Page 27 - Simply Veg 3.21

Cherry ‘Morello’ fan
weather, doing so by the stalks, not the body of the fruit, which bruise easily. Eat sweet cherries fresh off the tree but if you have too many for this you can store them in bags or containers in the fridge for a few days. Acid cherries are not suitable for eating fresh but are ideal for cooking with or jam making. With these cherries it is best to either store them in the fridge or to cook them up as soon as they are picked.
Unfortunately, as I noted earlier, cherry trees are liable to both bacterial canker and Silverleaf and it is probably inevitable your trees will eventually suffer from one of these. However, you can radically minimise the chance of this happening by buying your trees from a reputable supplier and not pruning when the sap is not rising. I
Young cherries
suggest that you interpret this as not pruning between the end of September until the end of March. Also make sure that you prune cleanly and try not to cut out large branches as the wounds on these take much longer
to recover.
Varieties...
Some cherries are very liable to splitting in times of heavy rainfall and this has been addressed commercially by a combination of developing varieties that are less prone to splitting as well as growing them within polythene tunnels or covers. This is why the rootstock Gisela 5 has become so popular. If you live in an area of heavy rainfall, it will be prudent for you to select varieties that are not too prone to splitting unless you can grow them under cover.
Sweet cherries (all are self-fertile unless noted otherwise)
Kordia is heavy cropping black sweet cherry which has large fruits with a red flesh. This is another variety which is less prone to splitting in wet conditions.
Lapins is a red cherry which is very heavy cropping, easy to grow and very suitable for garden growing. This variety is self-fertile, so no pollinator is required for it to fruit.
Merchant is a high quality, early season dark red cherry which is heavy cropping and ideal for garden growing. This variety will need a pollinator as it is not self-fertile.
Penny is an easy to grow quality sweet cherry. It is very heavy cropping from an early age and produces large, dark red fruits turning to black when ripe. It has some tolerance to wet conditions. This variety is not self-fertile so will need a pollinator.
Stella produces large crops of high- quality sweet cherries that turn
from red to almost black when ripe. Unfortunately, it is fairly prone to splitting so do not grow it in wet areas unless you can cover it.
Summer Sun is a large, dark red sweet cherry that will grow well in the northern parts of the UK and exposed areas and will crop relatively well in poor summers. It is fairly compact in growth and therefore ideal for small gardens.
Sweetheart is a heavy cropping, dark red sweet cherry which will crop and ripen over a very long period and often until the end of September. If you can only grow one sweet cherry this may be the one to go for!
Acid cherry
Morello is probably the best acid cherry which will crop well in fairly shady situations and particularly when spring and summer has been poor. It is very heavy cropping, and the beautiful blossom lights up shady areas in early spring! This is a perfect cherry for cooking with and making jam.
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