I had heard of this technique before, and I decided to try it on one of my
Montmorency cherries. The branches did become more horizontal but the tree
vigor declined compared to the same type tree, same rootstock, same purchase
source at same time and planted 8 feet away. They were identical when planted,
height, branching, etc. After the branch bending on that summer, the bent branch
tree fell behind. There is now a major difference in growth. The bent
branch tree is only 1 1/2 inch at the trunk, the untouched one is 2 1/2 at the
trunk. I concluded that bending branches on the cherry created tree stress. Now
I don't bend branches, I just prune. I have not tried this on apple or pear,
can't speak for those trees, and I did not try this on any other tree after
this episode.
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