Planting cherry

Planting cherries involves the same work as with any other fruit tree. However, each berry crop has its own varietal characteristics. This nuance must be taken into account when planting a tree in spring or summer, if you want to get a good harvest in the future.

General rules for planting and caring for cherries in the open field 

The fruiting of sweet cherries depends on two important factors: the correct planting of the seedling, as well as the subsequent care of the tree in spring, summer and autumn. The choice of the season for planting influences the further development of culture. When planting a crop in spring, summer or autumn, the climatic conditions of the region are taken into account.

To plant cherries correctly at any time of the year, adhere to the following basic rules:

• The place is chosen sunny, closed from cold winds. It is best to land on the south side of the building. The culture prefers light soil, does not tolerate dense clay, the constant presence of water.
• Preparation before planting a tree begins with the removal of foliage. The rhizome is soaked for 8 hours in a solution of “Kornevin”. Damaged branches and roots are cut with secateurs.
• The soil is prepared at least 2 weeks before planting the tree. 1 m² plot when digging the soil scatter a bucket of compost, 1 tbsp. superphosphate and 5 tbsp. ash. The last ingredient can be replaced with half a glass of potassium salt.
• When planting a seedling in spring or summer, a hole is dug at least 80 cm deep. The hole can be up to 1 m wide. The size of the hole depends on the size of the roots. If the tree is planted with a closed root system, the bottom of the pit is simply leveled. For open roots, a mound is formed at the bottom of the hole from the soil.
• When landing is carried out in heavy soil, two buckets of sand are poured into the bottom of the hole. Too loose soil is compacted with a bucket of clay.

When planting a tree in spring or summer, nutrient soil is prepared. You can not overdo it with nitrogen fertilizers, as they create burns of young roots.

On the video, planting cherries in spring:

How to plant cherries 

For a novice gardener, planting cherries in spring or summer is a whole science. Then the seedling still needs to be given proper care so that it takes root. Let us consider in detail all the nuances of a complex process.

Selecting the right variety

Planting a crop begins with the selection of a variety. Many gardeners first of all pay attention to the color and size of the fruit, which is a gross mistake. Planting and caring for any variety involves the same activities. The problem is whether the culture adapts to the climatic conditions of the region.

The choice for planting a suitable variety begins with a consideration of the timing of the ripening of berries. Early cherries will provide the gardener with berries in the spring. Already at the end of May it will be possible to taste delicious berries. Early varieties tolerate return frosts well, which simplifies crop care. The berries are saturated with sweet juice, the pulp is tender, tasty. The disadvantage is the poor tolerance of the transport of the crop. Worthy early representatives are the self-fertile varieties “Iput” and “Ovstuzhenka”.

Mid-season varieties begin to bestow a harvest with the beginning of summer. Berries usually begin to ripen from the second decade of June. Medium varieties are poorly resistant to return frosts, which complicates crop care in cold regions. The quality of the berries, when compared with early cherries, is much better. The harvest is transportable. Worthy representatives of medium varieties are “Annushka” and “Adelina”.

Late-ripening varieties delight with a harvest in the summer, but more often in the last month. Berries ripen in late July – August. There are even frost-resistant late varieties that can bring a crop in late August in cold regions. A worthy late-ripening representative is Exhibition and Bryansk Pink.

It is possible to simplify the care and cultivation of sweet cherries if the variety was correctly selected during planting, taking into account the climatic conditions of the region. By its origin, the culture is thermophilic. Most varieties of sweet cherries are capricious and require complex care. Best of all, the berry tree grows in the south and in the Central Black Earth region. Gardeners living in the middle lane should choose adapted varieties for planting. Good results are shown by “Gronkovaya” and “Large-fruited”.

For the Urals and Siberia, special frost-resistant varieties have been bred. In addition to harsh winters, these regions often experience extreme temperature fluctuations. Breeders took into account the peculiarities of the climate and brought out resistant varieties such as: “Bryanochka”, “Tyutchevka”, “Odrinka” and others.

When can you plant cherries

Seedlings are planted in spring, summer and autumn. The choice of season depends on the climatic conditions of the region. In the south, gardeners recognize the best autumn planting. Time is determined intuitively. Usually planting in the fall is done 2-3 weeks before the start of the first frost.

