Tree · Rosaceae
Cherry
Prunus avium
Hand it full sun, deep soil, and good airflow, and a cherry tree pays you back with fruit for decades.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 4–8
20–36 ft · 6–11 m
Overview
A cherry tree pulls its weight in the yard twice a year, first with armfuls of white bloom in early spring and then with bowls of fruit by midsummer. It's part of the rose family, and it comes in two main flavors: the sweet cherry, Prunus avium, that you pluck and eat right off the branch, and the sour cherry, Prunus cerasus, that goes into your pies. Both ask for sun, elbow room, and soil that actually drains.
Don't be fooled, these are full-size trees and not something for the patio. A standard sweet cherry can stretch to 20 to 36 feet (6 to 11 m), though grafting it onto a dwarfing rootstock keeps the thing small enough to net and harvest. Sour cherries stay tidier and brush off the cold better, which is how they manage to grow further north.
Pollination is where a lot of new growers come unstuck. Plenty of sweet cherries need a second, compatible tree to set any fruit, while self-fertile types crop on their own. Figure this out before you dig the hole, because a lone Bing with no buddy will flower gorgeously and hand you next to nothing.
Care
The short version: full sun, deep and well-drained soil, and steady water right through the season. Prune it while dormant for an open, airy shape, pair a pollinizer with any sweet cherry that needs one, and get netting up before the birds discover the fruit.
Light
Cherries fruit best in full sun, so aim for 6 or more hours a day. A little shade won't stop them growing, but you'll give up fruit and roll out the kind of damp that disease loves.
Water
Water deep and even, especially while a young tree is finding its feet and again as the fruit swells. Shoot for roughly 1 inch (2.5 cm) a week, then ease off once the tree goes dormant. It's the patchy moisture and big drinks near harvest that crack the skins.
Soil
Set it in deep, fertile, well-drained loam. Cherries can't stand wet feet, so skip the low spots and any heavy clay that traps water. Keep the pH between 6.0 and 7.0 and the roots will be happy.
Temperature
These trees are tough, sitting comfortably across a wide span from about -22°F to 86°F (-30°C to 30°C). Sour cherries shrug off the cold even better, and honestly the real threat is a late frost catching the open flowers.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor humidity in the 40% to 60% range suits them just fine, so there's no figure to lose sleep over. Airflow matters far more, since still, damp air sitting around the canopy is how brown rot and canker get rolling.
Feeding
Feed in early spring before growth kicks off, reaching for a balanced fertilizer that a soil test points you to. Keep a light hand with the nitrogen, because a burst of soft growth invites disease and leaves you with foliage where you wanted fruit.
Pruning
Prune when the tree's dormant in late winter to shape an open frame that lets light and air slip through. If bacterial canker is a thing where you live, switch over to pruning on dry summer days instead, and always take out the dead, diseased, or crossing wood.
Size & spacing
A cherry is a proper tree, climbing 20 to 36 feet (6 to 11 m) tall and spreading 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) wide, though dwarfing rootstocks pull that back. Give a standard tree plenty of open space so air keeps moving through the canopy and disease stays in check.
When to plant
Cherries live by the calendar. Get a bare-root or potted tree in the ground in early spring while it's still asleep, enjoy the bloom as things warm up, and pick sweet cherries in early to midsummer with the sour types not far behind.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: early spring while trees are still dormant
- Harvest: blooms in early spring; sweet cherries harvest in early to midsummer (June to July) and sour cherries shortly after, in the northern hemisphere
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 4–8
Temperature: down to -34°C
Troubleshooting
Most of what goes wrong with a cherry lands on the fruit, whether that's disease, bugs, or birds, while canker takes aim at the wood instead. Get good at spotting the early clues and you can jump in before a whole season's crop slips away. Find what matches below, then act while it can still do some good.
Blossoms dying back and fruit going to a fuzzy tan rot
What you're looking at is brown rot, a fungus that torches the spring flowers first and then settles into the ripening fruit, leaving puffy tan tufts of spores sitting on the skin. Warm, damp weather is all it needs to take off. Pull off every shriveled mummy you can find, and open the canopy up with pruning so it dries out quickly once the rain stops.
Sunken weeping spots on limbs leaking gummy sap
That's bacterial canker working its way into the branches and trunk, oozing gum and killing off the wood beyond it, and it's nastiest during cool, wet springs. No spray will fix it, sorry. Your move is to cut well past the canker into healthy wood, and save your pruning for dry summer days when the bacteria have gone quiet.
Hidden maggots eating their way through ripening fruit
Here's the culprit: the cherry fruit fly drops eggs into the swelling fruit, and the maggots stay tucked out of sight until the moment you take a bite. Want to stay ahead of it? Hang sticky traps as the cherries begin coloring so you can time your control before picking. Any fruit that already has maggots inside is a write-off.
