Time to Prune the Sand Cherries

     Our four Sand Cherries trees have just finished blooming, which means that it is time to prune them. (Spring-blooming trees and bushes should be pruned after blooming. Summer-bloomers should be pruned in early spring.) I used to prune ours like taller trees, trimming off all of the lower branches and letting the top be full and heavy; that is, until I realized that style of shaping allowed storms to catch the tops of the delicate trees and really cause damage to them. Now I just cut off the very lowest of the limbs and shape the rest of the tree into a shorter, roundish, bushy shape. They are still quite lovely and suffer less storm damage. (Shown at top of page, before pruning.) I'll get out this weekend to cut off all of the straggly bits and make the trees more compact. People almost react with surprise when I tell them that pruning small trees is one of my favorite gardening chores; I love the way that it combines problem solving with artistry.