Planting Cherries

Food Gardening Guide → Fruit Gardening Guide for Cherries

• Uploaded by Kelli

Cherries need a sunny site with good air circulation and deep, well-drained soil. Although cherry wood is as winter-hardy as some apple varieties, the flower buds are tender once they start to swell. An elevated site will minimize frost-killed blossoms. Avoid low areas or places surrounded by buildings or shade trees, where cold air settles. Poorly drained soils can cause trees to die in a wet year even though they may have lived through several years of drier weather. Cherries are susceptible to verticillium wilt and other diseases, so don't plant them where verticillium has infested the soil or where tomato family crops, melons, or strawberries grew the previous two seasons. Also avoid planting where peach or cherry trees once grew.

Plant sweet cherries on standard rootstocks 35 to 40 feet apart; dwarfs, 5 to 10 feet apart. Space tart cherries on standard rootstocks 20 to 25 feet apart; dwarfs, 8 to 10 feet. Set trees on standard rootstocks with the graft union a few inches below the soil level. Set trees on Colt dwarfing rootstock with the graft union several inches above the soil line.

Together with Victory Seed Company:

Victory Seed Company has all the seeds you want for your best garden in 2024.

For 25 years, the family-owned Victory Seed Company has provided the highest quality vegetable, herb and flower seeds to families across the country. We are passionate about providing you the best seeds available that give excellent germination, robust plants, and the harvest you want. With a catalog of over a thousand varieties, we have everything, and our prices are the kinds that we'd want to pay. We have hundreds of yesterday's heirloom vegetables, as well as today's award winning hybrid selections. Get to know us by visiting our website and browsing through our online vegetable seed catalog.