Where is it better to plant cherries in their summer cottage. plant care

Growing a cherry from a stone is a rather painstaking, but possible undertaking. You can sow seeds (that is, seeds) immediately in the summer, after you have eaten the fruit, or you can dry the seeds in the shade and plant them at home in a pot for indoor plants.

Preparatory work

In order for the germination of planting material to be as high as possible, it is important to adhere to the following rules:

• pour the collected bones of the variety you like with water and rinse thoroughly;
• drain and dry in a well-ventilated, not sunny place;

Bones for planting cherries are taken from the ripest fruits

• put the dried bones in a paper bag, and then wrap in polyethylene;
• in this form, store the bones in a dry place at a temperature not exceeding 20 degrees until December.

Before stratification, fill the seeds with water and leave for 3-5 days, changing the water daily. Then mix the bones with river sand, sphagnum moss and sawdust, put in plastic container and leave in the refrigerator for 90-100 days. During this period, cracks will appear on the bone, and some will release sprouts.

Before planting, the seeds must be soaked in clean water

You can save the bones until spring in another way, for example, by freezing the fruits for the winter. Thus, planting material undergoes the necessary stratification. In winter, the fruits can be used for pies, and the seeds can be dried, mixed with sand and sphagnum moss, put in a jar and kept in the refrigerator until March.

Attention! Without absorbent material (sand, moss or sawdust), the bones are affected by mold and fungus.

Planting seeds in pots

Optimal soil for planting cherry seeds, the one in which the mother tree grew. In its absence, you can use nutritious store soil for growing seedlings. For sprouting cherry seeds at home, pots of small volume, no more than 0.5 liters, are suitable. If there are a lot of seeds, they can be planted in bowls, keeping a distance of at least 20 cm when planting.

For planting seeds, a ready-made seed mixture for seedlings is suitable.

Bones are necessarily buried in the soil by 2-3 cm. To maintain moist conditions, plantings are covered plastic bag and put on a bright, cool windowsill. Bones germinate in a month. If you planted seeds with an already cracked shell, then they sprout faster.

sprout care

After the appearance of the sprout, the seedling will need constant care, otherwise it will not be able to get stronger. Be careful with watering. Excessive moisture causes fungal diseases in stone fruit seedlings. With the appearance of one true leaf on the seedling, apply any mineral fertilizer to the soil. Subsequently, fertilize every two weeks. Spray the leaves with water once a week. However, make sure that excess water does not get into the soil, cover it with plastic wrap.

Water the seedlings sparingly to prevent overflow.

Young plants that have reached a height of 20-30 cm can be safely planted in open ground. In the garden, care for cherry seedlings is the same as for others - annual loosening, weeding and removal of weeds, watering if necessary. Fruiting in trees grown in this way begins in the 4th year, but, as a rule, they are used as a stock for varietal plants. Since when propagated by seeds, varietal trees lose their qualities. Berries may grow on the seedling, but they will be small in size and sour in taste.

Plant cherry (lat. Cerasus)- a subgenus of the genus Plum of the Rosaceae family. Russian name The tree comes from the same stem as the German Weichse, meaning "cherry", and the Latin viscum, which means "bird glue", so the original meaning of the name "cherry" can be determined as "tree with sticky juice". Latin name cerasus cherries came from the name of the city of Kerasunda, on the outskirts of which delicious cherries grew in abundance, which the Romans called cherasund fruits, hence the French cerise, Spanish cereza, Portuguese cereja, English cherry and Russian cherry, which the Romans called bird cherry. In our article, we will talk about such a common cherry (Prunus cerasus), or sour cherry, about a plant that is a species of subgenus Cherry and grown in gardens everywhere. Some botanists believe that common cherry is a hybrid of sweet cherry and steppe cherry, which appeared as a result of natural selection somewhere in Macedonia, in the Dnieper region or in the North Caucasus. AT wild nature common cherry is not found.

Planting and caring for cherries (in brief)

• Landing: in the spring, when the soil has already warmed up, but the buds on the trees have not yet opened.
• Bloom: depending on the variety from late April to late May.
• Lighting: bright sunlight.
• The soil: sandy, sandy or loamy, neutral reaction, in the area where ground water and water does not stagnate.
• Watering: during the season 3-4 times: after flowering, during the formation of ovaries, after harvesting and in autumn, until October 20.
• Top dressing: 3 root top dressing in spring: 1st - before flowering with liquid nitrogen fertilizer, 2nd - during flowering with herbal "tea" or a solution of chicken manure (1:10), 3rd - after flowering with compost or other organic mixtures. In summer, two foliar fertilizing with nitrogen-containing preparations is carried out: in mid-July and after 3 weeks. Cherries are processed by leaves and solutions of missing trace elements. After fruiting, nitrogen-containing organic fertilizers. In autumn, the soil in the trunk circle is saturated with complete mineral fertilizer, and before winter - only with potassium and phosphorus.
• Pruning: in spring, in March, before the start of sap flow, and in autumn, at the end of the growing season. Sometimes in the summer, after the completion of fruiting.
• Reproduction: seeds, cuttings, root shoots, grafting.
• Pests: plum codling moth, cherry and bird cherry weevils, slimy, social and pale-footed sawflies, subcortical leafworm, cherry aphid, hawthorn.
• Diseases: brown spotting, klesterosporiosis, cherry mosaic and mosaic ringing, dying off of branches, scab, fruit rot, coccomycosis, moniliosis, root cancer, gum disease and witch's broom.

Read more about growing cherries below.

Cherry tree - description

Cherry in the garden is a tree or shrub, reaching a height of about 10 m, with a gray-brown bark. Cherry leaves, elliptical, pointed, petiolate, dark green above and lighter below, reach a length of 8 cm. White or pink flowers, collected in 2-3 pieces in umbellate inflorescences, bloom in late March or early April. Cherry blossoms are one of the most beautiful plants in nature. The cherry fruit is a spherical, juicy, sweet and sour drupe about 1 cm in diameter. Fruiting begins in the second half of May.

cherry planting

When to plant cherries

Cherries are planted in the spring, and this gives the seedling enough time to take root and grow. Planting cherries is done when the soil has already warmed up enough, but the buds have not yet had time to open. Based on these requirements, the best time for planting cherries mid-April, and most right time days after sunset.

