Tree fruit
How to grow cherries
Prunus avium (sweet) / P. cerasus (acid)
Plant a cherry tree between November and March in full sun, shelter and deep, well-drained soil. For a garden, choose a self-fertile sweet variety on the dwarfing Gisela 5 rootstock, grown as a small bush, a fan on a warm wall or in a large pot, so that the whole tree can be netted; an acid Morello will crop on a north wall. Netting against birds and pruning only in spring and summer are what decide success.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Full sun, sheltered
- Soil
- Deep, fertile, free-draining
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 6.7
- Water
- Moderate, steady water prevents splitting
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting cherries
WhenPlant Nov to Mar; blossom Apr; harvest Jun to Aug
Starting off
Plant bare-root Nov to Mar, pot-grown any month. Trees are budded in Jul to Aug onto Gisela 5 or Colt; seed gives small wild gean fruit. Morello (acid) is self-fertile and fruits on a north wall; among sweet cherries choose a self-fertile variety or two compatible partners.
Spacing and planting
Gisela 5 rootstock spreads 3 to 4 m, Colt 6 to 8 m, F12/1 8 m plus; a Gisela 5 fan fits a 2.5 to 3.5 m wall. Hole 60 cm wide, union 10 cm above soil. A self-fertile Stella, Sunburst or Morello on Gisela 5 crops well in a 50 to 60 cm pot.
Varieties worth growing
- Stella
- The best-known self-fertile sweet cherry: dark red fruit in late July and a dependable cropper.
- Sunburst
- Self-fertile, with large, near-black, very sweet cherries in early to mid July.
- Lapins
- Also sold as Cherokee. Self-fertile and heavy cropping, with fruit that resists splitting better than most.
- Sweetheart
- Self-fertile and very late, ripening through August, so it extends the season after the others finish.
- Morello
- The acid cooking cherry: self-fertile, crops in August and is one of the few fruits that does well on a north-facing wall.
Cherries month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Plant bare-root trees in open weather. Do not prune.
- February
Feed at the end of the month. Plant bare-root trees.
- March
Mulch. Last bare-root planting. Have fleece ready.
- April
Blossom. Fleece fans and potted trees on frosty nights. Shape young trees now as the buds open.
- May
Check shoot tips for blackfly. Water steadily as fruit sets.
- June
Net before the fruit colours. Keep watering evenly to limit splitting. The earliest cherries ripen at the end of the month.
- July
Pick sweet cherries with scissors, stalk on. Pinch new shoots on fans to six leaves. Prune established trees after picking.
- August
Pick Morello and Sweetheart. Cut fruited Morello shoots back to a young replacement. Shorten sweet cherry fan shoots to three leaves. Finish all pruning.
- September
Take nets off. Keep watering potted trees until leaf fall.
- October
Rake up fallen leaves. Order bare-root trees.
- November
Plant bare-root trees with the union 10 cm above the soil, and stake.
- December
Plant in open weather. Check stakes and ties. Do not prune.
Feeding cherries
A moderate feeder. One balanced feed in early spring and a mulch is enough in the ground; too much nitrogen gives leaf, blackfly and few flowers. Potted trees need a second top-dress at fruit set.
A moderate balanced spring feed.
Feeding plan
Planting, November to March
5 g per litre of root-ball volume, in contact with the roots, once: 50 g for a tree from a 10 litre pot. For a bare-root tree dust the damp roots all over.
Late February to March
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m², the lower end of the label, under the canopy. A Gisela 5 tree 2.5 m across covers about 5 m²: 350 g.
March to April, after feeding
Garden compost
A mulch 5 to 8 cm deep under the canopy, kept clear of the trunk, to even out soil moisture.
March, trees in pots
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
2 g per litre of compost as a top-dress: 110 g for a 50 cm pot holding about 55 litres.
Fruit set, about May, trees in pots, once
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
2 g per litre of compost again, at least six weeks after the March top-dress: 110 g for a 55 litre pot, scattered on the surface and watered in. The label gives no interval for top-dressing pots, so stop at these two for the season.
