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SOIL: Prefers well drained soil, rich in potash and lime.

PLANTING SITE: Warm, sunny, dry and sheltered site is best, protected from Spring frosts. Plant 4-5m apart from other large trees.

WATERING: Water well during the early stages, during long dry periods and when the fruit is developing.

CLIMATE: Cherries do best in areas with cold Winters, dry Springs and Summers. Cherries are tolerant of hot humid weather.

PESTS & DISEASES: Cherries are particularly prone to bacterial canker, silver leaf disease and aphids.

PLANTING IDEAS: Stonefruit trees can be 'espalier' trained against a wall or fence in a fan shape. Cherries on dwarf rootstocks may be planted in containers.

FRUIT: Fruit ripens from early to late Summer, depending on the variety.

POLINATION: Some varieties are self fertile, while others require another variety for pollination.

TREE SIZE: Cherry trees can grow up to 7m tall.

CHERRIES - PRUNING & TRAINING Young cherries need pruning to develop the correct shape, and mature plants will produce a better crop if pruned to encourage fruiting wood.

All cherry pruning should be carried out in the growing season. This reduces the risk of infection by the spores of silver leaf disease which are most widespread in winter. Initial pruning and training of young trees is best carried out in spring, just as the buds are breaking. Other pruning to correct problems and encourage fruiting should be carried out in summer once the fruit has been picked. Initial pruning and training is the same for all types of cherry. You can train them either as a free-standing small tree (usually known as a bush), or as a fan tied onto wires spaced 30cm or less apart. The wires can be supported on a wall, which has the added benefits of providing shelter plus storing and radiating warmth, or on a fence or between free-standing posts.

Cherries can be trained as a fan espalier. Sweet cherries fruit on one- and two-year old wood, and on spurs of older wood, so pruning concentrates on shortening new shoots to encourage new spur production.

Visit Waimea Nurseries to get your hands on some varieties.

Comments (1)

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written by Lyndafinn , October 13, 2011

Cherries, unlike many other fruits, don't continue to ripen after they've been picked, so make sure you leave them on the tree until they're ripe.