Cherry

Name in other Languages

Apparently, the squirrel and chipmunks love our cherries as much as we do. However, they do not wait until the jewels ripen, stealing and carrying them off even before the birds are interested. We use orchard netting, encapsulating the entire tree and pinning the webbing down to the ground as soon as we see the clusters of hard, green juvenile fruits hanging from the trees. We will go to any lengths to save our cherries and they are well worth the extra trouble. Cherries that make it to the kitchen—as we eat them while we pick—can, freeze, and dry well.

Cherry trees don’t need a lot of fertilizer. However, if trees are growing less than 10 inches a year, they’ll benefit from an application of a balanced orchard fertilizer

Planting

Cherries grow best in full sun and well-drained soil. Plant the trees, taking care to ensure that the graft union is at least 3 inches above the soil. Follow instructions for planting trees on pages 38–39. Stake the trees for the first two years after planting

Maintenance

Cherry trees are highly susceptible to drought. Water the trees daily after planting and do not let them dry out. Mulch around newly planted trees to keep moisture in around the root zone. Tart cherry pruning is similar to peach tree pruning, in terms of shape. You’ll prune tart cherries to an open vase shape or semi-open vase shape. Prune sweet cherries as you’d prune an apple. Cherries fruit on spurs, like apples, so treat individual branches as you would apple trees, being careful not to knock off or break off the spurs. Prune cherry trees in mid-summer.

Pest Problems

There are some diseases that affect cherry trees, but they usually do not cause problems for the home gardener. Just take care to rake away all leaf and fruit debris at the end of the season so that disease spores can’t overwinter right under the tree. Birds are one of the most annoying pests of cherry trees. You can cover smaller trees with bird netting, but if you have a larger tree, hang a “scary eye” balloon in the tree (a yellow beach ball with red circles with black centers) to scare the birds away.

Harvesting

Cherries are ready to harvest when they easily fall off the tree. Sweet cherries will be firm, while tart cherries will be starting to soften.

Recommended Varieties

There are tart cherries and sweet cherries. Some sweet cherries are self-fertile and do not require a pollinator tree. Others do require cross-pollination, so make sure to pick out compatible varieties (bloom at the same time) when shopping. Sweet cherries are hardy in warmer areas, tolerant to USDA Zones 5 and above. Most tart cherries are self-pollinating and are very cold hardy, so they are good for our colder Rocky Mountain regions. All regions can grow tart cherries, ‘Montmorency’, ‘Meteor’, and ‘Northstar’. Recommended sweet cherries are as follows. Check with your local Cooperative Extension and garden centers for availability of varieties and pollinators.

All regions can grow tart cherries, ‘Montmorency’, ‘Meteor’, and ‘Northstar’. Recommended sweet cherries are as follows. Check with your local Cooperative Extension and garden centers for availability of varieties and pollinators.