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How to Grow Cherries: The Complete Guide

Cherries are much better picked off a branch at home than from the supermarket.

Botanical Name
Prunus avium (Sweet Cherries), Prunus cerasus (Sour Cherries)
Plant Type
Fruit
Sun Exposure
Full Sun
Soil pH
Slightly Acidic to Neutral
Hardiness Zone
4
5
6
7

Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Cherries

Written By: Catherine Boeckmann Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Cherry trees are gorgeous all year long, from their spring blossoms to their luscious fruit in midsummer. Learn how to grow and harvest both sweet and tart cherries. Also, be sure to protect your cherries from bird damage!

About Cherries

  • Sweet cherries are the variety most often found in markets. They have a thick, rich, and almost plum-like texture. Sweet cherries grow in hardiness Zones 5 to 7; they are self-sterile and best for an orchard or a large garden. You’ll need at least two or three trees, as they’ll need to pollinate each other. If space is limited, consider the dwarf self-pollinating cultivar ‘Stella’.
  • Sour cherries are not usually eaten raw, but are widely used for preserves and other cooking uses. Sour cherries are much smaller than sweet cherries and all varieties are self-fertile. They grow in Zones 4 to 6.

Cherry trees generally start bearing fruit in their fourth year; dwarf trees bear fruit a year earlier. One mature, standard-size tart or sweet cherry tree will produce 30 to 50 quarts of cherries each year; a dwarf tree, about 10 to 15 quarts.

Plant cherry trees in early spring or late fall (when the ground is soft and has a higher moisture content) in a sunny site with good air circulation and deep, well-drained soil. Apply mulch and water well. After flowering in a fruiting year, you’ll need to drape trees with wildlife-safe netting to protect the fruit from birds.

Read Next

Planting

Plant cherry trees in a sunny site with good air circulation; avoid planting near larger trees or buildings that will shade the cherries. Ideally, cherry trees should get at least 6 hours of sunlight each day.

Cherry trees do best in deep, well-draining soil that has a pH of 6.0-7.0.

Space sweet cherries 35 to 40 feet apart; dwarfs, 5 to 10 feet apart. Space tart cherries 20 to 25 feet apart; dwarfs, 8 to 10 feet apart.

When to Plant Cherry Trees

  • Plant cherries in the late fall or early spring (when the ground is soft and has a higher moisture content).
  • When selecting sweet cherries, make sure the different varieties will pollinate each other.

How to Plant Cherry Trees

  • Trees on standard rootstock should be planted with the graft union a few inches below the soil level. Trees on dwarf rootstock should be planted with the graft union several inches above the soil level, which will prevent the graft from growing its own roots and bypassing the rootstock.
  • When planting fan-trained trees, construct the necessary supports before planting. Plant fans only 12 to 15 feet apart.
  • For bareroot trees, place the rootstock on a small mound of soil in the center of the planting hole, and spread the roots down and away, trying not to bend the roots. Backfill with soil.
  • For container-grown trees, first remove the rootball and set the tree on its side; cut through any pot-bound or encircled roots with shears. Don’t cover the top of the root-ball.

Check out this video to learn more about how to plant a bare–root fruit tree:

Growing

  • There is no difference in care between sour and sweet cherries.
  • Apply mulch around the tree to retain moisture, but leave several inches of bare earth around the trunk.
  • Drape netting over trees to protect the fruit from birds.
  • Water routinely in dry areas.
  • Thinning the fruit is not necessary for cherry trees, as they typically thin naturally in early summer.
  • Prune trees every year in late winter to encourage the growth of new fruiting wood. Don’t prune in the fall.
  • Fertilize early in spring with a low-nitrogen fertilizer (such as 5-10-10) a few weeks before trees start to flower, then fertilize as necessary (check soil fertility by testing the soil) until cherries are harvested. Do not fertilize after mid-summer, as new growth needs time to harden off before fall and winter.

Types

Sweet Cherries

  • Early - ‘Black Tartarian’
  • Midseason - ‘Bing’
  • Late - ‘Stella’

Sour Cherries

  • Early - ‘Early Richmond’
  • Midseason - ‘Montmorency’
  • Late - ‘Meteor’

Harvesting

  • Pick fruits only when FULLY ripe (dark red, black, yellow); the sugar content rises the few days before fully ripened.
  • Be ready to harvest within a week’s time. Eat or cook immediately.
  • Pick fruits when firm if they are to be frozen.
  • Be sure top pick with the cherry stem so you do not tear into the fruit, however, take care to lead the fruit spur to produce fruit next year.
  • Hand-picking may injure the shoots and cause infection; cut the stalks with scissors.
  • Remember that cherry trees do not typically bear fruit until their fourth year. Thereafter, they should produce about 30 to 50 quarts of cherries each year.

Gardening Products

Pests/Diseases

Birds are common pests, especially with sweet cherries (versus tarts). To avoid bird damage, you can drap nylon mesh netting over dwarf trees, but it’s difficult to cover the larger standard-size sweet cherry tree. Distracting objects such as pie pans can help, but birds can get used to them. 

