Cherry Trees - Cerisiers

Cherries belong to the genus Prunus in the family Rosaceae, with many extant cultivars grown for the red stone fruit, hardwood timer, aromatic cherrywood to smoke meats, ornamental cherry blossoms that feed bees and other pollinating insects and afforestation where the fleshy drupes are food for a wide variety of wildlife like birds and mammals.

Cherry trees originated in Eurasia and have now naturalized in both northern and southern temperate regions of the world, they require a certain number of chilling units, between 800 and 1200 hours depending on variety, with some low chill cultivars needing 300 hours or less, to break dormancy and bloom to produce fruit.

The majority of true cherries, trees within the subgenus Prunus subg. Cerasus, in cultivation are cultivars of the sweet cherry Prunus avium and the sour cherry Prunus cerasus.
Prunus avium, also called sweet cherry, wild cherry, gean or mazzard can be distinguished by the pure white petals of its blossoms. The deciduous trees showing apical dominance grow up to 25 metres. Most sweet cherry cultivars need to be planted in twos or greater numbers to allow for cross pollination.
Prunus cerasus, the sour cherry, tart cherry or dwarf cherry, is thought to be a natural hybrid of Prunus avium and Prunus fruticosa, which provided the smaller tree size of to 10 m in height and sour fruit. Cultivars of the sour cherry arise from two main varieties, the dark red Morello cherry and the lighter coloured Amarelle cherry. Sour cherry trees like moist soil, but they will do badly in waterlogged soils although they tolerate poor drainage better than sweet cherry varieties, demand comparatively more nitrogen and water, suffer from fewer pests and diseases and are self fertile.

Plant cherry trees in a wind sheltered location in rich, well drained soil to prevent cracking when the fruit is ripe. Prune cherry trees in the spring not during dormant winter months, spraying with natural seaweed solution during pruning time is beneficial for cherries.