Cherry trees are dual-purpose plants in the landscape. They provide attractive flowers in spring and delicious fruit in early summer. Sour or tart cherries are delicious in pies and other desserts. Sweet cherries are often eaten fresh or used in salads, main dishes, and desserts.
Planting Site | Pollination Requirements | Longevity | Recommended Cultivars | Planting | Care | Harvesting | Pruning | Potential Problems | More Information
Planting Site
Cherries perform best in moist, well-drained, fertile soils. Avoid wet, poorly drained sites. Cherries are susceptible to root rots in wet, poorly drained soils. Trees should also receive full sun. Sites must receive at least 8 hours of sun each day.
Sweet cherries bloom earlier than sour cherries. As a result, the flowers on sweet cherries are more prone to damage from late spring frosts. When selecting a planting site for sweet cherries, avoid planting in low spots where cold air settles on calm nights. Also, avoid southern and western exposures that encourage early bloom.
Pollination Requirements
Sour Cherries
Sour or tart cherries are self-fruitful. Self-pollination occurs when pollen is transferred from the anther to the stigma on the same flower, from another flower on the same plant, or from a flower on another plant of the same variety (cultivar). Only one sour cherry tree needs to be planted for pollination and fruit set.
Sweet Cherries
Many sweet cherry varieties cannot produce fruit from their own pollen and are considered self-unfruitful. These plants require cross-pollination for fruit set. Cross-pollination is the transfer of pollen from one plant to the flower of a different variety. When planting self-unfruitful cultivars, at least two different sweet cherry trees (varieties) must be planted for fruit production. While most sweet cherry varieties are self-unfruitful, there are a few self-fruitful cultivars.
Longevity
Cherry trees are short-lived in Iowa, especially on poor sites. Sweet cherries seldom survive more than 10 years. Sour or tart cherries may survive for 20 to 25 years. When selecting a planting site, be sure to choose a well-drained location.
Recommended Cultivars
Sour Cherries
'Northstar' and 'Meteor' are two of the best-performing sour cherry varieties in Iowa. Both cultivars were introduced by the University of Minnesota and possess excellent cold hardiness.
'Northstar' is a dwarf tree that commonly grows 8 to 10 feet tall. Its fruit has a mahogany-red skin with red flesh, and is 3/4 inch in diameter.
'Meteor' is a semi-dwarf tree. Trees may eventually reach 10 to 14 feet tall. The fruit of 'Meteor' is slightly larger than 'Northstar' and has bright red skin and yellow flesh.
Another possibility is 'Mesabi.' 'Mesabi' is a cross between a sweet and sour cherry. Its red-fleshed fruit is sweeter than 'Northstar' and 'Meteor.'
Sweet Cherries
Sweet cherries are less successful in Iowa and do not reliably produce a crop every year because they bloom earlier and are more prone to damage from late spring cold snaps. Expect a good crop in 2 or 3 out of every five years. In northern Iowa, you may only see a good crop 2 or 3 times during the entire life of the tree.
'Gold,' BlackGold, and WhiteGold are sweet cherry varieties that can be successfully grown in the southern half of Iowa. 'Gold' has yellow skin. It is self-unfruitful.
Another late-blooming sweet cherry variety must be planted for pollination and fruit set. BlackGold and WhiteGold are self-fruitful, mid to late blooming cultivars from Cornell University in New York. BlackGold has dark red skin, while WhiteGold is light yellow with a reddish blush.
Other possibilities for southeastern Iowa include 'Hedelfingen' (self-unfruitful, red fruit), 'Kristin' (self-unfruitful, purplish-black fruit), 'Sam' (self-unfruitful, dark red fruit), and 'Van' (self-unfruitful, reddish-black fruit).
Planting
Peach trees should be planted in early spring after the soil has thawed and can be worked. Trees can be purchased in containers or bare root. Bare root is more common from mail-order sources.
More information about proper planting can be found in this article: Tree Planting Basics.
Spacing between trees should be equal to their approximate mature height. For example, if the trees are expected to reach 15 feet tall, they should be spaced 15 feet apart.
Care
Watering
Trees need adequate moisture during the growing season. Ideally, trees receive about 1 inch of water per week from rainfall or irrigation. Because the roots of trees cover a relatively wide area (just beyond the drip line of the tree canopy) and extend deeper in the ground than other fruits like strawberries, supplemental irrigation for established trees is typically only needed during extended dry periods.
Young trees (those planted within the last 3-5 years) require more frequent watering because their root systems are smaller. When watering, be sure to wet the entire root zone. A good rule of thumb for determining how much water to apply is to remember that a 5-gallon bucket of water applied to a 3-foot-square area is equivalent to about 1 inch of rainfall. Avoid overwatering, as saturated soils increase the risk of disease.
Fertilization
For optimal fruit set and growth, a modest amount of fertilizer can be applied in early spring, before growth begins, to support shoot development and fruiting. Using a 10-10-10 fertilizer, apply at a rate of 1/2 pound per year of age, never exceeding 5 pounds. Split the fertilizer amount into two applications, applied before bloom and spaced several weeks apart. Often, it is easiest to broadcast a granular fertilizer in the tree's root zone, lightly working it into the soil, focusing your application on the outer edge of that area, where most active root growth occurs.
