Cherry Producing Trees

Sweet cherries can be enjoyed straight off the tree.

Sweet cherries can be enjoyed straight off the tree.

After bearing spring blossoms to rival the purely ornamental cherry trees, fruit-producing sweet and sour cherries are among the first fruit trees ready to harvest. Some have ripe fruit as early as June or July. Generally smaller but hardier than sweet cherry (Prunus avium) trees, fewer sour cherry (P. cerasus) varieties are available for home orchards. A third cherry type, the Duke group, which includes "Royal Duke" and "May Duke," resulted from a sweet-sour cross and shares characteristics with each.

Selecting a Tree

When deciding which variety to plant, available space, climate and whether you want sweet cherries to eat fresh or sour ones for cooking should all be considered. December to March is the optimal time to get bare-root fruit stock into the ground. Sour cherry trees usually only reach 15 feet, making them better suited for small properties. In the past, sweet cherry trees could grow to 35 feet tall and wide, but hybridization and rootstock grafting have produced much smaller sweet varieties. Most sour cherries are self-fertile, while the major sweet cherry cultivars require a second variety for cross-pollination. If you want a sweet cherry and only have room for one tree, buy one grafted with two cultivars or purchase a newer self-fertile hybrid. Each tree must experience a specific number of chill hours (when temperatures are between 32 and 45 degrees F) in order to break dormancy and produce fruit. For cherries, chill hours normally range from 1,000 to 1,300.

Sweet Cherries

Sweet cherries can be deep purple, red or yellow, and their flesh may be firm or soft. Softer-fleshed types, such as "Angela," "Hartland" or "Kristin," tend to be less prone to cracking. Varieties like "Bing," "Lambert" and "Royal Ann" are among the most common market cherries. For those with limited orchard space, "Craig's Crimson" is only about half the size of the typical 35-foot sweet cherry tree. "Stella," "Vandalay" and "White Gold," being self-fertile, eliminate the need for planting a pollinator nearby. All these are recommended for U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 5 to 8.

Sour Cherries

Capable of tolerating warmer temperatures, sour cherry trees can handle the conditions in USDA zones 5 to 10a. Since sour cherries appear mostly in cooked dishes, with sweetening added, they are sometimes referred to as pie cherries. Sour varieties lack the stardom of sweet ones, but "Early Richmond" and "Montmorency" stand out among the group. The distinction of sweet or sour is beginning to blur, and "Surefire," though classified as sour, is sweet enough to enjoy fresh. Though all cherries require well-drained soils, sour cherries tolerate poorer, moderately heavy soils better than their sweet counterparts.

Boosting Production

For a successful crop, it is important to keep moisture levels constant. As cherries mature, they will shrivel if the soil is too dry. On the other hand, too much water will cause them to crack and split. Spreading a thick organic mulch around can help maintain a steady moisture level. If any cherry tree is not putting out at least 6 inches of new growth a year, give mature trees 5 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer in the spring. For younger trees, add 1/2-pound of the fertilizer to the soil for each year of their age. Cherry trees do not need heavy pruning, but lightly prune to stimulate new growth and remove branches growing awkwardly. Hungry birds threaten cherry crops more than most insects and diseases. Two of the most effective defenses against thieving birds are covering trees with netting before the fruit ripens or planting a fruiting mulberry tree nearby to lure the birds away.

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