There are many trees called cherry trees. Some are ornamentalothers are fruit trees. All belong to the genus Prunus and to the family of Rosaceae. Let’s focus here on table fruit cherry trees. Young and old appreciate cherries and we all look forward to being able to taste from the first sunny days. To have fun throughout the summer season without spending a fortune (because the price of the cherry reached is sometimes exorbitant on the stalls of our markets), the only solution is to plant one or more cherry trees. Let’s take stock of the cultivation of these fruit trees, their needs, and look at the cherry harvest, which needs to be well organised.
Plant a cherry tree
This is between November and February/March that we can plant a cherry tree, outside of frost periods. To plant a bare root cherry tree, follow these steps.
- Start by dressing the roots and then pralination.
- Dig a hole 90 cm in diameter by 60 cm deep, dimensions which may vary somewhat to accommodate the roots of the young shrub.
- Loosen the extracted soil and remove weeds with their roots as well as stones. Then, mix it with planting soil or mature compost and a little sand. This growing medium will be used to fill the hole.
- Scrape the bottom over about twenty centimeters then place two good handfuls of roasted horn on it before mixing with the bottom soil.
- Cover with a drainage layer (gravel, coarse sand).
- Fill the hole halfway.
- Plant a solid stake 150 to 180 cm high.
- Position the young cherry tree in the center of the hole, the grafting point should be slightly above ground level.
- Backfill, tamp the soil sufficiently and form a basin.
- Water copiously.
- Tie the trunk to the stake with strong twine or raffia. The ties should not be tight to allow the trunk plenty of time to thicken.
We can possibly remove a very badly positioned branch and slightly prune the branches just above a bud facing the outside of the antlers. Gardeners experienced in the cultivation of cherry trees recommend keeping no more than 5 branches in the young subject that has just been planted. We obviously select the best placed ones and we try to ensure that the antlers are balanced.
The bare root cherry must be planted within a week of purchase. If this is not possible, it is absolutely essential to put it in gaugein a shady area of the garden, so that it can wait a few days to a few weeks, the roots well sheltered in the ground.
Note that there are varieties of dwarf cherry trees that we can absolutely plant a pot in loose soil mixed with potting soil. This makes it possible to create a gourmet terrace on which, for example, citrus fruits and olive trees are installed, since all these shrubs are happy in a container.
Growing a Cherry Tree
A fruit cherry tree is a full sun treewho tolerates all types of climates. Hardy, it can be grown in all our regions, even the coldest. On the other hand, it is its flowers that cannot stand the cold, and late frosts are often fatal to early varieties. So we make sure to install a cherry tree sheltered from prevailing winds. This tree is satisfied with a ordinary earththe main thing being that it is furniture, deepet well drained because it does not tolerate excess humidity well.
You can plant only one cherry tree in your garden as long as it is autofertile. It will bear fruit abundantly without any difficulty. This is usually the case with sour cherry varieties such as yellow or even the sour cherries. In isolation, Cherry Boop, Bigarreau Summit or Montmorency are well suited since they are self-fertile.
On the other hand, the sweet cherry varieties only give a satisfactory harvest if they are pollinated by another variety. In this category we find, for example, the bigarreau cherries Cœur de Pigeon, Burlat, Napoléon but which pollinate each other (cross pollination). This involves planting two cherry trees so that they fertilize each other or to make sure that there are other cherry trees in a perimeter of 25 to 30 meters maximum. Better to take stock before buying.
Caring for your Cherry Tree
Easy to grow, it is undemanding and despite this it produces abundantly year after year.
Water
Watering is monitored during the year following planting of a cherry tree because its recovery must be ensured. But be careful, we avoid bathing it in water. Note that dwarf cherry trees grown in pots need to be watered more frequently than those in the ground because their substrate dries quickly, especially when it is hot.
Fertiliser
Fertilize at different times. before flowering, that is, in early spring, organic fertilizer is welcome. The contribution is just made on the surface. A simple scratch is enough. Then, when the cherries are formed, the young fruit tree should be given a complete fertilizer for cherry trees then, when it is 4 years old, you can dig all around the tree in the fall to enrich the soil with two good shovelfuls of organic manure.
Mulch
Lay a mulch of linen sequins or of compost in the spring after a good hoeing is very useful to promote fruiting.
Cut
It is important to prune your cherry tree to promote fruiting and maintain the balance of its foliage, but you only prune never its cherry tree the year after planting. At the beginning as well as later, this requires a light hand because the cherry tree recovers with difficulty from too severe pruning and does not like to be pruned too often.
Pests and diseases
The cherry fly is a parasite found mainly on late cherry varieties. They lay their eggs in the fruits which become wormy. It is advisable to apply a preventive treatment to avoid this inconvenience. If the damage is done, the best solution is to set pheromone traps to get rid of the cherry fly.
The aphids are especially present on cherry trees during the spring. A massive infestation can disrupt the growth of young twigs and cause their leaves to wilt and eventually become deformed. It is then necessary to resort to an anti-aphid treatment. As a preventive measure, it is very useful in February to destroy the eggs of aphids and other parasites as well as the caterpillars likely to attack cherry blossoms, with a targeted treatment that can be used in organic farming.
The necklace is a fungal disease caused by pathogenic fungi. It causes twig dieback. There are preventive solutions against moniliosis, such as the application of a healing putty on pruning wounds. Bordeaux mixture, sprayed on cherry trees in autumn, protects fruit trees well against this disease. As for the decoction of horsetail in sprays also in autumn, it also works well. If the moniliose is already established, it is essential to eliminate all the affected parts, whether leaves or cherries, the latter then being unfit for consumption.
Anyway, it is highly preferable to plant cherry trees perfectly adapted to the local climate. This reduces the risk of disease.
Harvest cherries from your garden
Cherry tree begins to bear fruit 24 to 36 months after planting. It’s always a real delight to see your cherry blossom in the spring and then, a few weeks later, bend under the weight of the fruit. Good news for all cherries lovers: whether sweet or tart, they have a low glycemic index and are excellent for your health. We therefore do not deprive ourselves of it!
But to take advantage of it, do not delay in picking them as soon as they have reached maturity, because they are the delicacy of starlings, magpies, blackbirds and many others passerines Again. Moreover, if we do not use certain subterfuges to keep these pilferers away, they are able to eat all the cherries before we even had time to even taste them. only one. Anti-bird netting, CDs hung from branches or other scarers…every gardener comes up with tips so as not to have to share too many cherries with their bird friends.
Apart from this fact, the cherry harvest must in any case be well organized and scheduled a few days in advance because they are extremely fragile fruits. Typically, cherry season kicks off in May, peaks in June, and ends sometime in July. It all depends of course on the variety of cherry tree grown. But to predict the harvest, it is necessary to know that it can take place on average 43 days after flowering.
Whether they are dwarfs or when they reach 5, 6 or even 10 meters in height when they reach adulthood, cherry trees are always welcome because they bring a highly decorative note to the garden, whether they are in bloom, covered with cherries or dressed in their autumn colours.