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Tips For Growing Cherry Trees

Whether you want to have a certain landscape, pies, or fresh snacks, it is a very fruitful endeavor to grow cherry trees, especially when the following is considered.

There are numerous reasons to grow cherry trees: being able to preserve your harvest so that you can enjoy it during the cold months of winter, making family memories, simply having the satisfaction of being able to pick your very own homegrown fruit, and much more! In fact you can find out more here on the benefits of growing your own fruit.

As you might know already, there are two major kinds of cherries:

Sweet Cherries

The type that you normally find in the supermarket is sweet cherries. Their texture is very “meaty,” similar to a firm plum, and they have a sweet, rich flavor. You can eat sweet cherries dried, frozen, cooked, or fresh. Sweet cherries can be grown in USDA Hardiness 5 to 7 Zones. A majority of them are self-sterile, but they produce larger and more fruit when combined with a different variety of sweet cherry in the area. Typically, these cherry trees take around 4 to 7 years to bear fruit after they have been planted. Sweet cherry trees yield around 30-50 quarts of cherries with semi-dwarf trees and 15-20 quarts with dwarf trees. The yield varies based on local weather conditions throughout the season, soil drainage and quality, as well as the nutrients and sunlight that are available.

Sour Cherries

The second type of cherries is sour cherries. They are used most often in cooking, especially preserves and pies. Sour cherries, which are called tart cherries as well, are quite a bit smaller compared to sweet cherries. They grow the best in the USDA 4 to 6 Hardiness Zones.

Typically these cherry trees take 3-5 years to start bearing fruit. It depends on the variety and size of the tree (dwarf trees start bearing sooner). Sour cherry trees yield around 20-60 quarts with semi-dwarf trees and 15-20 quarts with dwarf trees. The yield varies based on local weather conditions throughout the season, soil drainage and quality, as well as the nutrients and sunlight that is available.

Tips For Growing Cherry Trees

When growing cherry trees, here are some important points to keep in mind:

Probably the most important decision that you will need to make is selecting the right location to grow your cherry trees in. That requires you to do some pre-planning in order to provide your new trees with the best chance to succeed:

Do you understand the pollination needs of your trees?

Does the location that you have selection get enough sun?

Is there the right kind of soil in the location for cherry trees?

Does the location have enough space for your cherry trees to mature?

Before planting new cherry trees, find out how to properly prepare the soil. Also, learn how to plant potted and bare-root cherry trees. Usually, trees will come with easy to follow instructions.

After your cherry trees are settled securely into their new home, the next phase that needs to be addressed is “Care and Maintenance.” Find out how much and often to water your trees in order to prevent problems that can arise due to over- or under-watering.

Trees also need to eat. It is critical to fertilize for your trees to thrive as well as survive. It is just as important to know when you need to start and also stop fertilizing your tees. Were you aware that continuously feeding your trees so that they won’t be “hungry” actually can make them more vulnerable to damage in the winter?

The Care and Maintenance phase also involves pruning your cherry trees. Pruning helps to keep the canopy of the tree strong and also open to sunlight- which is critical to the quantity and quality of the fruit. During this phase, you also need to review common cherry tree disease and insect issues and understand the importance of spray in order to control any existing problems as well as help to prevent potential future ones.

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