Remember that birds are not all bad. Many species of birds are beneficial to have around the garden as they eat insects that devour our plants. Companions for Cherries Related RHS Guides Positioning fruit trees Discover your soil type Understanding soil pHHow and when to plant North Star Pie Cherry – This is a prolific producer that grows tons of juicy, tart cherries. It is disease resistant and starts bearing a few years after planting. Many gardeners do not realise that there are two types of cherry - sweet cherries and acid cherries. They need different growing conditions and the darker acid cherries, or Morellos, have a distinct, sharp flavour and are usually cooked with added sugar. Where to plant Tart cherries are more cold hardy and have a later bloom time. This means they’re not as compatible as pollinators for sweet cherries since they don’t bloom at the same time.

Prunus sargentii Rehder – northern Japanese hill cherry, northern Japanese mountain cherry or Sargent's cherry Nanking cherries are smaller than other cherries and grow in a bush-like shape. They’re an attractive plant in your landscaping and birds love them. Nanking cherries grow in zones 2-8 and can handle poor soil. They’ll produce lots of tart, tangy, pinkish fruits in the first or second year after planting. A mature plant will produce up to 8 quarts a year. RHS Plant Selector Prunus 'Shirofugen' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-05-17 . Retrieved 2012-11-11.Weare stillasblown away by this game-changing conceptas we werewhen we stumbled acrossfruiting cherry trees on adrizzly winter's day in Northern Holland in 2016. It is revolutionising commercial cherry cropping. Dead patches of bark and small holes in leaves – these can be signs of bacterial canker (see below), which may eventually result in branches or whole trees dying RHS Plant Selector Prunus 'Kiku-shidare-zakura' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-05-17 . Retrieved 2012-11-11. Cherry trees grow in USDA zones 5 through 9. However, some cold-hardy cherry trees can withstand temperatures in zone 4. RHS Plant Selector Prunus × subhirtella 'Autumnalis' AGM / RHS Gardening". Apps.rhs.org.uk. Archived from the original on 2013-05-17 . Retrieved 2012-11-11.

Cherry trees flower early in the year and in cold springs the blossom should be fleeced to keep off the frosts. Support the fleece on tall canes, making sure the fleece is well above the blossoms. This will allow pollinators access to the blossoms. Remove the fleece once the petals drop. Fruit expert Will Sibley believes that pale or white pebbles work the best. Your layer of pebbles should help drainage too. The team introduced their first dwarf cherry shrub, Carmine Jewel, in 1999.They followed up in 2004 with the introduction of "The Romance Series of Cherries" including cultivars named Romeo, Juliet, Crimson Passion, Valentine, and Cupid. These multi-stemmed trees will grow up to 8 feet tall (2.5 meters) and they produce sour cherries that are perfect for cooking, baking and preserving. Some are delicious for fresh eating as well. If homemade jams, jellies, pies and tarts are your thing, then there's no reason not to invest in a cherry tree for your garden or allotment. We supply a variety of cherry trees that are suitable for cooking (sour), eating (sweet) or both (useful!), including the hugely popular Morello cherry tree variety. Another benefit of growing a cherry tree is, of course, the stunning display of cherry blossom in late spring - a pleasure that is enjoyed by nectar-loving wildlife too!Apply a general fertiliser, such as Growmore or Vitax Q4, in late winter to early spring, following the directions.

Sour cherry trees do best in zones 4-6 and begin bearing at 3-5 years. A mature tree will yield an average of 20 quarts for dwarf trees, and up to 30-40 for semi-dwarf, depending on the variety and if there are other pollinators around. Romeo is a variety that you eat fresh. Romeo cherries are neither very sweet nor sour. They mature at the end of July. It is one of the most productive cherry varieties. It can grow up to 200 cm tall.Prunus ‘Morello’ RHS AGM – this acid cherry can be planted on its own as it is self-fertile. With attractive blossom and lots of fruit in July and August, these make good garden trees. The cherries are good in preserves, cakes and tarts Bing –Bing is the classic commercial cherry with the traditional heart shape. It produces large, dark red fruits that are sweet and juicy. They are recommended for west cost growers and is a late season producer. The soil should be in a fairly friable state and well dug over before planting with an application of blood fish and bone, bonemeal a well balanced NPK fertilizer or growmore. If planting in grass then circles of 18” across should have been removed for each tree and a hole of 18-24” dug and replaced with well friable soil mixed with some fertilizer, since the ground beneath grass is often quite compacted. It is best, but not essential, if the soil is prepared some weeks in advance of planting.