Weeping cherry going straight (2024)

George Weigel

Once settled in its new home, your cherry tree should put out gobs of blooms like these.

Q:

I have a double weeping cherry tree that I planted in the fall of 2007. It didn't bloom at all last year. One branch didn't even leaf, but the tree grew... upright. How do I prune the new growth up the center, and will that leafless branch leaf this year? What do I need to do to get those pretty pink blossoms?

A: First, the leafless branch. If it didn't leaf at all last year, it's dead... probably a victim of root damage during transportation and planting. Just to be sure, wait until the rest of the tree leafs out this spring, and assuming this branch doesn't leaf out, prune it back to where it attaches to the trunk (or to a bigger live branch).

The upright growth is the tree trying to revert back to its "usual" habit of growing up instead of in the weeping habit you want. The weeping is actually a mutated habit that growers purposely select and produce through grafting because it's an interesting and beautiful "accident" of nature. It's not what a cherry normally wants to do.
To maintain the weeping habit, prune off any straight-up branches back to where they attach. Now's a good time to do that while the branches are bare. Do the same with any other upward branches you see poking up from weeping branches. If you want the tree to get taller, let a central shoot grow up and watch to see if its side branches weep. If so, you've got a new, taller weeping layer. You may be able to aid the weeping by pruning. But if all the side shoots want to grow up instead of out and down, it's better to prune off that whole "normal" section than to have a tree that can't make up its mind if it wants to weep or go straight.

Once the tree is over the shock of being transplanted and gets its roots at home in the new ground, blooming will happen without you doing anything. My guess is it'll bloom this spring.