Cherry in the fall after planting is unlikely to have time to take root before the onset of cold weather, since it is impossible to know in advance exactly when the autumn frosts will come. Therefore, it is best to dig seedlings harvested from autumn until spring.

Cherry planting in autumn

How to save cherry seedlings from autumn to spring, if you only have them late autumn? In a shady place in the garden, where snow lingers the longest in spring, they dig an oblong hole 30-35 cm deep, and it is necessary to dig with a slope of 45 º. Planting material is laid in this short trench with the roots to a deeper side and the roots and a third of the stem of the seedlings are covered with earth, after which the part of the plant covered with soil is watered abundantly. Then, along the entire length, the seedling is covered with pine spruce branches with needles outward so that rodents cannot get close to the cherries. As soon as the snow falls, throw it on the covered seedlings with a layer of 30-50 cm. Dig up the seedlings immediately before planting.

How to plant cherries in spring

When planning to plant cherries in the spring, it is better to purchase seedlings in the fall, and then store them until spring, as has just been described. When buying, give preference to two-year-old trees with a trunk about 60 cm high and a stem diameter of 2-2.5 cm. It is desirable that the skeletal branches of the cherry also be no shorter than 60 cm. Before planting, inspect the roots of the seedling, and if you find damaged or rotten areas, cut them to healthy tissue and treat the wounds with crushed charcoal. Hold the roots of the plant for 3-4 hours in water before planting so that they straighten and absorb moisture.

The soil on the site for cherries is also prepared in the fall. Cherry loves places well-lit by the sun, drained sandy, sandy loam or dry clay soil neutral reaction. You can not plant cherries in places where groundwater is close, or in lowlands where meltwater stagnates in spring. If the soil in the area is acidic, scatter dolomite flour or lime on it at the rate of 400 g per m² and dig the area to the depth of a spade bayonet. Do not apply organics at the same time as lime, add compost or rotted manure to the soil at the rate of 15 kg per m² a week later than you applied the deoxidizer.

In the case of planting several trees, they are placed at a distance of 3 m from each other. If your seedlings are cross-pollinated, you will need to plant at least four varieties in close proximity to each other, placing them in a 3x3 m pattern if the varieties are tall, and 2.5-2 m if the cherries are short. Self-pollinating cherry varieties do not need pollinators.

The planting pit should be about 80 cm in diameter and 50-60 cm deep. The top, fertile soil layer should be removed and mixed with humus in equal amounts, while adding 1 kg of ash, 30-40 g of superphosphate and 20-25 g of chloride to the soil mixture. potassium. A bucket of sand is also added to the clay soil. Drive a high peg into the center of the pit so that it protrudes 30-40 cm above the surface of the plot. Pour soil mixture with fertilizers on the bottom around the peg with a cone, place a seedling on the north side of the peg so that the root neck of the tree is 2- 3 cm above the surface. Spread the roots of the plant and, adding a little soil mixture to the pit, tamp it down so that there are no voids in the soil. After planting, make a hole with a roller of earth around the seedling at a distance of 25-30 cm, pour a bucket of water into the hole, and after it is absorbed and the root collar is at the level of the surface of the site, mulch the trunk circle with peat, sawdust or humus, and tie up the seedling to the peg.

cherry care

Cherry care in spring

How to care for cherries and what is the difference between caring for a seedling and caring for an already fruitful tree? Cultivation of cherries planted this year does not provide for the application of fertilizers to the site for another two to three years, therefore, young growth care consists in periodic shallow loosening of the soil in the trunk circle, weed removal, pruning and watering. Trees that have already begun to bear fruit require abundant watering in the hot season - at least three buckets under one tree during the growth of shoots, flowering and fruit ripening. Cold and rainy spring to attract pollinating insects to the garden cherry trees sprayed with a solution of one tablespoon of honey in a liter of water. Loosening the soil in the trunk circles is carried out 3-4 times per season. In early spring, before bud break, cherries are cut, root shoots are removed and the trunk circle is mulched with sawdust or compost. Every spring, preventive treatment of cherries from pests and diseases is carried out.

Cherry care in summer

In the summer, the main task of the gardener is to ensure the nutrition and moisture needs of fruit trees, as well as protection from pests, weeds and diseases. Do not forget to water the trees, especially in the heat. Cherry sheds part of the ovaries in the summer, and as soon as this happens, it is necessary to apply nitrogen fertilizers under the cherries, and after 3-4 weeks, feed the fruit-bearing trees with phosphorus and potassium.

Summer is the time to harvest cherries. Early varieties ripen by mid-late June, mid-season - by the end of July, and late cherries ripen in August and even in September. Cherries are harvested as the fruits ripen.

Cherry care in autumn

With the onset of autumn, the time comes to introduce fruit-bearing organic and organic cherries into the tree trunks. mineral fertilizers for digging to a depth of 10 cm around young growth and 15-20 around fruit-bearing cherries. This should be done with the beginning of yellowing of the leaves, a couple of days after rain or watering. At the same time, autumn preventive treatment of trees and bushes from pests and diseases is carried out, as well as water-charging winter watering. In October, baits with poison for rodents are laid out around the site and boles and bases of skeletal branches of trees are whitened to protect against pests. In November, on frozen soil, fallen leaves are removed and the tree trunks are mulched with peat, and the stems of young cherries are tied with spruce branches.

cherry processing

In the spring, before bud break, it is best to treat the cherry with a seven percent solution of urea, which will destroy the pests that have overwintered in the bark or in the soil under the tree, and at the same time feed the cherry with nitrogen. However, if you do not have time to do this before the start of sap flow, then it is better to treat the cherries with a three percent solution of copper sulphate or Bordeaux liquid, since urea can cause burns of blossoming buds. After two weeks, when the daytime temperature rises to 18 ºC, treat trees and bushes from ticks and other overwintered insects, as well as from powdery mildew colloidal sulfur or Neoron in accordance with the instructions.

