Gardening With Soft Fruits

Cherries

One of the earliest tree fruits to ripen in the fruit garden are cherries, and their flavor is delicious, as the birds will try and testify! Once the privilege of larger gardens, the availability of dwarfing cherry rootstocks and self-fertile varieties now mean that any garden, big or small, can accommodate a productive tree.

The best sites and soils

A fruiting cherry tree is a real jewel in the fruit garden. Not only does it provide delicious fruits but an established tree also bears beautiful spring blossom and provides great autumn color, making it ornamental as well as fruitful.

Sweet cherries (Prunus avium) are most productive in a site in full sun, whereas acid cherries (P cerasus) such as 'Morello' are happy to be positioned against a shady wall, making them a very useful crop in north- or east-facing gardens. Because they flower very early in the year, however, all cherries are best planted in a sheltered position so that pollinating insects (mainly bees) are encouraged to access the flowers. While cherries are tolerant of both acid and alkaline soils they do need good drainage. Cherry tree roots are naturally very shallow, and so any water logging will cause them to rot or to succumb to water-borne root diseases such as phytophthora .

Plant care

Protect cherry flowers, which are susceptible to frost damage, from late frosts. If possible, cover freestanding trees with double-thickness horticultural fleece on frosty nights. Hold the fleece away from the flowers with bamboo canes or similar. Drape a similar insulating material over fan-trained cherries. The cover can be left in place during the day as long as access is left for pollinating insects. As well as providing frost protection, ensure trees are kept well watered during the early stages of fruit development, to avoid excessive "run-off", when some fruits turn yellow and fall off. Run-off occurs in three main stages: when unpollinated flowers and blooms with immature embryos are shed; when pollination is incomplete; and when fruits swell but are then aborted because they have suffered a growth check through lack of moisture, inadequate food reserves, or excessively cool temperatures.

Neither sweet nor acid cherries require fruit thinning_ Before fruits start to show some color, erect netting to deter birds. Ripe fruits are prone to skin splitting during wet weather so try to keep fruits dry and pick over trees regularly. Cherry growth is quite vigorous and so they benefit from an annual top-dressing of a general-purpose fertilizer in mid spring, and, if fruiting is poor, a top- dressing of a slow-release high potash fertilizer such as sulphate of potash in late winter.
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