Best type of cherry tree?

[earthmama1]

I am in need of a great sprouting cherry tree that creates lutious cherrys my daughter will enjoy! It was her idea of getting one so I want to make her happy and get the best. Does anyone know about maitenence or about how long they will last? As in will they make it thru winter and frosts?

 

[gata montes]

Without knowing what kind of climate you live in or how much space you have - It would be difficult to suggest any particular variety - as there are hundreds to choose from and in order to help narrow it down a bit - you might want to consider the following.
Although cherry trees are relatively easy to care for they can grow pretty large - to around 35ft tall with a similar width and as not all are self pollinating - you may need to have more than one in order to get some fruit - which if you don't have enough room for standard sized trees - you may have to consider choosing one of the dwarf or semi dwarf varieties.
As the best time to plant a cherry tree is regarded as being somewhere between November to March - think you might be best waiting until the autumn before planting your tree or trees - especially as we are now very close to the end of March.

 

[Lostvalleyguy]

Our best trees have always been Bing cherries. They can survive -20C over the winter so I would suggest they are hearty. The produce lots of large sweet cherries usually ripe near the beginning of July. While ours are large, you buy different root stocks that will produce a tree of the right size for your yard. A cherry tree takes several years to begin producing but you can shave a few off by buying a more mature tree. Most Cherry trees have a healthy lifespan of about 30 years of productivity before their production starts to fall drastically. They don't require a lot of maintenance but for best results, learn how to properly prune them.

 

[inoristart]

I'm looking forward for the replies since i also need some cherry tree

 

[Martin]

Hi

Just a little word of warning. Here is my experience with growing my first cherry tree.

Last year I bought a bare root one year old cherry tree from the Keepers nursery. The variety is called "Sweetheart" It is on a Gisela 5 rootstock which should mean it's quick growing and reaches no more than 3 meters in height - or less with a little pruning..It also should bear lots of fruit. No complaints at all about the service or the tree, and a very useful website for info.

Anyway I planted it in early November last year, and by early May it had bright Green leaves bursting out over the trunk. Then I went away on Holiday for a week...
When I came back it was crawling with presumably aphids and earwigs. The leaves were curling and going brown.. A few applications of organic spray killed them, but then the snails and slugs attacked., munching their way through any new growth and a lot of the old growth as well.. I even found one perched right a the top, sucking the sap out of the buds.

The onslaught was amazing. I was removing half a dozen live slugs and snails a night for at least two weeks, and plenty more drowned in the beer cans. I eventually resorted to slug pellets before my tree died a death
It is only now in the middle of June that my tree is recovering.
I never realized slugs, and especially snails liked Cheery trees - you might want to take a few precautions.

The before and after pics:
I've grown a wild flower garden next to it, so there is a foxglove (I think) obscuring the "after" picture somewhat - but the difference is obvious. Btw, the slug barriers do work, even if they do look a bit silly. I put a double ring around my tree...

Before:



After:



Good luck. I hope yours fares better than mine.