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My weeping cherry tree is 3-4 years old. It's blooming now but has a large section of growth shooting straight up in the air. That section is covered in leaves but it never flowered. Should it be pruned during the dormant phase?

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  • Welcome, it is common practice to post pictures s/t people can see what you are talking about. Is there any chance you could post a picture of the tree in question?
    – Rob
    Commented May 6, 2019 at 20:11
  • Yes, let me try to get that downloaded here.
    – Jan
    Commented May 6, 2019 at 20:18
  • I added the photo. The over growth is at top right of tree
    – Jan
    Commented May 6, 2019 at 20:38
  • Where does the upright growth originate from? Is it coming straight up from the ground, or off another part of the tree?
    – Bamboo
    Commented May 7, 2019 at 11:13
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    Where do you live? To you have late freeze (e.g. on top part, bottom part seems protected by other trees)? And I agree with Bamboo: looking the photo, it seems that the sucker come from bottom part (root, or just below grafting point): in that case cut it immediately.
    – Giacomo Catenazzi
    Commented May 7, 2019 at 13:01

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I think you have a case of a "reverting" weeping cherry.

This means as if you cherry wants to go back to its non-weeping form. This is not uncommon with weeping cherries. Here are some links describing similar cases:

If you don't do anything, the straight part will most likely become a dominant part, and you must remove it - completely.

If it was just a smallish branch, I would advice you to remove it immediately, no matter what the time of the year is. However, this a fairly large composite branch, and it may be better to wait for late fall/winter/early spring, and remove it at that time. That way, the shock for the tree will be much smaller.

And, please, make the cut as clean as possible. Pay really good attention to the place of the cut, and definitely apply so-called three-cut technique. Here is a step-by-step overview of three-cut technique:

  1. Prepare your tool
  2. (CUT 1) Make the undercut
  3. (CUT 2) Remove the branch (except the stub)
  4. Locate the branch collar and decide on the main cut place/orientation
  5. (CUT 3) Remove the stub.
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  • Do you think the vertical growth might come from a lower grafted root or trunk doing what nature taught it to do?
    – Yosef Baskin
    Commented May 28 at 18:55

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