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Cherries
GERRY EDWARDS FNVS
Until fairly recently the thought of growing cherries in the garden or allotment other than as one big tree was simply a fantasy. Likewise commercial cherry growers found life exceedingly difficult with their orchards of big trees and many of them gave up. Large swathes of the UK stopped growing this wonderful fruit which was a great shame. The major problem was the height of the trees which made picking difficult and expensive as agricultural wages increased plus the desire of large populations of birds to consume the
crops before they could be picked. There were many attempts to produce dwarfing rootstocks in the same manner as had been developed for apples and pears
but until the introduction of the rootstock Colt in the 1970’s it was fairly impossible to grow manageable sized cherry trees. This led to new commercial plantings which have led on to the very manageable rootstock Gisela 5, widely known as G5, which is why, that coupled with new breeding programmes, English cherries are being more widely grown again! As
a result, there is now really no need to avoid growing cherries in the garden or allotment!
There are two types of cherry - acid and sweet. The good thing about acid cherries - and Morello is the best known - is that they will put up with quite shady positions and are
ideal for growing as fans against north facing walls and fences. The fruits can be very
sour but are perfect for cooking and making jams and have the bonus of generally being ignored by birds who do not seem to like acid cherries to eat! Another bonus is that all acid cherries are self-fertile so will not need a pollinator.
Sweet cherries are wonderful and well worth growing and, in my opinion, they are best grown as fans against walls and fences as they are easy to manage in this way and easy to protect against birds. You can also grow them as small bush trees, but I do
not think they lend themselves so well to this form of growing. In any case a cherry fan fruiting well is a very decorative feature during the summer! You have plenty of good varieties to choose from but
please note that whilst some
are self-fertile, some are not
so you will need to plant a
pollinator if your preference is
for a non-self-fertile variety.
Young cherry
the trees are not looked after before you buy them. As far as rootstocks are concerned,
I believe that the rootstock Gisela 5 is ideal for home or allotment growing where you have a good, deep, and well-drained soil but
It is particularly important
that you buy cherries and
other stone fruit trees from
reputable suppliers as you
want to ensure that you buy
a tree that has not been
infected with disease. All stone fruits are very liable to infection by bacterial canker and/
or Silverleaf and this is easily contracted if
...a cherry fan fruiting well is a very decorative feature during the summer!
you may want to consider Colt if your soil is poor. Note that cherries flower early in the year so avoid planting in a frost pocket and if frost is forecast, protect the blossom overnight with horticultural fleece or old curtains and remove it during the daytime to allow access to pollinating insects.
Rather than taking time to create your own fan tree I suggest that you
buy trees that have already been trained into shape, so I am assuming that you procure your fans in this way. These will likely be three years old and will cost a little more than a maiden but buying them like this means that you will have saved yourself considerable time and work. For fan trees you will need wires fixed along your fence or wall to screw eyes to tie the branches onto.
As ever I thoroughly recommend that you plant bare root trees in late November/early December if you can. Prepare the soil well by removing all weeds and then dig over the soil using well-rotted compost to build up
its fertility. When planting use some blood, fish and bone in your planting hole and incorporate some whilst you are backfilling. When planting cherries, as with other stone fruit, do not prune any of the branches unless damage has occurred as a sure way of letting disease in is when the sap is not flowing. Once buds have opened in the first spring after planting you are then able to cut back any growth that is too long for your fan framework leaving the major pruning until after harvest time.
To ensure good fruiting and keep your trees in shape - particularly fans - you will need to undertake pruning, but it is
Cherry ‘Morello’ close up
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