The two main types
of cherry trees that are cultivated for their fruit are the sweet or
dessert cherry and the acid or sour cherry. The sweet is eaten as a raw
dessert and the acid is usually cooked. Named varieties are propagated
on to rootstocks by budding in mid or late summer or by grafting in
early spring. A mature cherry tree may grow up to 10m (33ft), but the
Bush Morello An (acid) tree rarely reaches 5m (16ft). The cherry tree
will need to be grown in a deep, very fertile, well drained loam with a
pH of 6.0-7.0. Sweet cherries need full sun, but acid cherries prefer
light shade.
You can plant
cherry trees at any time between mid-autumn to early spring, add mulch
annually with manure or compost. Standard and bush trees need very
little pruning. Maintain an open, balanced habit and remove
dead,crossing and rubbing branches. Sour cherries fruit shoots formed
the previous season. Let the cherries ripen on the trees for as long as
possible. Sweet cherries are best eaten at once, but acid cherries can
be stored for a few days. Freeze or preserve the cherries if you want to
store them longer.
Sweet
cherries will fruit best if grown near to another variety from the
same group that flowers at the same time. You do not have to do this
for the self-pollinating types like the Morello or Stella. Flowering
times are as such early- season, mid-season, late-season. So for an
example Early rivers and the Bedford Prolific which are from the same
group and are early flowers would grow best together.
Some diseases to
watch out for are bacterial canker and silver leaf, both which are
spread by pruning. That is why the only reason to prune the cherry tree
is to keep the fan shape and to ensure that there is a constant supply
of new wood. Avoid making large cuts, as this is most likely to allow
canker to infect the tree. The main pests are birds, blackfly
(aphids) and winter moths.