In summer, during the period of fruit growth as preventive measure cherries are treated for pests with Fufanon, and for diseases with copper oxychloride.

In the fall, before leaf fall begins, spray the trees with a 4% urea solution - both as a disease control and as a last top dressing.

Watering cherries

Irrigation of cherries is carried out with such an amount of water that the soil in the near-stem circle gets wet to a depth of 40-45 cm, but the soil should not sour. The first time the cherry is watered after flowering, simultaneously with top dressing. The second watering is needed during the period of pouring berries. From 3 to 6 buckets of water are poured under each tree - the exact amount depends on the weather and the presence or absence of rain during this period. In October when the leaves fall cherries are satisfied with winter water-charging irrigation, the purpose of which is to moisten the soil to a depth of 70-80 cm. Winter irrigation saturates the soil with moisture, which the roots will need to acquire winter hardiness, in addition, wet soil freezes much more slowly.

Young, still infertile trees are watered every 2 weeks, and in extreme heat - weekly.

Top dressing cherries

Cherries are fed with organic fertilizers once every two or three years in the fall, bringing them in for digging. At the same time of the year, the site is fertilized with mineral fertilizers - potash and phosphorus in the amount of 25-30 g of superphosphate and 20-25 g of potassium sulfate per m². Nitrogen fertilizers are applied at the rate of 15-20 g ammonium nitrate or 10-15 g of urea per m² of land twice a year - in early spring and after cherry blossoms. It is important that fertilizers are applied not to the near-stem circle of each plant, but throughout the area with cherry trees. Before fertilizing the cherry, the site is watered.

In addition to fertilizing the soil, it is possible to carry out foliar top dressing cherries with a solution of 50 g of urea in 10 liters of water 2-3 times at weekly intervals in the evening, but before feeding the cherries, wait until the sun goes down.

wintering cherry

An adult, fruit-bearing cherry is able to endure even severe frosts without shelter, and nevertheless, it is necessary to protect its roots from freezing. To do this, a snowdrift of snow is thrown onto the trunk area and sprinkled with sawdust on top. Do not forget to whitewash the trunk and bases of the skeletal branches with a solution of lime in the fall, adding copper sulfate to it.

After whitewashing the trunk, young trees are tied with pine spruce branches for the winter.

cherry pruning

When to prune cherries

The first pruning of cherries is done in the spring, in March, before the buds swell. If you are late, and the sap flow has already begun, postpone pruning, otherwise the branches shortened by the pruner may dry out. Sometimes cherries are pruned in the summer, immediately after harvest. Autumn pruning is carried out at the end of the growing season. Sanitary pruning, requiring the immediate removal of diseased branches, is carried out at any time of the year.

How to cut a cherry

Planting and caring for cherries does not cause great difficulties, but pruning ... Many novice gardeners, as soon as it comes to pruning cherries, panic and prefer to pretend that the tree does not need it. But pruning greatly affects the quality of the crop. Let's try to understand this really difficult question.

With seedlings planted this year, everything is simple: 5-6 of the strongest branches are formed on them (it is permissible for bush varieties to have up to a dozen developed branches), and the rest are cut into a ring, leaving no stumps. Slices are treated with garden pitch. You need to leave branches directed in different directions and growing from the trunk at a distance of at least 10 cm from each other. From the second year, the formation of cherries is carried out in this way: branches and shoots growing inside the crown are cut out, shoots that appear on the trunk are also removed. In tree-like cherries, branches that grow rapidly upwards are shortened, otherwise it will be difficult to harvest them later. In bush cherries, shoots are shortened to 50 cm. As tree cherries grow, new skeletal branches will appear at approximately the same distance from other branches. As a result, an adult tree should have 12-15 of them. For sanitary purposes, dry, diseased and damaged branches and shoots are also cut out.

Cherry pruning in spring

The most important is the spring pruning of cherries, and if you do it correctly year after year, then spring pruning alone will be enough. cut cherry, as we already wrote, before the swelling of the kidneys. The only exception can be spring, which came after very severe frosts: in this case, you should just wait for the buds to swell in order to determine which of the branches and shoots suffered from the cold, and only after that proceed with the forming pruning, along the way removing frozen shoots. However, cuts should be processed immediately, since during the period of sap flow the tree is very painful for wounds. If a annual shoots no longer than 25-35 cm, do not cut them, remove only the shoots that compete and thicken the crown, and also cut off those that grow vertically upwards at the point of origin. Shorten the cherry trunk so that it rises above the ends of the skeletal branches by no more than 20 cm. In the summer, after the end of fruiting, if necessary, you can correct the shape of the crown.

Cherry pruning in autumn

In autumn, cherries are pruned much less frequently than in spring. Most likely due to the fact that they are afraid to harm the future crop, since the wound inflicted before the cold weather makes the tree more sensitive and vulnerable. However, the bottom line is that proper pruning just helps to increase the yield, as it prevents the development of infections. And it is undesirable to leave a tree for the winter with diseased or broken shoots, which it will have to feed until spring to the detriment of healthy branches. For autumn pruning, the main thing is to choose the moment between the end of the growing season and the first frosts. If you didn’t have time to prune before the cold weather, postpone it until spring, because the cherry bark becomes brittle from frost, and if it is damaged, the gum will begin to flow. Annual seedlings do not need autumn pruning.

cherry breeding

How to propagate cherries

Cherry is propagated by seeds, cuttings, root shoots and grafting. The seed method of propagation of cherries is used extremely rarely - this is an occupation for breeders. However, the ability to grow cherries from a stone can also come in handy for an amateur gardener, since rootstocks for grafting are grown in this way. In amateur gardening, cherries are propagated vegetatively, and grafting has proven itself best - a method suitable for all varieties of cherries, while only rooted specimens can be propagated by root shoots.

