Tree · Rosaceae
Cherry
Prunus avium
Given full sun, deep soil, and moving air, a cherry tree will return fruit for decades.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 4–8
20–36 ft · 6–11 m
Overview
A cherry tree pays you back twice in a season: a flush of white bloom in early spring, then bowls of fruit by midsummer. It sits in the rose family and divides into two working groups, the sweet cherry, Prunus avium, eaten straight from the branch, and the sour cherry, Prunus cerasus, that goes into pies. Both demand sun, space, and soil that drains freely, because their roots will not tolerate sitting wet.
Treat these as full-size trees, not patio specimens. A standard sweet cherry can climb to 20 to 36 feet (6 to 11 m), which is why grafting onto a dwarfing rootstock matters: it holds the tree at a height you can actually net and harvest. Sour cherries grow more compactly and withstand cold better, so they can be planted further north.
Pollination is where new growers most often go wrong. Many sweet cherries will not set fruit without a second, compatible tree blooming nearby, whereas self-fertile types crop alone. Settle that question before planting, because a solitary Bing with no pollinizer will flower well and yield almost nothing.
Care
The short version: full sun, deep and well-drained soil, and steady moisture through the season. Prune while dormant for an open, airy frame, pair any pollinizer-dependent sweet cherry with a compatible tree, and net the canopy before birds reach the fruit.
Light
Cherries fruit best in full sun, ideally 6 or more hours a day, because the leaves need that light to build the sugars that fill the crop. A little shade will not kill the tree, but it costs you fruit and holds dampness in the canopy, which is exactly the condition disease exploits.
Water
Water deeply and evenly, most critically while a young tree is establishing roots and again as the fruit sizes up. Target roughly 1 inch (2.5 cm) a week, then ease off as the tree enters dormancy. The skins split when moisture swings, so a heavy drink right at harvest is what cracks the ripe fruit.
Soil
Plant into deep, fertile, well-drained loam. Cherries cannot tolerate wet roots, so avoid low spots and heavy clay that hold water and starve the roots of oxygen. A pH between 6.0 and 7.0 keeps nutrients available to the tree.
Temperature
These are cold-hardy trees, at ease across a broad span from about -22°F to 86°F (-30°C to 30°C). Sour cherries withstand the cold even better, and the real threat to a crop is a late frost striking open bloom, which kills the flowers outright.
Humidity
Ordinary outdoor humidity in the range of 40% to 60% suits cherries well, so there is no figure to manage. What does matter is airflow, because still, damp air lingering in the canopy is what allows brown rot and canker to establish.
Feeding
Feed in early spring before growth resumes, using a balanced fertilizer matched to a soil test. Go light on nitrogen: an excess pushes soft, succulent growth that pathogens favor, and it diverts the tree toward leaves at the expense of fruit.
Pruning
Prune while the tree is dormant in late winter to build an open frame that admits light and air. Where bacterial canker is present, prune instead in dry summer weather, when the bacteria are inactive and fresh cuts are far less likely to be infected, and always take out dead, diseased, or crossing wood.
Size & spacing
A cherry grows into a true tree, reaching 20 to 36 feet (6 to 11 m) tall and spreading 15 to 30 feet (4.5 to 9 m) wide, though a dwarfing rootstock reins that in. Give a standard tree generous open space so air circulates through the canopy and keeps disease pressure down.
When to plant
Cherries take their cues from the seasons. Set a bare-root or potted tree in early spring while it is still dormant, let it bloom as the weather warms, and harvest sweet cherries in early to midsummer with sour types ripening just behind them.
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 cherry problems concentrate on the fruit, whether from disease, insects, or birds, while canker works on the wood instead. Reading the early signs is what lets you intervene before a whole crop is lost. Find the match below, then act while there is still time to help.
Blossoms collapsing and fruit rotting under fuzzy tan pads
What you are seeing is brown rot, a fungal disease that first kills the open blossoms, then turns ripening fruit to rot marked by raised tan cushions of spores. Those spore pads are the reproductive stage, and warm wet conditions let them spread from one fruit to the next within days. Remove every shriveled mummy from the tree and ground, since each one carries inoculum into next season, and prune to open the canopy so it dries quickly once the rain stops.
Sunken weeping wounds and gummy sap on the wood
These sunken, gum-oozing lesions are bacterial canker, which colonizes branches and the trunk and kills everything above the infection. The bacteria are most active and the wounds most likely in cool, wet springs, and no spray will cure an established case. Cut back into healthy wood well beyond the canker margin, and do your structural pruning in dry summer weather, when the pathogen is dormant and fresh cuts are far less likely to be invaded.
Hidden maggots feeding inside coloring cherries
The cherry fruit fly deposits eggs just under the skin of developing fruit, and the larvae tunnel through the flesh out of sight until harvest. Because the damage is internal, timing is everything: hang sticky traps as the fruit begins to color, which is when the adults are active and laying, and treat on that cue. Any fruit already holding a maggot cannot be saved.