In cold regions, planting is carried out in spring or summer. The seedling will have time to take root before the arrival of winter.

Planting a tree can be done with an open and closed root system. There are no significant differences in the procedure. However, a seedling with a closed root system takes root faster and does not need to form an earthen mound at the bottom of the hole.

Where can you plant cherries

The owner of a small plot needs to take into account that he will not do with planting one tree. The crop needs a pollinator. If cherries do not grow in the neighboring area, then at least two trees will have to be planted in the yard. If varieties with a spreading crown are selected, then a distance of up to 5 m can be maintained between them. Colon-shaped cherries can be planted at a distance from each other at a distance of up to 3 m. It is not recommended to place trees closer, as care becomes more complicated, the branches begin to intertwine, thickening is created.

A place for planting a seedling is chosen sunny, optimally on the south side of a high fence or building. The tree is removed from the building by at least 3 m. It is optimal to choose a hill on the ground for planting. In the lowlands, a lot of water accumulates from precipitation, which is detrimental to the berry crop. It is impossible to land on swampy soil and areas with a high arrangement of groundwater layers.

Is it possible to plant cherries in place of cherries

Fruit trees are divided into two genera: pome and stone fruits. Cherry belongs to the stone type. All trees of the same genus consume the same nutrients from the ground. It is impossible to plant cherries in the place where, for example, cherries used to grow. In the neighborhood, these two trees will get along. A stone fruit tree can be planted in the place where the seed crop grew.

What can be planted next to cherries

Despite the capriciousness and demanding care, the berry culture has a powerful root system that can oppress other plants. In the neighborhood, planting apple trees, pears, blackcurrant bushes is not desirable. Cherry and apricot do not get along very well. Cherry is a great neighbor and can even become a pollinator if the flowering time is the same.

The cherry crown does not create an aggressive climate. The foliage partially lets in the rays of the sun and drops of rain. Under the crown, you can plant primrose flowers, such as tulips or daffodils.

How to choose a cherry seedling

In order for planting sweet cherries with seedlings in spring, summer or autumn to be successful, it is important to initially choose healthy planting material. For planting, it is best to buy one- or two-year-old trees. Large seedlings take root worse. When choosing planting material, pay attention to the following nuances:

• For planting in spring or autumn, you can purchase seedlings with an open root system. It should be branched, not overdried, without rot and mechanical damage. Planting material is transported by wrapping the roots with a damp cloth or moss. Can be placed in water. For summer planting, it is optimal to prefer trees sold in a container with soil.
• For planting, choose a seedling with one well-developed trunk and a large number of side branches.
• There must be a graft on the trunk. You can recognize it by the growth in the form of a ring.

It is better not to buy planting material with a height of more than 1 m. After planting, such a tree will take root for a long time.

Is it possible to plant one cherry on the site

Even if the variety is partially self-fertile, at least two seedlings must be planted on the site. One seedling can be planted, provided that cherries or sweet cherries grow nearby with the same flowering time. It is optimal for planting to use three seedlings of sweet cherries of different varieties.

Soil preparation for planting

Regardless of whether the landing takes place in summer, spring or autumn, the soil and the landing pit are prepared in advance. The process of preparing the site involves digging the earth and fertilizing.

At 1 m² required:

• 15 kg of compost or humus;
• 25 g potassium;
• 20 g of phosphorus;
• lime is added at high acidity from 0,5 to 1 kg;
• for nutritious chernozem, all doses are halved, except for phosphorus.

It is desirable that the chosen place for planting a berry crop in summer or spring overwhelm the year under fallow.

How to plant cherries in spring: a step by step guide

Planting a seedling in spring is no different from the procedure performed in summer or autumn. The process consists of the following steps:

• If the landing is done in the spring, then the hole is prepared in the fall, but first they are engaged in the site. In an adult tree, the horizontal root system deepens to 80 cm. Vertical roots grow to a depth of 2 m. In order for the horizontal root system to receive oxygen, moisture and nutrients well, the site is plowed. At this time, organic and mineral fertilizers are applied.
• A hole for planting a tree in the spring is dug 0,8 m deep, about 1 m wide.
• 2 buckets of sand are introduced into the clay soil. When planting a seedling in spring on sandy soil, add 1-2 buckets of clay.
• The pit is filled with 2 buckets of black soil, 3 buckets of compost, add 1 liter of ash. All ingredients are mixed.
• If a tree with an open root system is planted in the spring, a mound is formed at the bottom of the hole from the soil. The roots are evenly distributed along the slopes, covered with loose earth, a wooden peg is installed for support. A seedling with a closed root system is installed on a flat bottom without a mound, filling the gaps with soil. The peg does not need to be installed.
• The tree is watered with a bucket of water. After the soil settles, add the earth. A groove for irrigation is formed around the trunk. The trunk circle is covered with mulch.