Excess nitrogen should be avoided because it promotes excessive vegetative growth and reduces winter hardiness.
Weed Control
Weeds compete for water and nutrients and should be controlled, especially around young trees. Place a ring of mulch around the base of the tree. Ideally, it would cover most of the root zone. It helps conserve moisture and reduces weed growth.
Learn more in this article: Using Mulch in the Garden.
Harvesting
Sour or tart cherries should be harvested when the fruit is full-flavored, somewhat soft, and juicy. Harvest sweet cherries when the fruit has attained the proper size, is uniformly colored, and possesses its characteristic flavor.
For immediate use, the cherries can be picked without stems attached. However, quality is best retained during storage if the fruit is harvested with the stems attached. Store cherries immediately after harvest. Place cherries in perforated plastic bags and refrigerate at 32 to 35°F.
Pruning
As with other fruit trees, sour and sweet cherries must be pruned properly for maximum fruit production and to prolong the lives of the trees.
Prune cherry trees in the Midwest during late winter, while trees are dormant, but after the coldest part of the winter has passed, to promote strong structure and reduce the risk of disease. Focus on removing dead, damaged, or crossing branches, and thin the canopy to improve light penetration and air circulation, which helps limit issues such as brown rot and leaf spot.
Learn more about proper pruning in this publication: Pruning and Training Fruit Trees.
Potential Problems
Several insect and disease pests occasionally attack cherry trees. However, the damage is usually minor. As a result, it's usually not necessary for home gardeners to spray cherry trees.
If disease issues arise, a home orchard spray for stone fruits is the most straightforward product to use. Home orchard sprays provide an easy-to-follow schedule on the label. These mixtures typically contain one or more insecticides and fungicides and are formulated to control common cherry pests and diseases. If only one issue needs to be managed, the spray guide below can help.
Simplified Backyard Peach & Stone Fruit Spray Guide (PDF)
Cherry Leaf Spot
The most common plant disease is cherry leaf spot, caused by the fungus Blumeriella jaapii. Infected leaves develop small, purple-brown spots before turning yellow and falling off. Cherry fruit may be affected by another fungal disease called brown rot, caused by Monilinia fructicola. Fruit with brown rot develops round, light brown spots that expand and rot the fruit within a couple of days, often with visible tufts of gray "fuzz". Wounded fruit is especially vulnerable. The fungi that cause both of these diseases survive in infected debris, so good sanitation (removing fallen leaves and any mummified fruit that persists on the tree) can give adequate disease control in the home garden.
Brown Rot
Under wet conditions, light brown tufts of fungal spores form on the fruit, quickly destroying it. Fruit losses are worst when wet, warm weather persists during the ripening period. Injured fruit are particularly susceptible to infection. Diseased fruit may fall to the ground or remain on the tree as mummies (dried, shriveled fruit).
The fungus that causes brown rot, Monilinia fructicola, may also infect apricots, peaches, nectarines, and plums. In addition to fruit rot, symptoms may occur on blossoms, spurs, and shoots. Infected blossoms wilt, turn brown, and persist into summer. The fungus may invade shoots or twigs, causing them to wither and die
The brown rot fungus overwinters in mummies on the tree or on the ground and in dead twig tissue. Removing fruit, mummies, and dead twigs from trees after the final harvest reduces the amount of brown rot fungus present at the beginning of the next season. Since injured fruit are more susceptible to infection, care should be taken to minimize physical wounding during the growing season, especially at harvest. To reduce the spread of the fungus on fruit after harvest, refrigerate fruit promptly after picking. A fungicide spray program, beginning at bloom and continuing throughout the season, will sharply reduce fruit losses caused by brown rot.
Cherry Fruit Flies
Cherries are occasionally infested with insect and mite pests; the most serious is cherry fruit fly, Rhagoletis spp. Cherry fruit flies lay eggs on developing cherry fruit in May. Damaged fruit appears shrunken and shriveled when ripe, and usually contains one off-white maggot that is slightly longer than one-quarter of an inch.
Cherry fruit fly damage varies greatly from year to year. It may be more practical to tolerate some damage and loss of usable fruit than to attempt effective preventive control. To prevent maggots from developing inside the fruit, the tree must be thoroughly sprayed with a labeled insecticide when the adults emerge, before the females lay eggs in the young fruit. Because the flies emerge over an extended period of time, several sprays will be needed. You can monitor fruit flies with yellow sticky traps hung in the tree in early May. Check traps daily after the first fruit fly is caught and repeat the spray application until flies no longer appear. Check for home orchard sprays and other insecticides at your local garden center. Read and follow label directions.
Birds
Birds love cherries. Either share the fruit with the birds or cover the trees with plastic netting. To be effective, the netting must cover the entire tree canopy and be secured to the tree trunk or ground to prevent birds from entering from below. If netting is not feasible, it may be possible to reduce the amount of fruit eaten by birds by placing scare devices, such as aluminum pie tins or inflatable balloons, in the tree.
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Photo credits: 1: Aaron Steil