Cherry seed propagation

Cherry pits are sown in open ground in autumn. The shoots that appeared in the spring are thinned out according to the 20x20 scheme and grown until autumn, caring for them like young cherries: watering, feeding, loosening the soil around them and removing weeds. next spring when the buds begin to swell, they will be ready for replanting a cultural scion.

cherry grafting

How to grow cherries of one variety using the root system of another? Vaccination method. But before planting a cherry, it is necessary to grow a stock from a stone of a winter-hardy variety, to which a cutting is planted cultivar cherries. It is best to use the seeds of felt cherries that do not form root shoots for growing stock. We just talked about how to do this. There are several ways to replant a graft on a stock:

• improved copulation;
• in a split;
• in a side cut;
• under the bark

Reproduction of cherries by green cuttings

Today, this is the most common way to propagate cultivated cherries, since the root shoots of cherries grown from cuttings are also excellent material for cuttings. Cuttings are carried out in the second half of June, when cherry shoots are growing vigorously.

You will need a 10-12 cm deep box measuring 25x50 cm with small diameter drainage holes. Fill it with a mixture of peat and coarse sand in equal parts, pour the soil mixture with a dark pink solution of potassium permanganate, and then moisten it with plenty of water.

Select and cut off well-developed, not drooping, but upward-growing shoots from the south or south-west side of a three- to five-year-old bush or tree, sprinkle them with water, remove the top with underdeveloped leaves that are poorly rooted. Cut cuttings from shoots 10-12 cm long with 6-8 leaves. Remove the lower leaves from the segments. The upper cut on the handle should be straight and pass immediately above the kidney, the lower cut should be a centimeter below the node. Stick the cuttings into the ground at a distance of 5-8 cm from each other to a depth of 2-3 cm and compact the soil around them. Then install a wire frame on the box so that it rises 15-20 cm, pull it over polyethylene film and place the resulting greenhouse in a bright place, protected from direct sunlight.

As soon as the cuttings take root, and you will understand this, when the cherry leaves restore turgor, the film begins to be lifted for a short time to ventilate and harden the cuttings. For the winter, the cuttings are added dropwise in the garden, and in the spring they are planted for growing or for permanent place.

Propagation of cherries by root shoots

This method is used for propagating own-rooted cherries and for growing rootstocks. Two-year-old root offspring of high-yielding own-rooted trees with a developed root system and a branched ground part, located at a distance from the mother plant, are used for reproduction, since cutting off offspring growing close to the tree damages its roots. In autumn, at a short distance from the offspring, they cut the root that connects it with the cherry, but the shoot is not planted, but left in the ground. In the spring, the shoots are dug up and sorted: those offspring in which the root system is developed are planted in a permanent place, and those that are weaker are grown in the training garden.

Cherry is a fruit stone fruit, which has a high richness of various varieties, has juicy fruits and is generally characterized by a general unpretentiousness in growth and development. In view of the fact that today at least several varieties of this tree are known, the question remains - which cherry should be planted in the country. And after choosing a variety, it is logical to come to an understanding - where exactly is it better to plant the selected cherry on your site.

The answer to the question - how to plant cherries should begin with an understanding - where is it better to plant a seedling. Soil type is in many ways one of the limiting factors for the survival of the cherry tree. Even representatives of good varieties of cherries or sweet cherries bought from nurseries need to be transplanted into suitable soil.

Ideally, these should be sandy soils with a sufficient content of organic matter. How much clay is allowed in the ground? Just enough so that the soil does not become very heavy, the soil must provide normal gas exchange. It is better to plant cherries on slightly acidic or even neutral soils. In an acidic environment, the tree does not take root.

Particular attention should be paid to the planting of felt cherries, for which the earth should in no case be acidic. If you don’t have such a soil, you can neutralize it. Liming is usually used for this. How much lime to take depends on the type and amount of soil. The amount of lime is calculated by the formula - acidic soils require half a kilo of lime for square meter, heavy loamy soils - 0.8 per square meter.

What factors influence the choice of location

In fact, understanding how many factors affect the planted tree is key in choosing a site for planting cherries. She loves sandy soils rich in organic matter, bright, sunny places without strong wind. It follows from this that the landing site must be chosen on a parade ground protected from the north wind and having a sufficient amount of sun.

It should be remembered that cherries should not be planted closer than 2.5 meters to groundwater. Such placement will lead to its rapid withering. Pay attention to the characteristics of the variety. Calculate the distance depending on the variety.

Cherry is an ancient culture, so the answer to the question “Where to plant on the site” has long been given by whole generations of gardeners.

This culture belongs to heat-loving plants, so they should be protected in every possible way from frost and cold wind. Gardeners recommend choosing a bright and windless place for planting, in addition, do not forget that many varieties of cherries cannot self-pollinate. Therefore, garden markings should take into account the fact that one tree on the site may not bear fruit. Neighboring trees make up for this, so always plant these trees in groups.

To improve the fruiting of the tree, as well as neutralize the residual acidity of the soil at the bottom of the pit that you are planting, immerse a large number of limestone rubble. Such a trick will not only regulate acidity, but also create suitable drainage for the planted cherries.

Be sure to water the tree thoroughly after planting. At first, it is recommended to carefully monitor the condition of the soil around the plants. However, this precaution will soon cease to bother you - by the age of two, the trees no longer need such frequent watering.

The soil around young trees must be loosened to ensure air exchange and normal drainage. It is also advisable to fertilize at least a few times every two or three years, but try not to overdo it. A large amount of nitrogen and phosphate fertilizers negatively affects plants and leads to their decay.

Video "Correct planting of cherries"

From this video you will learn how to plant cherries and when.

Cherry is a deciduous tree or shrub with a height of 2 to 7 meters. The bark of the tree has a gray-brown tint. Cherry leaves are petiolate, dark green in color, oblong, oval, pointed at the top of the shape. The length of the cherry leaf is up to 8 cm, the width is up to 5 cm. Cherry blooms with white or pale pink flowers with a pleasant aroma, collected in inflorescences - umbrellas, which during flowering are magnificently dotted with tree branches. Cherry blossoming and fragrant in the garden is an incredibly beautiful sight.

