I have a large flowering cherry tree in the center of my garden. It is about
25 years old. Each year around May it becomes a huge, beautiful big
pink/purple ball about 15m across.

However, in 2001 the flowering was very much reduced and in 2002 it hardly
flowered at all before the green leaves set in. Someone told me that pruning
would help - so around October of last year, I pruned the tree back, not
too hard, just reducing the branches by about 10%. I know it was rather late
to prune it but I thought 'better late than never.'

This year the blossom was slightly better than last year but still it just
isn't doing its stuff. I would really like my big, beautiful big pink/purple
ball back - it was the highlight of the spring for me.

Should I prune it again now? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

TIA

Steve

Cherry trees of all descriptions have a limited life span
It could be that yours is nearing its end or its simply starved of nutrients
........try giving it a good feed of Growmore or similar
You would be staggered to see the root structure they produce in relation to
the tree
If the leaves are also sparser it could be you have Blossom blight in which
case you may have to consider removal

"Steve B" wrote in message
...
I have a large flowering cherry tree in the center of my garden. It is
about
25 years old. Each year around May it becomes a huge, beautiful big
pink/purple ball about 15m across.

However, in 2001 the flowering was very much reduced and in 2002 it hardly
flowered at all before the green leaves set in. Someone told me that
pruning
would help - so around October of last year, I pruned the tree back, not
too hard, just reducing the branches by about 10%. I know it was rather
late
to prune it but I thought 'better late than never.'

This year the blossom was slightly better than last year but still it just
isn't doing its stuff. I would really like my big, beautiful big
pink/purple
ball back - it was the highlight of the spring for me.

Should I prune it again now? Does anyone have any other suggestions?

TIA

Steve