The best time to prune a Bird Cherry Tree is in late winter or early spring. This is because the tree is still dormant and the sap hasn’t started to rise, so it will suffer less from the pruning.
How:
Always use sharp secateurs or loppers when pruning to give a clean cut and reduce disease.
Remove dead, diseased, damaged, criss-crossing, or rubbing branches.
Remove lower branches near the ground to lift the canopy of the tree.
Reduce long branches to keep the tree balanced.
When removing entire branches, always make the cut back to the trunk or a suitable lateral branch.
Do not make cuts flush to another branch.
Thin the canopy by selectively cutting back some branches by thinning to allow more light to penetrate.
Thinning or selective pruning can be done throughout the year, apart from in very hot or very cold weather.