Potted Cherry Trees

Congratulations on your new CherryHill cherry tree! Your potted Lapin tree is self pollinating so will grow sweet cherries in 3 – 4 years. Below are some planting and care instruction to help you get the most out of your new favorite tree!

1. Handling

• When handling your tree ensure you are careful to not knock the buds, and always handle the tree from the pot.
• A potted tree can be purchased and planted at any time of year with correct handling and care. A potted tree can also be grown on in the pot, however should be planted or re-potted at some time to avoid the roots becoming pot bound.
• If your tree is from our nursery and grown as a newly potted tree, it will be marked as such and recommended to grow in the pot until later in Spring.

2. Site selection and preparation

• Cherries like full sun and soil that is well drained. A heavy soil which does not drain and stays wet may not be suitable to grow your cherry tree.

• Prepare the soil well 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

3. 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.

• Do not disturb the roots or soil from the pot, doing so may induce transplant shock.

• 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 lightly as you fill the hole to remove any air gaps.

• Water in the tree immediately after planting.

• Apply mulch and compost to your newly transplanted tree.

4. Initial pruning and tree training

• A potted tree should be pre-pruned (by us) in winter, if so leave your new tree unpruned until next winter.

• Prune your tree in August (small trees are pruned in August and large in Summer, to promote new Spring growth).

• Only prune during dry weather.

• We recommend pruning fruiting cherry trees to an open ‘vase’ shape which is free-standing and will produce cherries within 3-4 years. For an open ‘vase’ style tree, prune quite hard to begin.

• Prune each branch to a height approx 20cm from the trunk leaving 4-6 buds from which to grow from.

• If you are trellising or creating ‘espalier’ style trees, you can tie the branch to the wire or training guide and leave unpruned or prune as required

5. Watering and Fertilising

• Water in a newly planted tree.

• Additional watering is usually only required after the initial growth begins in spring.

• Don’t over-water your tree, remember the roots don’t like being wet, apply more water during dry and hot weather.

6. Further Pruning

• After 1 year’s growth, again prune back branches hard, do this in winter. This forces the tree to develop more branches which will produce fruit in future years.

• NB: If you miss this early pruning, the tree will ‘bolt’ upwards without developing enough branches and the tree will be hard to maintain.

• After 2 years, you may prune again or leave some or all the branches to mature and develop fruit buds which will bear fruit.

• NB:  Cherries mostly grow on 2nd year fruiting ‘spurs’, so don’t be discouraged too quickly, our commercial cherry trees take 4 years to fruit.

• Remember to trim any sucker growth from below the graft.

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