Ripe cherries disappearing to feeding birds
Birds strip a fruiting tree quickly once the cherries sweeten. The most reliable defense is netting draped over the canopy before the fruit colors, since color is the signal that draws them in. Noise and visual scare devices buy some time, but a persistent flock habituates to anything that never actually threatens it.
Skins splitting open as the fruit ripens
Fruit cracking is a physical failure: a ripe cherry takes up water faster than its skin can expand, usually after heavy rain or a late, abrupt irrigation, and the skin tears under the pressure. Those openings then admit rot organisms. Hold soil moisture steady all season and taper it off as harvest approaches so the fruit is not swinging between dry and saturated, and pick promptly when rain is forecast.
Toxicity
The ripe fruit is good to eat, but the rest of the tree is genuinely hazardous. Leaves, stems, bark, and pits all carry cyanogenic glycosides that release cyanide, and wilted leaves from a broken or pruned branch are the most dangerous of all because wilting raises the available toxin. Keep prunings and fallen leaves away from pets and grazing animals, and never let anyone swallow the pits.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds
Safe for
People
Cats Toxic
The leaves, stems, and pits hold cyanide-releasing compounds, so a cat that chews on them faces genuine danger. Early signs are drooling and digestive upset; a serious dose can progress to dilated pupils, panting, and labored breathing ahead of shock.
Dogs Toxic
A dog chewing fallen branches or cracking pits can absorb enough cyanide to do harm. It often begins as stomach upset, but a larger amount brings heavy panting, bright red gums, and weakness, and a swallowed pit can also obstruct the digestive tract.
Horses Toxic
Horses rank among the most sensitive species here, and wilted leaves from a broken or pruned limb pose the greatest threat. Poisoning develops rapidly: bright red gums, gasping breath, staggering, collapse, and at times sudden death with no warning.
Rabbits Toxic
Cherry leaves and bark should never be fed to a rabbit. In a small grazer the cyanogenic glycosides act fast, so keep all prunings and clippings entirely out of reach.
Livestock Toxic
Cattle, sheep, and goats carry high risk, and wilted foliage after a storm or pruning is the classic trigger for losses. A grazing animal can move from red gums and labored breathing to collapse within minutes, so fence stock away from cherry trees and keep trimmings out of any pasture.
Birds Toxic
Birds swallow ripe cherries whole and pass the intact pit, but the leaves, twigs, and crushed pits release cyanide and must be kept away from caged or backyard birds.
People Ripe fruit safe
The ripe flesh is a familiar fruit that is safe to eat. Do not chew or swallow the pits, and keep children clear of leaves and twigs, since those tissues hold the cyanide-releasing compounds.
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 divide neatly into sweet types for eating fresh and sour types for the kitchen. The cultivars below are the ones you will encounter most, and whether each sets fruit on its own is the detail that decides how you plant.
Bing
A large, dark-red sweet cherry of long standing that is not self-fertile, so it requires a compatible pollinizer planted nearby to set a crop.
Rainier
A yellow sweet cherry flushed with red that, like Bing, relies on cross-pollination from another compatible tree to fruit.
Stella
A self-fertile sweet cherry that fruits without a partner, which makes it the obvious choice where there is space for only one tree.
Montmorency
The dominant sour cherry, both self-fertile and cold-hardy, and the variety most growers choose for pies.
Morello
A dark-fleshed, self-fertile sour cherry that tolerates shade and cold more readily than the sweet types.
How to propagate
A cherry is not a plant to raise from saved seed and expect identical fruit. To secure a known variety you begin with a grafted tree, and the rootstock beneath it determines how large that tree will eventually grow.
GraftingModerate
Nearly every named cherry is grafted or budded onto a selected rootstock, since that is the only reliable way to reproduce a cultivar true to type. The rootstock also governs the tree's eventual size, ranging from a full Mazzard standard down to a dwarfing clonal root that keeps the canopy low enough to net and pick.
SeedModerate
A cherry will grow from a stratified pit, but the seedling does not come true to its parent, so seed is used to raise rootstock or breeding stock rather than a named variety. Plan on a wild or rootstock tree, not another Bing or Montmorency.
Myths
You can safely eat any part of a cherry tree.
Only the ripe flesh is safe. The leaves, stems, blossoms, and pits contain cyanogenic compounds that release cyanide, which makes those parts toxic to people and animals alike. Eat the fruit and discard the pit.
A cherry tree must have a second tree before it will fruit at all.
Many sweet cherries do depend on a partner for cross-pollination, but self-fertile types set fruit on their own. Sweet cultivars such as Stella and most sour cherries, including Montmorency, will crop as a single tree.
Sour cherries are simply sweet cherries harvested before they ripen.
They are an entirely separate species, Prunus cerasus, not an early-picked sweet cherry. Sour cherries are naturally tart, smaller, hardier, and self-fertile, and that tang is the ripe flavor they are meant to have.