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. 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. 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. 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.

BBC - Lancashire - Nature - Ask the gardener: Cherry trees

I have been noticing many cherry trees dropping their leaves early this year. Can this be due purely to the weather as on closer inspection all the buds are healthy. The leaves are yellowing between the leaf veins and also curling so their edges meet. They also seem to be abcising well. It just seems like premature autumn behaviour. What are your views? Bill replies... The trunk which is left with the good branches should not be pruned the following winter. The tree will then be resettled. I have a very large flowering cherry tree - about 40ft high - which is to be thinned and have the crown lifted. I have two opinions on silver leaf fungus disease; 1 tree surgeon says to wait until June, the other says any time is OK. What is your view? 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. 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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The following plants are particularly prone to bleeding, so pruning at the correct time will help prevent it. 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. 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. 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...

Arbrex – Creatividad, innovación, desarrollo y gestión Arbrex – Creatividad, innovación, desarrollo y gestión

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...

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I have a 20 foot high mature white cherry tree with two large limbs growing over the road. Can I take these off now? I believe that mature cherry trees can only be pruned in mid summer. Bill replies...