Cherry fruits are juicy drupes. Delicious, rich red shades of spherical berries with a sour or sweet and sour taste, rich in vitamins and minerals, can be eaten in fresh, cook compotes, jams, use for cooking many delicious meals. Cherries are perfectly stored both in dry and frozen form, while retaining all the useful healing properties.

cherry varieties

In nature, there are more than 150 plant species distributed in many European countries, North America and Asia. Most of them are home crops bred by breeding. Varieties of wild cherries are also common in nature.

Common cherry

This is a home culture, which is practically not found in the wild, one of the most common species, cultivated since antiquity. There are varieties of bushy and tree-like forms.
Bushy cherry ordinary has a spherical crown, the branches of which go down, shoots are abundantly formed in it, the fruits have a dark bright almost black tint. Bushy varieties bear fruit from 10 to 18 years. Frost-resistant look.
Tree varieties represent tall tree from 2 to 7 meters with a shiny dark bark with a sprawling luxurious crown and branches. The leaves are oval in shape, with a pointed end of a dark green color. Flowers are fragrant white color, collected in umbrellas, pollinated by insects. The fruits are a drupe (with a hard stone surrounded by a pulp of red or burgundy hues). The most popular varieties of common sour cherries:

• Anthracite. A low tree with a dense crown of medium yield. The fruits are large, maroon, almost black in color with dense juicy pulp, sweet and sour in taste.
• Victoria. The tree is medium in size, the crown has a rounded, slightly raised crown. The fruits are medium in size, rounded spherical in shape, dark red shades with a long stem, which is easily separated from the fruit.
• Vladimirskaya. Bushy variety with good yield. Winter hardy. The fruits are large, dark in color, have excellent taste.
• Youth. High-yielding frost-resistant bushy variety. The tree is short, with drooping branches. The fruits are maroon in color and have a sweetish taste. Ripe berries can remain on the branches for a long time without falling off,
• Turgenevka. A tree-like winter-hardy variety, the tree can reach a height of up to 3 meters, the crown is raised. Fruits - large, juicy, dense, dark red shades.
• Chocolate girl. Winter-hardy and drought-resistant variety with rich burgundy berries, almost black. The taste of berries is sweet, the pulp is of medium density.

• Shpanka early An early ripe variety that begins to bear fruit in early June. Frost resistant. The fruits are juicy, sweet in taste, pink in color.

steppe cherry

Frost-resistant species, widespread in the northern regions. It is a tree or undersized shrub with an extensive crown. The branches are erect, the leaves are oblong, slightly pointed at the top. blooms white small flowers collected in a bundle. The fruits of the steppe cherry are small, juicy, with a pronounced sour taste, pink and boron. Berries ripen in late summer or early autumn. Known varieties:

• Generous. High-yielding variety with late maturation, winter-hardy and drought-resistant. Cherry fruits are dark red, sweet in taste, the pulp is watery.
• Bolotovskaya. A highly self-fertile variety with late ripening (at the end of August), the fruits are large, juicy, have a rounded shape, the color is deep dark red.
• Maksimovskaya. high yielding medium grade with large red fruits on long stalks. The taste of cherries is sweet and sour, juicy.
• Desired. early variety with high yield, large berries.

felt cherry

A low tree or shrub (from 1 to 3 meters) with a luxurious crown. China is considered to be the birthplace of the species, sometimes this type of cherry is called Chinese. Felt cherry blooms incredibly beautifully - the branches of the tree are thick, from the very base of the branches to their tops, strewn with pale pink flowers that bloom long before the leaves appear. For attractive appearance during flowering, Chinese cherry is used for decorative purposes to decorate the garden. The felt cherry during the ripening period looks no less decorative - its branches, with bright juicy berries, surrounded by small oval-shaped velvet leaves with notches, beautifully lean towards the ground. Bottom part leaves are slightly pubescent, due to this the effect of their velvety is created, and they resemble a felt coating, hence its name. This is a frost-resistant species, the fruits are small, juicy, sweet with a small bone that does not separate from the berry. Ripe fruits can remain on the branches for a long time and not crumble, retaining their taste. The most famous varieties:

• Natalie. Early ripe high-yielding variety with berries with dense pulp.
• Princess. Low growing shrub with high yield. Berries - bright pink, large.
• Dark-skinned oriental. Mid-season variety with an average yield, Fruits are small, sweet and sour, burgundy.
• Anniversary cherry. Mid-season variety with red juicy fruits of medium size. White. Mid-season variety with small juicy white fruits, with sweet and sour berries.
• Ocean Virov cherry. Late high-yielding variety with dense sweet and sour fruits of medium size.

Japanese cherry or sakura

This is decorative tree originally from Japan, where it is a kind of symbol of the arrival of spring. Blooming sakura is incredibly beautiful, the tree is simply strewn with delicate fragrant terry inflorescences of pink hues. The sakura tree is tall, up to 4 meters with a luxurious spreading crown and long branches falling to the ground. The leaves are narrow ovoid, pointed, dark green in color. For cultivation in our climatic conditions, frost-resistant varieties of Japanese cherries are used:

• Kanzan - plentiful blooming cherry with bright pink terry inflorescences that begin to bloom in May. The fruits are of medium size.

• Kiku-Shidare (weeping cherry or Japanese bird cherry) Flowering time - late March, inflorescences are densely located on branches hanging down to the ground. The fruits are edible, sour in taste.

cherry planting

For the rapid growth and fruiting of the cherry tree, it is important to choose suitable site for its landing and determine the landing time, which depends on the region. You can plant young cherry seedlings in spring or autumn for the southern regions, and for the northern and central parts - in the spring.

