Protecting cherries

[GKP]

Hi! New to growing... bought a cherry tree last year. It blossomed this year and is self fertilising. I attmpeted to give it a helping hand. Anyway, it has started to grow what I think might be cherries. Do I need to protect them from birds at this stage? They're tiny green dwellings just below where the flower was (before the hail storm shredded all the flowers)!

Thanks for your help.

[GKP]

Sorry, don't seem to be able to edit the typos in that post. Or add a photo so here is the photo link:

https://ibb.co/ccc067

[nickdub]

Nope, they'll be OK to look after themselves while they are green - when they start changing colour then the birds (and sometimes squirrels) will eat almost all of them, unless you can put an effective barrier up like netting or fleece.

[GKP]

Don't think my original reply worked. Sorry.

Thanks again for your advice. I'll sort something when they start to change colour. I have fleece and can probably fashion something relatively squirrel proof with some twine... time yet to get the sewing machine out Thanks!

[nickdub]

You're very welcome - I've got quite a large cherry tree the fruit of which the birds usually get 99% - this year I've bought some fleece so we shall see if I can get inspired too - if I could pick near to 50% of the cherries on there I'd be extremely chuffed.

[GKP]

Well, you be a bigger job than me on your hands... mine are all within arms reach and in small clusters so I could probably gather the fleece using jute through some holes or something... happy to share if I find anything that works particularly well!

[nickdub]

There were a few posts about this previously on here, which you might want to have a read through - from memory some of them with photos.

My big tree is about 40' high, so I doubt I'll be scrambling right to the top of it :-) Bigarreau Napoleon if I remember correctly.

[chrisdb]

I cut fine netting and then make them into sleeves around the branches using cable ties. This works as long as the tree is quite small and you can reach the branches easily.

My grandparents have two wild cherry trees about 10m tall, and they produce so much that even if you don't protect them you get shopping bags full.

It's between the two extremes, at mature Colt rootstock sizes of 4m, where things become a bit difficult....