Planting & Care Guide
Bare Rooted Pink Cascade
Congratulations on receiving your new cherry tree. Your bare-rooted tree should be kept moist and in a cool place before planting and be sure to plant while still dormant.
Site selection and preparation
- Cherry blossom like full sun and soil that is well drained
- Prepare the soil well around where the tree will grow by digging and cultivating to allow the roots to establish when the tree is young.
- You may wish to mound the soil where the cherry tree will grow which will aid drainage.
- Apply lime to raise soil pH if needed and gypsum to break up heavy clay soil
- Do not apply Nitrogen fertiliser within 2 weeks of lime
Planting
- Dig a hole twice as big as the space needed for the size of the roots.
- Loosen the soil in the bottom of the hole.
- Trim any damaged roots with clean secateurs.
- Place your tree in the hole and ensure the root ball is covered by around 15cms of soil.
- Backfill the hole around the roots, tamping with your foot as you fill the hole to remove any air gaps
- Apply mulch and compost to your newly transplanted tree.
Pruning
- You may prune your weeping cherry blossom tree after planting as a step to encourage the weeping ‘canopy’ to grow large and full
- Prune back the weeping branches to an outward or upward facing bud at a high point where the branch begins to ‘weep’ downwards.
- This step can be repeated the next winter to encourage the canopy to enlarge and fill out to a larger space.
- Remember to trim any sucker growth from below the graft.