Choose a plot

When choosing a landing site fruit tree it must be remembered that cherries do not tolerate transplanting well, so consider in advance a permanent dwelling in the garden for her, where she will grow and produce crops for 15 years. Cherry trees prefer bright, well-lit areas of the garden or windless slopes, they should not be planted in lowlands where meltwater stagnates or in areas where groundwater is high. The soil for cherry trees should be sandy, loamy, light and slightly acidic. At hyperacidity soil, the soil must be dug up to the depth of the shovel bayonet, after pouring it dolomite flour or lime (400 g per m²), and later, after a week, fertilize the soil, you can use compost or rotted manure (15 kg per m²). It is not recommended to add lime at the same time as organic matter.
When planting several trees, it is important to keep a distance between them - at least 3.5 meters, planting in a checkerboard pattern.

Planting in autumn

Autumn planting of cherries consists in dropping seedlings acquired in the fall. If seedlings are planted immediately in the fall in the ground, they will not have time to take root before the onset of frost. Therefore, choose a shady place on the site where the snow does not melt for a long time in the spring, dig a small trench at an angle of 45 º 30-40 cm deep, lay the seedlings in it at an angle, laying the roots and sprinkling them with earth. Roots covered with soil should be watered abundantly. Cherry seedlings are covered with spruce branches so that they completely cover them, while the spruce needles should be outward to scare away rodents. As soon as the snow falls, sprinkle the spruce shelter with snow until spring planting.

spring planting

Spring planting allows seedlings to take root well and begin active growth. Cherry seedlings are planted in mid-April in well-warmed soil. Seedlings can be purchased in the spring, or you can dig them in in the fall, as described above. When buying, choose two-year-old trees, Special attention pay attention to the inspection of the root, if it is damaged or rotten areas are found, they must be cut off and the cut points should be treated with crushed powder activated carbon. It is recommended to hold the tree roots in water for about 3-4 hours before planting so that they are saturated with moisture.
The pit for planting seedlings should be 50-60 cm deep, up to 80 cm in diameter. Upper layer soil is mixed in equal amounts with humus, additionally the following is added to the soil:

• 1 kg of ash;
• 30-40 g of superphosphate;
• 20-25 g of potassium chloride.

If the soil is clayey, a bucket of river sand is added to it.

AT landing pit it is necessary to drive in a peg to which the seedling will be tied to prevent damage from gusts of strong wind. The seedling is placed in a hole, the roots need to be well straightened and covered with soil so that the root collar is 3-4 cm above the ground level. The soil around the seedling must be well compacted and make a hole for watering. Within 2-3 days young tree needs abundant watering. It is recommended to mulch the soil around the trunk circle with sawdust or humus (layer 3-5 cm)

cherry care

Throughout the season, young cherry trees need care that is different from caring for a mature tree. When caring for young trees, it is necessary to periodically loosen the soil around the trunk circle, removing weeds, watering and pruning in a timely manner. Fruiting adult trees need the following care:
Spring:

• need abundant watering, especially during the period active growth shoots and flowering;
• in order to attract pollinators in a rainy spring, the trees must be sprayed with a honey solution (1 tbsp of honey per 1 liter of water);
• loosen the soil;
• in early spring, before the buds begin to bloom, the root shoots are pruned and the trunk circle is mulched with sawdust or compost;
• carry out preventive work on the processing and protection of cherry trees from pests and diseases. As a preventive measure, a 3% solution of copper sulfate or Bordeaux mixture is used.

Summer:

• abundant watering is carried out, especially in dry summers;
• nitrogen fertilizers are applied in summer, and after 3-4 weeks - phosphorus and potassium, trees are treated with Fufanon and copper oxychloride;
• harvest as the fruits ripen

Autumn:

• as soon as the leaves begin to turn yellow, after watering or rainfall, organic matter and mineral fertilizers are applied to the tree trunks.
• make a cut.

Cherry wintering:

mature trees, especially winter-hardy varieties do not need winter shelter, unlike young animals. The trunks of young trees for the winter must be tied with spruce spruce branches, before that whitening them in the fall with a solution of lime with blue vitriol.

cherry pruning

When to prune cherries

Cherry pruning is an important step in caring for a plant, on which its yield depends. The first pruning is done in March, before the buds swell and the sap flow begins. If spring pruning is late, it is better not to produce it, but to postpone it until summer, after harvesting, otherwise the branches will simply dry out. Proper pruning of excess branches in the spring contributes to a better tree yield. autumn pruning cherry is carried out at the end of the growing season, its holding helps the trees to better endure frost and cold. Sanitary pruning to remove damaged, diseased or dry branches is carried out throughout the season.

How to cut a cherry

Cherry is an early ripening fruit tree that begins to bear fruit early, so regular pruning allows you to prolong the youth of the tree longer and avoid rapid exhaustion. Correctly carried out pruning of branches gives them more strength to form fruits and increases the yield of the tree many times over. The older the tree, the more carefully pruning is done.

How is spring pruning done?

1. Pruning is carried out in April, during the swelling of the buds, when it is already clear which branches did not survive the winter, which are removed. Also, spring pruning contributes to the formation of the crown. Steps for spring pruning:
2. Removal of those tree branches that thicken the crown. Branches that stretch upwards are removed to the very base. Those branches that run parallel to the ground are left.
3. Shoots up to 30 cm long - do not cut. Those branches that interfere with the growth and development of other branches are subject to pruning.
4. Trimming the main trunk. It should not rise above the main skeletal branches by more than 20 centimeters.

How to prune cherries in summer

Pruning in the summer consists in a slight adjustment of the crown of the tree, damaged or diseased branches are removed.

How to prune cherries in autumn

Autumn pruning prepares the tree for a long hibernation, working time depends on the region. For southern latitudes, the pruning time can last until November, and it is recommended for the northern regions to carry it out as early as mid-September, so that the cuts have time to drag on until frost. The branches of young seedlings are not pruned in autumn.
Stages of work:

1. It is necessary to remove large branches that do not allow other branches to develop. The skeletal branches that form the crown are not pruned.
2. Small branches should not be pruned in autumn; postpone pruning until spring.
3. Before cutting a branch, it is necessary to plan its replacement, which will rejuvenate the plant and preserve the productivity of the tree.
4. After pruning in the fall, the cherry should not have branches coming from an acute angle.
5. Slices must be treated with a var or other special agent.

