Growing a cherry tree ?

[Rob G]

I'm in the design phase for both a fruit cage and an extension to my workshop. The south facing wall of the workshop could be made in such a way that the fruit cage joins onto it - the idea has occurred to me that this might be a good place to grow a cherry tree. The area would be something like 4m wide by 3m high ; is this realistic for a cherry tree or would it object to being limited in size - and equally would it produce an adequate crop if limited ?

Alternatively what else would be worth growing against a wall that needs protection from the birds

Thanks

Rob

[valmarg]

Rob, I assume you want to grow a variety of sweet cherry, rather than Morello.

We have had a Stella self fertile sweet cherry on a south facing wall for 20+ years. It covers an area about half your proposed fruit cage, so you may have enough room for two trees.

The modern self fertile cherry trees are on dwarfing rootstock, so it would take a long time for the tree to fill the cage.

They don't need any pruning.

There are more modern varieties than Stella, the fruit has a tendency to split when ripening. This year has been absolutely dreadful, and we have had no crop at all. We managed to keep out the blackbird family with netting, but with the heavy rain in June the fruits split, but the netting didn't keep out the wasps. In a 'normal' season we would expect to get about 4-5lbs of fruit, which isn't bad for a small tree.

The more modern varieties are less susceptible to splitting and to bacterial canker.

I suggest you look on sites like the Ken Muir website to see what new varieties are available. Plant breeders have been bringing out new and improved varieties in the past 20 years, and I would recommend you definitely give it a go.

valmarg

[Rob G]

Many thanks, Valmarg - that's very encouraging. My wife's reaction was "cherries ? in Scotland ?". Over 50 years ago I was at a school locally that had cherries in the garden and if we were very, very good (!) we used to get some.

Thanks - I'll pursue the source you give.

Rob

[Alice]

I can't answer all your questions Rob G but you can get cherries in Scotland. I have several Stella and they do make cherries. The trees are quite big which makes picking fruit difficult, but we pick what we can reach and let the blackies have the rest. And the blossom is lovely. With a little bit more attention to growing for fruit I think a great crop could be had. Good luck with yours.

[Rob G]

Hi Alice
Thanks for your input - I will probably be looking for a fan trained plant on a small rootstock.

There seems to be problem with the fruit on Stella splitting - presumably because of the fruit expanding too fast when there is a lot of moisture around. Do you have that problem in Dumbarton, or is this a warmer climate problem eg sarf Engerland ?

Rob

[valmarg]

'old thee foot up Rob, I may be south of you, but I'm not one of them softy southerners down south east!!

The Stella variety of cherry is prone to splitting, and this has been a particularly bad year, but it is a problem with the variety, nowt to do with where in the disunited kingdom it is grown.

Sorry I bothered to answer yet another ruddy scot!!!

valmarg

[Rob G]

Ooops !! I trod on a toe. Sorry Valmarg - comment wasn't meant that way; it was more of the fact that plant growth of any type is noticeably different in the warmer south, and I wondered if this cherry type was more prone to splitting there due to ripening faster. Looks therefore if Stella is to be avoided ?

Cheers
Rob

[valmarg]

OK Rob, apology accepted, and sorry if I caused any offence.

Stella was the first self-fertile sweet cherry. It was bred in Canada, and all in all its not a bad variety, but splitting is one of its downsides. As I said we have had a Stella tree for 20+ years. It is on dwarfing rootstock, and after all those years is still a very small tree, in most years producing a very good crop.

Obviously the plant breeders have been producing improvements. One of the first improved varieties was Cherokee, which was advertised as being less prone to splitting than Stella.

We can't complain about our tree, we bought it from Woollies for about £3.00, and it has certainly given us good crops over the years, obviously increasing with age!!

I think you would need to pay about £20.00 for the equivalent today.

Despite having had a disastrous year this year (along with many other growers), I would recommend having a go with cherries, but look to the more modern varieties.

valmarg