Cherry Trees, What to order?

[simon12]

I have been planning to buy 2 cherry trees for ages but just can't decide what to get. I definitely want 2 trees on Gisela 5 rootstock but don't know what variety to get. I was considering Stella as it seems to be a safe bet all round but I want something a bit different that you cannot get in a supermarket. I am now considering Napoleon and something else but I am not sure what, but is having just 2 trees that are not self fertile enough to pollinate each other? Please give me some suggestions, I will likely order from Keepers or Blackmoor unless you can suggest better.
I will likely get 1 year maidens (I like the idea or seeing it grow from very small) and just want to grow them as standard trees. A reliable harvest is quite important but doesn't need to be huge.
Thank you in advance for any help.

[orangepippin]

I would not bother too much about the variety, although Stella, Sweetheart, Napoleon are all nice. The thing to remember with cherries is that *any* cherry tastes fabulous if picked on the day it is perfectly ripe and eaten immediately - even varieties you can find in the shops.

Note that Gisela 5 rootstock will not be vigorous enough to produce "standard" trees (i.e. with 2m clear stem).

If you include at least one of the modern self-fertile varieties such as Stella it is likely to pollinate most of the traditional non self-fertile ones too.

[FB.]

Cherry trees are the birds favourite and much of the crop will be lost to birds unless netted. On big trees the crop is so big that bird losses can be ignored.

But big trees require time to grow up to size (potentially taking several years to produce a worthwhile amount of fruit), and standard trees require a rootstock that's not dwarfing. Dwarf rootstocks tend to have weak roots - weak in terms of not very competitive against other plants and weak in terms of poor anchorage (and big trees really catch the wind and rock, so they need strong anchorage).

Gisela 5 is not likely to make more than a medium-sized bush, about 3m in good soil and half that in poor soil.
Colt will make a large bush or a small tree ("half standard") perhaps twice the size of Gisela and similar to the pear rootstock "pyrodwarf" or the apple rootstock "MM111". Colt reaches about 3m in size round here because of the soil being quite poor.

For full standard trees with 5ft+ clear stem, you need a really strong rootstock such as F12/1 (or seedling) and very few, if any, nurseries offer rootstocks of that size range because of UK gardens being far too small.

I generally like the quality of plants from Keepers, and they offer a limited range of maiden cherries on F12/1:
Keepers Nursery UK | Fruit trees for sale | Buy Online | Mail order
.

[simon12]

Sorry when I said standard tree I mean't just not pruned to any style, I didn't realise it had other meanings, under 3m is perfect as I don't like going up ladders and I don't have enough space for a larger tree which is why I want Gisela 5. How about Napoleon & Lapins or Stella and Merchant is there much between these 2 combinations?

[orangepippin]

Those are all good varieties. Also have a look at Sweetheart, Sunburst, Regina, and Kordia as well.

As I mentioned though, any cherry is good when home-grown - the commercial growers and supermarkets are very good at getting cherries from tree to the shops, but the flavour fades within hours so home-grown is always better.

[simon12]

OK going for Napoleon and Lapins unless anyone suggests a reason why not. Thank you for all the help and sorry for the misunderstanding on the term "Standard Tree".

[orangepippin]

Stella was developed by Dr Charles Lapins. He then went on to develop the Lapins cherry, which is Stella x Van, and a good combination. It is unusual for being one of only a couple of varieties developed at the famous Summerland research station in Canada whose name does not start with "S". (Van is one of the others!).

I like Napoleon too.

[simon12]

Thanks again just ordered the 2 trees from Keepers Napoleon and Lapins 1 year maidens on Gisela 5 I also got a regent grape as an impulse buy (as delivery was alot compared to the tree price) no idea where I am going to plant it but I will find somewhere.

[seneca196]

We had a stella at the allotment and birds feasted on it and stripped it bare. Also had one in a pot at home that was netted. It had a dozen ripe cherries that I was leaving on the tree until the evening for when the kids got home. When we arrived in the evening, it was bare and a squirrel was climbing out of the netting and running off down the garden. I did consider yelling, "Stella!" like Streetcar named Desire, but decided it wouldn't be appropriate.

[It never rains..it pours]

Canker resistance

Any advice on which has best canker resistance out of Lapins, Stella or Sunburst Cherry would be appreciated ? Read some trials where Colt rootstock was found to be more resistant than Gisela, so colt it is. But seen nothing to separate the three varieties.

[nickdub]

I've never had any problems with diseases on my cherry trees - my difficulties have all related to trying to keep a few to eat myself by preventing the various forms of wildlife finishing them off.
I'm thinking of building some sort of massive fruit cage but as with a lot of my plans getting it from my head to reality, may prove to be easier thought about than done :-)

[veggiechicken]

The bullfinches were stripping the buds from the cherry tree here a couple of days ago.
I moved all the little cherry trees into a debris netted polytunnel last year. Still waiting for a cherry!

[chrisdb]

I have a Celeste on Colt. It's naturally dwarfing and very slow growing, so you can have a dwarf tree on a rootstock strong enough that it stands a chance. Gisela rootstocks die in my garden.

[bario1]

I've got Lapins on Colt - it's only four or five years old, but no sign of canker yet, as far as i can tell.

[It never rains..it pours]

Thank you for all the informative replies, think Im leaning towards lapins on colt