1. Tree-like varieties of cherries must be shortened gradually, do not cut all the shoots at once, this can injure the tree.
2. If cherry branches grow fast enough (40-50 centimeters per year), they should not be thinned out. If the growth of the tree has decreased, it is worth cutting off those branches that do not give new branches during the season.
3. The branches of bush cherry varieties are shortened by 50 cm. Pruning of skeletal and secondary branches is carried out in 2 stages. If the frame branches were pruned this year, then it is better to cut the secondary branches next season. Particular care should be taken when pruning young shoots so as not to remove fruitful branches.
4. When pruning branches of young trees, use a garden saw or knife; for mature trees, a pruner is suitable.

cherry breeding

Cherry trees can be propagated by seeds, cuttings, root cuttings, or grafting. Propagation by seeds is rarely used, as it is a long and laborious process. Most often, cherries are propagated by grafting, by planting a cutting, using the root system of a tree, or by propagating with green cuttings.

Diseases and pests

• Brown spotting. The leaves are covered with yellow reddish spots, dots appear on them, which eventually dry out and crumble, forming holes in them, later the leaves fall off. Treatment is carried out by adding 1% Bordeaux liquid to the soil.
• Klyasterosporioz (perforated spotting), This disease affects not only the leaves, on which brown spots appear, but also the fruits, on which neoplasms similar to warts are formed, the buds on the branches turn black. The affected areas of the branches must be removed and disinfected with 1% copper sulphate.
• Coccomycosis. When the disease leaves are covered with red dots, then they turn brown and fall off. After flowering, the tree is treated with Horus (2 g per 10 liters of water), repeat the procedure after three weeks, the third time - three weeks after harvest.

• Witch's broom is a fungal disease that leads to the formation of many barren shoots, and the foliage becomes pale, shrinks and wrinkles over time. At the end summer season on the underside of the leaves gray coating and spores of the fungus are clearly visible. The branches affected by the disease must be removed, the tree should be treated with 5% iron sulphate.

Cherry pests:

• Plum codling moth. Its caterpillar devours the fruit. Fruit trees are treated with Tsitkor, Anometrin.
• Cherry weevil. A green bug with a crimson sheen that damages buds, buds, ovaries and foliage. The female beetle is dangerous, which lays eggs in the bone, from which larvae appear, eating out the kernels of the bones. Damaged berries fall off. It will help get rid of the pest Ambush, Rovikurt.
• The subcortical leafworm lays its eggs in the bark of a tree, its caterpillar damages the bark by gnawing passages in it. To combat it, a 10% solution of Karbofos is used during the invasion of butterflies.
• Cherry aphid is one of the most dangerous pests cherry trees. Their vital activity leads to curvature and cessation of growth of young shoots, to twisting of leaves, and a decrease in the cold resistance of young trees. The fight against aphids begins with spraying in early spring with Karbofos, Aktellik, Rovikurt or Ambush.

Observing all the rules for planting and caring for cherries, as well as with regular and correct pruning trees, you will get an unusually rich harvest of healthy and tasty berries for many years. A fragrant blooming The Cherry Orchard will delight you every spring, decorating lush bloom garden plot.

Rarely does a garden do without cherries. And if it is not in it, it is not because the owners do not want to grow it. Most likely, the catch is that they simply do not know how to plant cherries correctly. Although there is nothing complicated in such a planting, there are nuances, the neglect of which leads to a negative result - the cherry "refuses" to grow and bear fruit.

Cherry grows and bears fruit on average up to 15 years. This is the first thing to consider when choosing a place to land it. By planting a small sapling close to the wall of a building or other trees, in the future you will inevitably put yourself in front of a choice: either remove or replant the sapling. Although in fact this is the same thing - cherries do not tolerate transplantation well and often die.

The place for future cherries should be sunny and protected from cold winds as much as possible. Our great-grandfathers often planted cherry trees closer to the fence: and from the wind the tree additional protection, and snowdrifts near the fences are large, and deep snow is the best protection of the roots from frost.

When choosing a place for planting cherries, keep in mind that it will not grow on heavy marshy soil. The best option for not considered light, well-drained and breathable soils with a pH close to neutral.

Land for planting is prepared in the fall. Preparation consists in enriching the soil with organic and mineral fertilizers. The earth is fertilized with manure at the rate of approximately 1.5 buckets per 1 m², as well as phosphate and potash fertilizers - 100 g each. per m².

From use nitrogen fertilizers at the stage of preparation and planting, it is better to refrain, otherwise you can strongly oxidize the soil and burn the roots of the planted seedlings. Be sure to determine the acidity of the soil in the fall, and, if necessary, carry out deoxidation by liming the area.

Seedling selection

The main thing to consider when choosing a cherry seedling for your garden is that it should be as adapted to your climate as possible.

For regions with cold winters, frost-resistant varieties are suitable:

• Persistent;
• not chilly;
• Chocolate girl.

If frosts do not rage in your area, then it is better to opt for one of the varieties:

• Vladimirovskaya;
• Zhukovskaya;
• Crimson;
• Volochaevka.

If you have to grow cherries on the poor sandy soils Ural, then pay attention to the varieties:

• fiery;
• Ashinskaya;
• Lighthouse;
• Ural standard;
• Bolotovskaya.

Even for the harsh Siberian climate, varieties of cherries have been bred:

• Altai early;
• Altai large;
• Altai swallow;
• Snowstorm;
• Maksimovskaya;
• Shadrinskaya.

Often, wanting to save money, novice gardeners try to get a varietal cherry seedling from a sprouted seed or root process. But neither the shoots nor the seedling sprouted from the seed guarantee that the fruits on them will be the same as those of the parent forms. And if we are talking about grafted cherries, then their growth is completely barren. Therefore, it is much more preferable to purchase a seedling in specialized nurseries for planting.

Planting can be carried out both with freshly bought seedlings, and acquired in the fall. In the first case, you will have to choose the best of the worst (in the sense that best seedlings they will sort it out long before you - in the fall). But it can be planted right away.