When planting cherries in the spring, it is important to correctly observe the depth. The root neck should remain at ground level. With a deep planting, the roots will develop poorly, and with a shallow one, they will freeze out in winter.

How to feed cherries after planting

Tree care begins immediately after planting. If all minerals and organics were originally introduced, then additional feeding in spring and summer is not needed. It is introduced for 3-4 years of life. The following year, the young seedling begins to be fed with nitrogen-containing fertilizer.

Watering cherry seedlings after planting

Watering after planting in the spring is carried out as the soil dries up until the seedling takes root. Culture does not like stagnant water, and here one must not overdo it with care. A rooted seedling is watered three times throughout the season, but plentifully. It is allowed to increase the amount of watering in dry summers.

How to transplant cherries

Culture does not respond well to transplantation. This is due to root damage. You can transplant trees up to the age of three years. Do this in early spring, when the movement of juice has not yet begun. However, the tree has been prepared for the process since autumn. Cherries are dug in from all sides, trying to extract with a clod of earth. The tree is laid horizontally on an elevated area, covered with earth. The pit is also prepared in the fall. It is filled with a mixture of humus and peat in a ratio of 1: 1 and 100 g of complex mineral fertilizer is added.

In the spring, a seedling stored in the ground is dug up. Damaged roots are removed with secateurs. The cut points are covered with ash. Planting a tree in early spring is carried out so that the root neck protrudes 6 cm above ground level. The transplanted sweet cherry is watered with 5 buckets of water with dissolved heteroauxin in an amount of 10 ml. The trunk circle is mulched with humus. For better engraftment, the branches are shortened by a fifth of their length.

When transplanting an older tree in the spring, they try to preserve the earthen room to the maximum. An appropriate hole size is prepared for it. The transplanted berry crop is watered abundantly at least 1 time in three days.

How to plant cherries with a closed root system

Planting seedlings with a closed root system has its great advantage – a high probability of survival. A tree with a clod of earth can be planted in spring, summer and autumn. A purchased seedling can not be planted immediately if there is no time. Planting material will live in a container with soil, without requiring special care. It just needs to be watered periodically.

Planting sweet cherries with a closed root system in spring

There is no clearly defined time frame for planting a tree with closed roots. This can be done starting in early spring after warming up the soil. The tree can be even up to 4 years old. The process is no different from planting cherries with open roots, only there is no need to form a mound of soil at the bottom of the hole. A peg for support is also not needed. Planting material with a clod of earth is simply lowered into the prepared hole, covered with a fertile mixture, and watered.

Planting sweet cherries with a closed root system in summer

Landing in the summer is carried out on a cloudy day. It is better to choose the evening time of the day. In summer, there are many larvae of harmful insects in the manure. When preparing the hole, a fertile mixture of black soil with organic matter is poured over 10 liters of water, dissolving 2 ml of the Prestige preparation. If the summer is hot, the crown is shaded immediately after planting until the tree takes root.

Cherry care in the first year of planting

The main care after planting in summer or spring is to water and remove weeds. The soil is periodically loosened. To preserve moisture, the near-stem area is mulched.

How to feed young cherries

Caring for a crop involves regular feeding. The first year they do not need a seedling. Potassium and phosphorus were introduced during planting and will last for three years. Care for a young tree associated with top dressing begins in the second year. In early spring, after the frost has passed, the sweet cherry is fertilized with urea. The solution is prepared from 1 bucket of water and 30 g of dry matter. From the fourth year of life, mineral complexes are used for feeding, alternating with organic matter.

How often to water cherry seedlings after planting

After planting in spring or summer, the main care for the seedling is watering. It is enough to do this once a week. Water is poured out so much that a layer of earth 40 cm thick gets wet. The root system of a young tree is located in this place.

