Growth reaction of young wild cherry (Prunus avium L.) trees to pruning

A large crown is one of the most important prerequisites for the good growth of a tree and therefore the crown could be called an engine of increment. The care for a large crown brings a decrease in the bole value at the same time as it makes large branches and later knots on it. Pruning is a possible solution of these two contradictions. Young wild cherry trees were pruned in three different ways: ( i) half of the crown left, ( ii) one quarter of the crown left and (iii) control, i.e. no pruning. The results show that height growth was not influenced by pruning while diameter growth was significantly affected. The crown reduction to a half means 10% less in diameter growth within a 5-year period after pruning. The crown reduction to one quarter of the crown means only two thirds of 'full' diameter growth on the control plot. The data suggest that the pruning of young wild cherry trees should be done moderately (more than a half of the crown should be left) and pruning should be done when the bottom part of the crown is in the shadow zone of the crown layer, not earlier.