Pruning methods for bearing sweet cherry trees

Sweet cherry trees in many commercial California orchards have been allowed to grow excessively tall. This practice tends to elevate the bearing area with subsequent loss of much of the lower fruiting wood. Cultural and harvesting operations then become more inefficient and expensive. Height of young bearing trees can be controlled and maintained by pruning. A reduction in yield often results from pruning bearing trees and is generally proportionate to the severity of pruning. However, this reduction in yield may be partially offset by somewhat larger fruit size, more efficient cultural and harvesting operations, and slightly increased tree vigor.