Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
and lateral shoots with narrow branch angles. Use thinning cuts to
keep the canopy open. Spreaders and weights can be used to position
branches and shoots to ensure branch angles wide enough to prevent
bark inclusions and later limb breakage. Over several years, gradually
thin out large branches. The goal is to lower the tree height and reduce
its spread while developing new scaffold limbs that are more manage-
able and easier to reach. Train sweet cherry trees to an open center as
Usingthesteepladdersystem.
When developing a steep ladder sweet cherry
tree, you will create a temporary modified central leader that has four per-
manent scaffold limbs. You will treat each of these limbs as a separate
spindle or trunk. Start with either feathered trees or whips and select four
primary scaffold branches that are distributed evenly around the tree about
30 to 36 inches above the ground. Remember to keep the central leader for
now. Head the scaffolds so that each develops two permanent secondary
scaffold branches. After two to four growing seasons, remove the central
leader to form an open center tree. Use heading and thinning cuts to main-
der sweet cherry tree.