Another solution is to grow a fruit tree nearby that will ripen before and during the cherry season, such as mulberry trees. (Avoid planting ‘Illinois Everbearing’ mulberry which ripens too late.)

Learn more about keeping birds out of the garden.

Other pests that attack cherries include fruit flies, apple maggots, peach tree borers, and caterpillars (specifically the larvae of the plum curculio). Ask your local garden center about approved sprays.

Brown rot and cherry leaf spot affect both tart and sweet cherries. Black knot and powdery mildew are potential problems for some areas.

Wit and Wisdom

A cherry year, a merry year.

There is a famous myth that President George Washington cut down a cherry tree and then admitted his wrongdoing to his father. This myth was invented by a biographer of President Washington, who hoped to display his honesty. We still think it’s a great idea to commemorate President’s Day with a delicious cherry pie recipe!

Recipes
No-Lie Cherry Pie
Rhubarb-Cherry Crunch
Cherry Berry Pie
Fruit
About The Author
Catherine Boeckmann

Catherine Boeckmann

Executive Digital Editor and Master Gardener

Catherine Boeckmann is the Executive Digital Editor of Almanac.com, the website companion of The Old Farmer's Almanac. She covers gardening, plants, pest control, soil composition, seasonal and moon c...
Read More from Catherine Boeckmann

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Comments

<span>Beth Brokering</span> Wed, 05/27/2015 - 23:34
I now live in zone 4 Western Wisconsin and 2 wild cherries are on the acreage, on either side if the yard. Neither have set cherries and must be 10 years old. We have beekeeper in the area. I did buy 2 cross-pollinating cherry trees last fall and wonder if I can so anything to produce fruit on the wild trees, or just enjoy them for beauty? Thank you.
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 05/29/2015 - 01:45

We're not sure what type of wild cherry tree you have, but they generally bloom at a different times than the other cherry trees so I'm not sure they'd cross-pollinate since they bloom times don't overlap.

Do you have bees on the wild cherry trees?  Because the wild cherries bloom early and honey bees will not forage below 15°C or in windy or damp conditions, fruit set can definitely suffer. You need the bees.

Birds and pollinators do love wild cherry trees so the trees are still working hard for your garden even if they don't fruit well.

 <span>Tom Cashin</span> Sun, 06/21/2015 - 10:40
Good luck with your cherry trees. I was wondering what type of cherry trees you have that cross pollinate and do well in zone 4. I live on the edge of zone 4/5 and have been searching for two sweet cherry trees that will cross pollinate and are also cold hardy. I will purchase a Van tree late next winter but have not found a compatible partner for zone 4 yet. Thanks. all the best with your gardening.
<span>Luz Garcia</span> Tue, 05/19/2015 - 10:34
Hi, I brought two rainier cherry trees on line because I live in Puerto Rico and cannot get them here. I did not know that rainier cherry trees need another cherry tree to pollinate them. I hope you can suggest some, also I brought a bing cherry but it died I live in a zone 11. I hope you'll be able to give me some sound advice. Thank You
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 05/22/2015 - 15:20

Hi Luz,

Rainier cherries grow best in cool climates and need a cold dormant period to produce well. Not sure how your trees are going to do in Puerto Rico. A few good pollinators for the Rainier cherry are Bing, Craig's Crimson, Black Tartarian, and Lapins.

 <span>Ann Gauthier</span> Wed, 05/13/2015 - 10:22
I bought some bare root cherry plants.. Can't remember what kind.. When they shipped them to me it was in one bunch and roots were all kinda twisted together. I didn't realize until late that it wasn't one actual plat that it was really 6 of them. I planted them all in the same hole that I dug up. It's been about a month now it it's finally started to get some green leaves on it. It actually had just looked like a dead bare tree at first.. But my question is. Is it ok that they are planted all in the same hole or should I dig it up and separate each one and re-plant them?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Fri, 05/15/2015 - 11:02

Hi, Ann: At this stage, digging them up might be a little dicey, but not any more so than leaving them as is, which would mean for sure either that some or one would outcompete the others or that you would have a pruning nightmare to keep them all healthy -- or both. Sometimes it's possible to go with 3 or 4 different varieties of the same fruit in the same hole, which facilitates cross-pollination, but 6 of the same type is trouble on a number of levels. We would carefully replant. Good luck!

 <span>Dtay</span> Fri, 04/24/2015 - 23:30
I have a van cherry tree. Is it self pollinating or do I need another cherry tree? Any kind?
<a title="View user profile." href="/author/editors">The Editors</a> Mon, 04/27/2015 - 11:18

A Van cherry tree is self-sterile and needs a pollination partner nearby. Stella or Lapins are popular choices.

 <span>Bnelson</span> Mon, 04/20/2015 - 10:31
We have a dwarf bing (2 yrs old) and black tartarian (3 yrs old) in our back yard. Last year the bing had a pretty substantial aphid infestation, with the curled/wilted leaves. I'd like to plant companion plants beneath to help deter the same thing from happening this year, and to reduce the need for pesticides. I've seen nasturtiums mentioned, as well as marigolds. Any other options out there? We are on the west side of the Salt Lake valley. Thank you!