In the second case, you will have a chic choice, but the purchased seedling will need to be kept fresh and healthy until spring. It is not difficult to do this: having acquired a seedling, dig a shallow horizontal hole 35-50 cm in the area and carefully place your purchase in it, sprinkling the roots with earth. To provide the seedling with maximum protection, you need to spread it with a crown to the south.

Then, on top of it, throw a bunch of small pine or spruce branches - the more the better. The spruce branches will protect the buried seedling from frost no worse than straw, but mice or other small rodents will not start under it.

In order for the seedling to be well preserved, it is impossible to dig it in the lowlands, where melt water will accumulate in spring. It is best to do this in the area where the snow lasts the longest in spring. Otherwise, there are no special requirements for the place, the seedling will be transplanted in the spring anyway.

When purchasing a seedling, carefully inspect it. For all varieties of tree-like cherries (we are not talking about felt cherries and other bush subspecies yet), you need to choose a seedling about 1 m high, with a trunk thickness of 2.0-2.5 cm, a well-developed root system and 3-4 skeletal branches with a length of 0 .5-0.6 m. It should not have any growths, swellings, damaged bark, etc.

Plant on time

Cherries are usually planted in spring - from late March to mid-April. Cherry planting time for different climatic zones can vary greatly. Therefore, you need to focus not so much on specific dates, but on a rule common to all regions: you need to plant cherries when the soil thaws and warms up to 10-12 °, but the buds on the seedlings have not yet woken up.

In the southern regions, you can plant cherries in the fall, but not later than a month before the onset of frost, otherwise the seedling will not have time to take root well and will die. Usually this period falls at the end of September - the first half of October. In regions with severe winters (Siberia, the Urals), only spring planting is possible.

Walkthrough

It is better to prepare a pit for planting in the fall. This is not categorical, if everything is done correctly, then cherries can also be planted in freshly prepared pits. It is more convenient to make a pit in the form of a cube with edges of 60 cm - 60X60X60. If you make it deeper, the development of the root system of the planted tree will slow down, and if you make it less deep, the roots will be subject to all the vagaries of the weather: in summer - heat, in winter - frost.

The upper fertile layer is carefully removed to the side - it will be needed to prepare the soil mixture, and the earth from the bottom of the pit is laid out separately. The soil mixture is prepared from humus and fertile soil, mixed in a 1: 1 ratio. You can enhance its nutritional properties by adding wood ash to this mixture at the rate of 1.5 cups per bucket of mixture.

If it is planned to plant not one, but several cherry seedlings, a separate pit is prepared for each of them. The distance between the pits is not less than 3 m, and between the planted rows (if the future cherry orchard is planted) - 3.5 m.

A strong long peg is hammered into the bottom of the pit or slightly to the side of it - it is needed to tie up a planted tree. Then a hill of fertile land is poured into the center of the pit. On top of this hill, fathoms of cherries are placed.

You need to sprinkle the earth little by little, periodically trying on a seedling. Your task is to fill the bottom of the pit with earth so that the root neck (the place where the roots go into the trunk of the tree) is 3-4 cm above ground level.

Having achieved this, we put the seedling on top of the piled hill and carefully straighten the roots. For better survival, the roots can be dipped in a mash (a mixture of manure and clay diluted with water). Next, we fill the hole to the top with earth. The prepared soil mixture is usually not enough, the top of the pit has to be filled up with earth taken out of its bottom.

Compact the loosened earth by walking a little along it, but do not come close to the seedling. Compact the edges of the resulting near-stem circle more strongly by making a groove 8-10 cm deep along its perimeter.

At the end of planting, tie a cherry tree to a driven peg, pour 3 buckets of water into the groove. When the soil absorbs moisture and settles a little, the trunk circle is mulched with sawdust or dry earth. At this stage, a 4-5 cm layer of mulch is enough.

Planted tree care

Caring for planted cherries is not difficult and does not require any special skills from an amateur gardener. The first summer after planting, the cherry seedling is often and abundantly watered so that its root system remains in moist soil and takes root better in a new place.

Further, frequent watering cherries are not needed - it is distinguished by an enviable resistance to drought. But in the summer, during the intense heat, she responds with gratitude to watering. Watering should not be flooded, your task is to ensure that at a depth of 40-45 cm the earth remains moist.

After watering, and after heavy rains be sure to loosen the soil in the near-stem circle.

Cherry wakes up early and begins to develop. To protect the tree from spring frosts, in winter, a bunch of snow is raked onto the trunk circle. In the spring, the snowdrift is covered with a layer of straw - and it will melt slowly, delaying the vegetation of the cherry for a while, and fertilize the trunk circle after the snow has completely melted.

Top dressing of cherries is carried out twice during the growing season. The first is carried out immediately after the end of flowering, the second - 2 weeks after the first. It is better to feed with a solution of mullein with the addition of wood ash or mineral fertilizers. In autumn, with deep digging of the trunk circle, compost or rotted manure can be put into it.

Cherry nature has the ability to form a large number of shoots. If you do not cut it and do not form a crown, then after 2-3 years it will become so thick that you will not be able to harvest. And the harvest itself in such a dense crown will be scarce.

Cherry pruning is carried out in early spring, before the buds swell. The crown begins to form immediately after planting, shortening the planted seedling to 60-65 cm and cutting off the tops of the side branches. If the seedling has branches growing below 40 cm from the ground, they must be completely removed. The following year, the grown branches are cut to 1/3 of their length.

In the future, the formation of the crown will consist in sanitary pruning and removal of branches growing inside the crown. Once every 5-6 years, a rejuvenating pruning is carried out, removing most of the old shoots in order to give room for the growth and development of the young.

In order for the cherry to grow and develop well, it is necessary to completely and timely remove its root growth. The only exception to this rule is if you plan to use the root shoot as a rootstock for wood chips.

By doing these simple rules for caring for a young tree, after 2-3 years you will be able to appreciate the taste of its berries. The cherry will fully thank you for all your labors and worries no sooner than 5-6 years after planting. Of course, you have to wait a long time. But with proper care, gratitude is always rich and tasty.