October 17) a house with a weeping cherry in the front yard. It is in desperate need of love, can i prune it now or do i have to wait til next spring?
This is a good time to prune or before blooming next spring because you can see the actual branches better without all the leaves! Congrats on the new home!!
My weeping cherry has grown very densely. Everything on our property grows gangbusters. The tree has limbs that spread all the way out, but I just trim the ends and remove the dead twigs. Should I be cutting back those very long limbs? I rater like the way the tree looks, but it’s very dense. Should I leave well enough alone?
If you like the way it looks, I would definitely leave well enough alone!
I just bought a home with a weeping cherry that is 20-30 feet tall. It is 15-20 years old with 4-5 limbs coming from the base about 12-16 inches diameter each. The leaves are turning yellow on it and I don’t know whether to prune back or not.
I would not prune it back this first year. I typically did not prune until my branches reached the ground. You probably should check with the nursery where you purchased the tree regarding the leaves turning yellow.
I’m Pretty sure my trees are wheeling cherry trees… but… Not For Sure
I have shoots that grow @ the bottom of my tree/my branches do grow down but we’ve cut the lower branches where we can cut the grass underneath & made them even
Problems:
The bark on tree is … cracking
The leaves have black marks on them
1 of them ~ mid summer has lost its leaves & looks like it’s dying ~ no longer full & lusterious!
In the past ~ my partner had cut them back to the main trunk a few yrs ago ~ I was furious but they seemed to come back looking healthy again
Now… don’t know if we should do again
Plus we’ve put fertilizer stacks in ground for All out trees in past
Does that help with the fungus
My trees are @least 20 yrs old❣️
I would trim a branch and take it to your local nursery and get their opinion. I am in no way a tree expert, but that’s what I do when I am noticing a problem with any of my trees. Good luck!
I have a grafted cherry tree – a snow mountain variety (I think). There are more branches that grow straight up and very few that will actually weep. Should I prune the branches that are growing straight? I was thinking about calling a tree service company and ask them to come for a consult, what do you think? thanks so much.
You definitely want to prune those that are growing up. This trains the branches to weep.
We have a problem with deer eating the bottom branches so that they don’t “weep” and it has been pruned into the unfortunate mushroom shape. It is in the front yard of our new home, and we believe the tree is about 20 years old. Do you have any recommendations for an older tree?
Unfortunately, I don’t. You may need more of a tree expert to look at it.
Just a little thank you for the simple advice. I have also bought a place with a somewhat unruly weeping cherry and I can’t wait until the season is right to start getting this lovely tree on the right track.
Thank you
I’m so glad it helped! They are such pretty trees!
Thank you for this article. I just bought a house with a beautiful weeping cherry tree with a horrible mushroom haircut! I can’t wait to utilize your tips in a week or two after blooming to thin it out and encourage the branches to dangle past the crown.
HELP! We’re new to these type trees.It was a tear out from a landscaping job my husband did,he brought it home last Summer and planted it among our gardens in the hopes it would adjust.This Spring it started to just show flower buds,then everything stopped.The buds dried up and now nothing’s happening,except for a bunch of suckers coming up from the ground.Is the main tree dead?
I’m not a tree expert, so I would recommend you ask your local nursery. Take a sample of a tree branch with you to the nursery. I’ve done this before and it was really helpful.
Hi,
I have an old weeping cherry that is very large and overgrown. Can it be cut to be about 1/2 its height? I will hire someone to trim it.
I would definitely check with a professional tree trimmer.
I have branches that are sprouting upwards and look rather unsightly. But should these be kept to encourage the umbrella effect? Or can I prune these branches that stick up and out so high?
If they aren’t arching and going straight up, I think I would prune them.
Thanks so much for this really great post. I just want to confirm you advise to prune after it flowers? I’ve read other posts from the Internet that say pruning after flowering can shock it too much. But my tree really needs pruning as it’s gotten too many branches to properly allow sunlight in. .. and it’s blooming right now! We have tough, hot summers in Albuquerque, so I want to be sure I’m not doing more harm than good. Thank you so very much!
Yes, that’s correct!
My neighbor has one of these in her front yard but I moved before it needed pruning. I never thought about the necessary pruning. Thank you for the tips
Is my dwarf weeping cherry tree dying? It’s leaves have all turned brown and dry.
What can I do t keep it alive?
Thank you
Debbie
Hi, Debbie.
I think you should speak to an expert at a local-to-you gardening center.
I have a weeping cherry tree it’s straight up just planted it this year it’s around 5 foot will it weep on its own or will I have to train it
Hmmm. Most that I’ve seen, even smaller trees, already have the weeping shape. You may want to check where you purchased it to make sure it truly is a weeping variety?
I have a dwarf weeping cherry that is now on the ground again. Do I prune again if so when?
Thanks
Yes, you can prune it.
Hello! So glad I found your article! Thanks for writing it and for the great pictures. We decided to plant a snow fountains weeping cherry tree on the front corner of our house. I think it’s a dwarf too, because it says it only grows 8-12 feet. I was just wondering if you remember just at what distance from the house you planted yours. Thank you!
Hi. My weeping cherry was about 8 feet from my garden shed.
This was very helpful. Like others, we bought a new home with a weeping cherry that had a “bad haircut “. Before we identified the tree we did indeed call it the Mushroom tree. Thank you for the good advice.