Aussie Bush—first year
Aussie Bush—first year (cont from last issue)
Plant small to medium sized cherry trees which have buds low down the trunk from which you can select the correct shoots (future leaders).
Large trees can lack enough buds low down the trunk to make proper selections.
Tell your nurseryman what you want and visit the nursery to make sure that you get what you ordered.
After planting
After you have planted the nursery trees, cut them back to 300mm above the ground. Paint the cuts immediately with Garrison and spray the trees with Bordeaux to prevent bacterial canker.
It is not easy to select four shoots of even size. Sometimes three shoots are better than four. Do not select less than three shoots.
If you have to include one or two dominant shoots, pinch these shoots so that the weaker shoots can catch up.
You will have to singulate the pinched shoots later.
It takes time and patience, but the selection of the future leaders is the foundation of your Aussie Bush.
The illustrations below will guide you through the first year of training.
Important points this year:
Maximise growth of the leaders.
Do not allow sylleptics to form. You will create proleptic shoots next year with Cytolin.
Keep the leaders upright and evenly spaced.
Spray the trees with Bordeaux in autumn to prevent bacterial canker.
Your main tasks for the second year are:
(cont next issue)
See this article in Tree Fruit April 2023
This article is from the Orchard Manual: Sweet Cherries high density orchard systems
Get the cherry orchard manual here