Signs to watch
Split fruit
Rain after drought, nothing to do with calcium
Mulch and water evenly as fruit swells
Older leaves yellow between the veins
Magnesium
Epsom salts or kieserite
Masses of soft leaf, few flowers
Nitrogen excess
Stop nitrogen, feed potash
Weak pale growth
Nitrogen short
A balanced spring feed
Pests, diseases and problems
Fruit disappears as it colours, leaving stalks and stones
Birds, mainly blackbirds, starlings and pigeons
Net the whole tree or fan before the fruit starts to colour, with the net secured at the base. This is the reason to keep cherries small.
Shoot tips curled into tight bunches packed with black aphids in May and June
Cherry blackfly
On small trees pinch out or squash infested tips early. On bigger trees tolerate it: the aphids leave by July and ladybirds follow them in. Do not overfeed with nitrogen.
Sunken bark oozing amber gum, branches failing to leaf, small round holes in leaves
Bacterial canker
Cut out affected branches to healthy wood in summer and bin them. Prune only between late spring and August.
Leaves silvered on one branch, which later dies; dark stain inside the wood
Silver leaf fungus entering through cuts
Prune in dry summer weather only. Remove the affected branch to 15 cm beyond the stain.
Blossom and the spur behind it wither and turn brown after a wet spring
Blossom wilt, the same fungus that causes brown rot of the fruit
Cut out withered spurs and any rotting fruit as soon as you see them, back to healthy wood.
Ripe cherries soften and collapse, with tiny white maggots inside
Spotted wing drosophila
Pick as soon as ripe and remove all damaged and fallen fruit. Fine insect mesh over a small tree, put on as the fruit starts to colour, keeps both the fly and birds out.
Pruning and harvest
Pruning and care
Sweet cherry fans: pinch new shoots to 6 leaves in July, shorten to 3 after harvest. Morello fruits on last year's wood: after picking cut each fruited shoot back to a replacement young shoot near its base. Net before colouring in June; fleece April blossom.
Harvest and storage
Sweet cherries are ripe when fully coloured and taste sweet, cut the stalks with scissors rather than tugging, which rips the spurs. Acid cherries are picked the same way for the pan. First crop 2 to 3 years on Gisela 5; a dwarf fan or bush gives 10 to 15 kg, a Morello 5 to 8 kg. Fridge for a week; freeze stoned or bottle.
Good to knowNet; prune in summer. Many modern varieties are self-fertile.
Growing cherries in pots
Cherries are one of the better tree fruits for a pot. Plant a self-fertile variety on Gisela 5 in a 50 to 60 cm container (55 litres or more) of peat-free loam-based compost with the 4-5-6 mixed in at 5 g per litre, which is 275 g for 55 litres. A potted tree is easy to net, and can be moved under cover at blossom time and again as fruit ripens to keep rain off, which reduces splitting. Water daily in summer and never let it dry out and then flood. Top-dress every March and again at fruit set, and repot every two to three years.
Cherries: common questions
Do I need two cherry trees to get fruit?
Not if you plant a self-fertile variety such as Stella, Sunburst, Lapins, Sweetheart or the acid cherry Morello, all of which crop alone. Older sweet varieties need a compatible partner flowering at the same time.
When should I prune a cherry tree?
Prune cherries in spring and summer only, never in winter. Shape young trees in April as the buds open, and prune established trees after picking in July or August. Winter cuts expose the tree to silver leaf and bacterial canker.
How do I stop birds eating my cherries?
Net the whole tree before the fruit begins to colour; nothing else is reliable. That is practical only on a small tree, which is why garden cherries are grown on Gisela 5 rootstock as bushes, fans or in pots.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.
- How to grow cherriesRHS
- Fan-trained trees: pruning established fansRHS
- Silver leafRHS
- How to grow cherriesBBC Gardeners' World