How to Reduce the Size of a Weeping Cherry Tree
- 1). Prune weeping cherry trees when their blooms fade in late spring. These trees set new blooms on old wood, so mid-winter pruning eliminates much of the spring bloom. Don't prune the trees after early fall.
- 2). Cut off dead, diseased or unproductive wood, based on the year's bloom. Make these cuts 1 to 2 inches above the joining wood so the tree has room to heal itself. Cut branches you want to keep down to healthy wood to eliminate disease or breakage.
- 3). Thin the scaffold, or main branches by one-third. Make these cuts 1 to 2 inches from the trunk. Choose branches carefully before cutting; eliminate branches that rub others, grow straight up or grow through the center of the tree. End with five to six well-spaced scaffold branches.
- 4). Thin the branches at the ends of the scaffold branches by one-half to thin the foliage. Make these cuts just above a growing node or 1 inch from the base branch. Cut diseased or unproductive branches first.
- 5). Cut the top off the main trunk to keep the tree from growing taller. Make this cut just above the last scaffold branch.
Source...