Cherry (sweet)

1. 1

   Choose Stella if you only plant one

   Stella is the UK's safest sweet cherry — fully self-fertile (the first commercial self-fertile cherry), reliable cropping, dark red dessert flavour. Other reliable self-fertile UK varieties: Sunburst (very dark, large fruit, vigorous), Lapins (red-orange, late, heavy cropper), Sweetheart (heart-shaped, late, very sweet). All four crop without a partner. Non-self-fertile cherries (Bigarreau Gaucher, heritage varieties) need a partner from the same flowering group.

2. 2

   Pick Gisela 5 rootstock for almost any garden

   The rootstock that transformed UK cherry growing. Gisela 5 (semi-dwarfing): 2.5–3 m tree, easily nettable, productive from year 3. Colt (semi-vigorous): 3.5–4.5 m bush, heavier crop but harder to protect from birds. F12/1 (vigorous): 6–8 m, traditional orchard, very long-lived but unmanageable for nets. Most UK garden cherries should be on Gisela 5.

3. 3

   Plant in a sheltered, sunny, frost-free spot

   Position matters as much as variety. Cherries flower in April — earlier than apples — and the blossom is vulnerable to frost. South or west-facing wall positions are ideal; avoid frost pockets. Well-drained soil — cherries hate waterlogged ground far more than most fruit. On clay, plant on a raised mound.

4. 4

   Plan bird protection before planting

   Sweet cherries without netting yield almost nothing for the gardener. Blackbirds and starlings strip a tree in a single morning when the fruit ripens. Plan one of: (1) a full walk-in fruit cage (the long-term answer), (2) a temporary nylon net thrown over the whole tree once berries colour, or (3) planting only on Gisela 5 which keeps the tree small enough to drape with mesh from a frame. Without a plan to net, sweet cherries are a frustrating crop.

5. 5

   Plant bare-root in winter

   November to March while dormant. Soak the roots for an hour. Plant at the same depth the tree was in the nursery. Stake permanently for Gisela 5 rootstocks. Water in deeply.

6. 6

   DON'T prune in winter — prune June–August

   Same rule as plum. Pruning when dormant exposes the tree to silver leaf disease (Chondrostereum purpureum). Prune in June, July, or early August when wounds heal fast. Light annual pruning is much better than occasional hard cuts. Remove dead/diseased/crossing branches; thin overcrowded growth; shorten leaders by a third on young trees. Mature cherries need very little pruning.

7. 7

   Net the tree once berries colour

   Hang netting over the tree as soon as the first berries start turning red (mid-June for early varieties, July for Stella, late July for late varieties). Use fine mesh (1 cm) to exclude both birds and the occasional cherry slug (sawfly larvae). Tuck the mesh under at the base — birds find any gap. Remove after the final pick to allow the tree to breathe.

8. 8

   Pick at full colour

   Cherries don't ripen off the tree — pick when fully coloured. Stella: dark red (not just red). Sunburst: nearly black with a slight glow. Lapins: orange-red darkening to deep red. Sweetheart: deep red. The stalk should pull away from the spur with the fruit (the spur stays on the tree). Pick over the tree every 2–3 days through the ripening window; cherries split in heavy rain and spoil within days of full ripeness.

Black cherry aphid, bacterial canker, and birds are persistent problems.