Cherry care: general principles

Cherry care throughout the growing season includes watering, fertilizing, mulching near-stem soil, pest control, and crown formation.

How to feed cherries in spring

The main care in the spring is to feed the sweet cherry with urea. Additionally, for the full development of the crown, nitroammophoska is introduced.

How to feed cherries in the spring before flowering

Before flowering, top dressing is carried out with urea or ammonium nitrate. Caring for trees of different ages provides for different fertilizer rates, which is reflected in the table.

Top dressing of cherries during flowering

Cherry blossoms in spring and summer require special care. Top dressing is carried out twice with organic matter and mineral fertilizers. There is a 2 week interval between each procedure. The rules of care and feeding rates are shown in the table.

How to feed cherries after flowering

When the cherry blossoms, do not stop feeding. Care at this time is needed careful, because there comes a period of ovary and fruit pouring. The tree is fertilized with 300 g of urea. Organic compost is used. For mineral supplements, take 400 g of superphosphate and 300 g of potassium salt. At the age of 5 years, limestone is brought under the root.

Fertilizing cherries in summer

Cherry care in the summer provides for top dressing in June with nitroammophos. At the end of summer, superphosphate and ash are added along with watering. The proportions are shown in the table.

How to water cherries

Cherry care involves regular watering. The tree does not like waterlogging of the soil and stagnant water, but it reacts well to moisture.

How often should cherries be watered

Despite the poor attitude to stagnant water, cherries love moisture. Crop care provides for mandatory three waterings:

• in spring in May during the growth of the crown;
• in summer in June, when the fruits begin to pour;
• autumn before the onset of cold weather.

In dry summers, increase the frequency of watering. Exactly as much water is poured under the tree as is needed to wet the soil to a depth of 40 cm. For convenient watering, an annular groove 30 cm deep is broken around the tree.

Watering cherries in spring

Care for cherries should be in moderation. Experienced gardeners recommend watering in the spring after flowering. When the cherry is covered with color, it is not advisable to water it. From excess water, the ovary may crumble.

Watering cherries in summer

Cherry care in the summer begins with watering after flowering. If the summer is dry, the tree is watered in June. The next watering in the summer falls on July.

Watering cherries during fruit ripening

The ripening of berries of most early and medium varieties falls in June. In this month of summer, one watering is carried out.

Is it possible to spray cherries during flowering

Caring for berry crops is not complete without the use of pest control measures. The best preparations for spraying cherries are Skor and Horus. You can use them during the formation of buds and after flowering. When the tree is covered with color, spraying is not performed.

Gardeners who love to provide special care for sweet cherries to get a big harvest, spray with a solution of honey during flowering. The sweetness attracts bees, improving the pollination process.

Pruning and shaping the cherry crown

A feature of caring for sweet cherries, as with any tree, is the formation of a crown. A young seedling, when planted in spring, summer or autumn, is cut so as to balance the aboveground and underground parts. 3-4 strong branches are left on the tree, shortening them by 1/3 of the length. The central trunk is cut so that its top is located 25 cm above the skeletal branches.

The video tells about the rules for pruning cherries:

When forming the crown, pruning is carried out without leaving stumps. On the lower tier, 3 branches are left, on the second – 2 and on the upper one skeletal branch.

When the height of the tree reaches 3 m, cut off the top. This allows you to slow down growth. Caring for cherries up to the age of five does without sanitary pruning. Next, remove damaged and improperly grown extra branches.

Mulching

If you cover the near-stem area with mulch, the care of sweet cherries is simplified: evaporation of moisture is prevented, and weed growth is reduced. For these purposes, straw or peat is used. Sawdust as a mulch is not suitable, as there is a threat of increasing the acidity of the soil. Mulch is poured with a thickness of more than 5 cm, and it should be tightly adjacent to the trunk of the cherry.

Mistakes made by gardeners when planting and growing cherries

Mistakes in the care of cherries, at best, will result in a loss of harvest. In the worst case, crown growth will slow down, foliage, ovaries and flowers will begin to fall, the tree will die. A list of common mistakes in crop care is shown in the table.

Conclusion

Planting cherries is not a difficult process. However, it is simply impossible to get a good harvest of berries without proper care of the crop. The tree will thank for the labors with tasty and healthy fruits, which are even used in traditional medicine.