How should I prune & train my young bare-root Ume whips for garden/niwaki?

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Shohin
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How should I prune & train my young bare-root Ume whips for garden/niwaki?

I planted them in-ground just last fall. 1 has grown vigorously with 4-6’ long shoots (white ume). The other (pink ume), grew shoots too; but not as wild'y as the other. Idk the exact cultivars of either.

From what I’ve researched, I’m supposed to choose 3-5 main branches/scaffolds and remove the rest, correct? If, yes, when and how short? (ideally, I want an open-center, vase style.. maybe a small leader if anything)

I assume I should wait until dormant? Because, from what I’ve studied of horticulture, any pruning in the summer is just “wasted energy” from its’ Spring growth and energy deficit. And Fall time is when a tree re-gains energy back into the vascular and roots for next year. So, wait until dormant, or cut in summer?
I'm hesitant to cut right now, as it was just planted in ground and needs time to establish and develop.

Also, length… How short? I’ve read many different things. From cutting off 1/4-1/2 the length of those new long shoots for its’ future main scaffolds and branch structure.. and, I've also read cut back to 2-4 nodes (which would really mean a super short stump of a branch.. and sounds like a mistake). I assume that “2-4 nodes” thing we commonly read is when the tree is fully developed already and/or for refinement and fine ramification (which my trees is obviously not in the refinement stages yet).

So, is it correct to reduce and remove most of the existing branches to form the main scaffolding and main-branches? Keep only 3-5 main branches? How short to cut for the next few seasons and years? And, exactly when to prune and branch select them? Also, for how long do I follow these structural development prunings?

Additionally… once they’re a bit older and the main scaffolds/branches are finally built and developed, what’s a good schedule guideline to prune for maintenance and size upkeep?
Mid summer prune to reduce size and any reduce any long shoots down?
And, also prune in winter/dormant to clean up any un-ideal branches? (crossing, pointing back at trunk, crotch, straight verticals, non-tapered, etc., etc.).
Or, is it better to prune after it first blooms in late-winter or early-spring?

Here they are in June:

Here are the bare-root whips when I got them:
 
Pic taken today... of the vigorous one.
The super long shoots just started making additional secondary little branches/shoots from them..a week or two ago.
 

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That's a whole lot of questions. We're talking stone fruit here, so cherries and plums are almost treated the same in my book.

We structurally cut our cherries back after mid-summer, just before fall. This allows the wounds to close well before fall starts. Some dieback can be expected, but usually not more than an inch from the cut site.
Since we have weird winters that can start again halfway through spring, we do aesthetic pruning if the tree is healthy, just when summer starts. Otherwise the buds closer to the trunk will stop opening and the entire branch could die. This pruning halts (elongating) growth for the entire season but it will build up a lot of "body" and enforce lower branches to catch up with the running ones we cut.

If you want your tree taller, then select one branch, cut the rest. Then work your way back next year. Stone fruit trees, with some exceptions, are pretty reliable back budding plants. We chopped 50% of a cherry tree and 5 years later it's still popping up new branches just below the cut. We've seen the same thing happen with a regular plum, while the internet says that shouldn't happen.

If you just planted it this year, you might want to get it through winter first before you do anything at all. My friends apricot tree lost around half of its branches due to some late frosts and lack of proper care. The frost set the structure for us, we only had to remove the dead branches.
 
Thanks for the tips!

I am in southern California.. and my location doesn't get snow/freezing. We only get to mid-30ºF in the winter, and about 300-400 total chill hours per year.

Ah, okay..so, structural-prunes are okay mid-late summer, gotcha. But, yeah, I just planted them this spring.. so maybe I'll wait until late-winter or early-spring for structure pruning.

These trees were shipped originally as 5' long whips (cut down to 5' for shipping). As many tutorials suggest for planting fruit tree whips and wanting it small for a home garden, I trunk-chopped them to around "knee-height" (I chopped them down to 24" to reduce size).

I don't want a tall/big tree... I want a small 6' tree (up to maybe 8'-10', if 6' is not possible). I think I want an "open vase" tree with 3-5 main scaffolds, or maybe a "broom style".
So, I think my 24" first trunk chop is good, if in terms with common bonsai development techniques for deciduous trees (ie: as that's about 1/3 of my desired/visualized finished height)... then maybe choose 3-5 main scaffolds/branches and chop those down to maybe 1/3 the length of the 2/3 "desired/visualized height" above the first 24" trunk chop.

So, if I used the common bonsai development techniques for deciduous trees (for a 6' tree for example):
Desired/visualized height = 6' / 3 = 24" first trunk chop
The remainder of the desired/visualized height above the first chop (2/3 the rest of the height of the tree) = 48"
Cut down those chosen main scaffolds/branches down to 1/3 again of the remainder of visualized height = 48" / 3 = 16"
Then, repeat again in the future for secondary branches...
First trunk chop 24" high + second (scaffold) chop 16" long = 40" developed so far
72" (desired height) - 40" = 32" (new remainder left, of the visualized height) / 3 = 10.6"
Cut the secondary branches to 10"
And keep repeating...
(Change numbers, if wanting an 8', 10' or 12' total height tree. )

Hope this is correct or ideal for me to do, lol.
 
For an 8' tall tree:
Desired/visualized height = 8' (96") / 3 = 32" first trunk chop
The remainder of the desired/visualized height above the first chop (2/3 the rest of the height of the tree) = 64"
Cut down those chosen main scaffolds/branches down to 1/3 again of the remainder of visualized height = 64" / 3 = 21.3"
Then, repeat again in the future for secondary branches...
First trunk chop 32" high + second (scaffold) chop 21" long = 53" developed so far
96" (desired height) - 53" = 43" (new remainder left to develop, of the visualized height) / 3 = 14.3"
Cut the secondary branches to 14.3"
And keep repeating...
 
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