Keeping the Cherry Trees Healthy

Flowering cherry trees require constant care to keep them growing and blooming well. They are pruned once a year to remove damaged or diseased limbs, and a second annual pruning shapes the trees. Compacted soil, a major danger to their health, must be aerated so oxygen and moisture can reach the roots. Dead trees are replaced with young saplings grown from cuttings so the original stock is continually replenished. Healthy, well-maintained trees live longer and produce more blooms. National Park Service arborists have been so successful that about 100 of the more than 3,000 trees planted in 1912 survive today. The famed cherry trees along the Arakawa River near Tokyo, which provided the parent stock for the original 1912 gift to Washington, D.C., had declined after World War II, and when Japan requested help rejuvenating the grove in Adachi Ward, the National Park Service sent budwood in 1952 from descendants of the original trees to Tokyo. Since arriving from the city of Tokyo in 1912, the trees have been cared for with the best-known tree care practices by trained professionals and certified arborists whose year-round, demanding work requires attention to numerous varieties of cherry blossom trees. Many have worked for more than twenty years, and some have been second-generation tree crew members. Clean, sharp tools are essential for successful pruning, because clean cuts from bypass pruners, hand saws, and chain saws reduce the danger from pests and disease, while proper clothing and goggles protect the crew members.

Arlington, Virginia · United States