I have a.potted sweet cherry that I bought in spring of 2010. 2012 the blossoms were killed by frost. 2013 it produced almost a gallon of cherries. The tree has leafed out and looks healthy. Unfortunately, this year the extreme winter killed the buds so the tree will produce zero cherries.

I want to keep this tree small, healthy, and productive. I have very little experience growing fruit. My understanding is that pruning results in more, smaller branches and in the long run more fruit. However, I'm usually reluctant to prune much because I don't want to limit the next year's production. Normally, I wouldn't prune this early because I would prune off this year's crop. But it occurs to me that since this year's crop is lost anyway, if I prune now (early), I might do less damage to next year's crop if I prune now rather than later. That is, maybe this is the year to prune the tree back hard.

Is it too early to prune this tree? Will I get better fruit production next year if I prune now rather than later? Is it my opportunity to prune it back hard or not?

What do you think? Thanks.