Ripe cherries disappearing thanks to birds
Give birds a chance and they'll strip a tree of ripe cherries before you've finished your morning coffee. Throw netting over the canopy before the fruit takes on color, because that's exactly when they show up. Scare gadgets buy you a little time, but a determined flock catches on fast.
Cherries splitting open just before they're ready
Fruit cracking shows up when a ripe cherry soaks in water quicker than its skin can keep up with, which usually follows a heavy rain or one of those late, too-generous waterings. Those splits then roll out the welcome mat for rot. Keep the soil moisture even all season, dial it back as harvest gets close, and grab the ripe fruit early if a storm's on the way.
Toxicity
The ripe fruit is great to eat, but the rest of the tree? That's genuinely dangerous. The leaves, stems, bark, and pits all hold cyanogenic glycosides that release cyanide, and wilted leaves off a broken or pruned branch are the deadliest of the lot. Keep prunings and fallen leaves clear of pets and grazing animals, and never let anybody swallow a pit.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Toxic
Since the leaves, stems, and pits all carry cyanide-releasing compounds, a cat that nibbles on them is genuinely at risk. Keep an eye out for drooling and a queasy stomach, and if things get bad, dilated pupils, panting, and labored breathing before the cat slips into shock.
Dogs Toxic
A dog that chews on a fallen branch or cracks open a pit can swallow enough cyanide to land in trouble. It starts off looking like a simple stomach upset, but a bigger dose pushes into heavy panting, bright red gums, and weakness. And a swallowed pit can wedge in the gut and cause a blockage too.
Horses Toxic
Of all these animals, horses are about the most sensitive, and the real hazard is wilted leaves off a broken or pruned limb. The poisoning hits quick: bright red gums, gasping for air, staggering, collapse, and sometimes a sudden death that gives no warning at all.
Rabbits Toxic
Don't offer a rabbit any cherry foliage or bark. Those cyanogenic glycosides can take down a small grazer in short order, so keep every bit of prunings and clippings far out of reach.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, sheep, and goats sit in the high-risk group, and the classic cause of loss is wilted leaves after a storm or a round of pruning. A grazing animal can slide from red gums and labored breathing to collapse in just minutes, so fence stock well clear of cherry trees and never pitch trimmings into a pasture.
Birds Toxic
Birds happily eat ripe cherries and drop the whole pit, but the leaves, twigs, and crushed pits give off cyanide, so keep those parts away from caged and backyard birds.
People Ripe fruit safe
The ripe flesh is the familiar, safe fruit everybody knows. Just don't chew or swallow the pits, and keep kids clear of the leaves and twigs, since that's where the cyanide-releasing compounds live.
Keep pets and livestock away from prunings, fallen leaves, and pits; wilting leaves from broken or trimmed branches are especially dangerous to grazing animals. Do not let children swallow pits.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Cherries fall neatly into two groups: sweet types you eat fresh and sour types you cook with. Here are the ones you'll run into most, and whether each can fruit alone is the detail that really counts.
Bing
The classic big, dark-red sweet cherry, but it can't fruit on its own and needs a matching pollinizer planted close by.
Rainier
A yellow sweet cherry with a red blush that, like Bing, leans on cross-pollination to produce a crop.
Stella
A self-fertile sweet cherry that fruits all by itself, which makes it the obvious choice if you've only got space for one tree.
Montmorency
The top sour cherry around, self-fertile and tough in the cold, and the one most folks grab when they're baking pies.
Morello
A dark-fleshed, self-fertile sour cherry that copes with shade and cold a good deal better than the sweet kinds do.
How to propagate
A cherry isn't a plant you grow from saved seed and expect the same fruit back. To land a known variety you start with a grafted tree, and the rootstock underneath calls the shots on how big it'll get.
GraftingModerate
Just about every named cherry gets grafted or budded onto a chosen rootstock, since that's the only way to hold a cultivar true to type. The rootstock decides the tree's size too, anywhere from a full Mazzard standard down to a dwarfing clonal root that keeps the fruit within arm's reach.
SeedModerate
Sure, you can grow a cherry from a stratified pit, but the seedling won't come out like its parent, so this path is really for raising rootstock or breeding stock, not a known variety. What you'll get is a wild or rootstock tree, not another Bing or Montmorency.
Myths
You can safely eat any part of a cherry.
Nope, only the ripe flesh is safe. The leaves, stems, blossoms, and pits carry cyanogenic compounds that release cyanide, which means those parts are toxic to people and animals alike. So enjoy the fruit and spit the pit out.
You can't get fruit without planting two cherry trees.
A lot of sweet cherries really do want a partner for cross-pollination, sure, but self-fertile types set fruit on their own. Sweet ones like Stella and most sour cherries, Montmorency included, will crop just fine as a single tree.
Sour cherries are really just sweet cherries that got picked too soon.
Not at all, they're a whole different species, Prunus cerasus, and not an unripe anything. Sour cherries are naturally tart, smaller, hardier, and self-fertile, and they ripen right into that tang on purpose.