The Japanese take cherry blossom very severely – cherry blossom is the nation’s nationwide flower and households and pals collect every spring for ‘hanami’, to view the cherry bushes. That is now catching on within the UK, too, with folks recording their first sighting of cherry blossom on social media.
Many types of cherry are good bushes for small gardens, they usually are available a variety of shapes – upright, spreading, rounded or weeping. And, after all, there are styles of cherry that produce deliciously tasty fruit. Many have spectacular autumn foliage, too.
Reading: Cherry blossom when to plant
Cherry blossom additionally gives an essential early supply of pollen and nectar for bees and different pollinators.
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When to plant cherry blossom bushes
Container-grown cherry blossom bushes (which you’re probably to discover at backyard centres) may be planted at any time of 12 months, though spring and autumn are the perfect instances because the soil is heat and moist and never too dry or chilly. Naked root bushes (which are sometimes cheaper) want to be purchased and planted throughout the dormant season, from November to March. These can be found from specialist tree nurseries and on-line.
Earlier than planting, learn our recommendation on how to plant bushes.
The place to plant your cherry blossom tree
Cherry blossom bushes do finest in a sunny, sheltered spot – robust winds can strip a tree of its blossom. Bushes that produce bitter edible fruits, such because the Morello cherry, can tolerate some shade. Cherries can tolerate a variety of soil sorts, so long as it’s moist and effectively drained.
Keep in mind that cherry blossom bushes have totally different shapes – some are upright and a few are extra rounded or spreading. They give the impression of being pretty as specimen bushes in a entrance backyard or in the midst of a garden. Smaller sorts resembling ‘Amanagowa’ or ‘Kojo-no-mai’ may be integrated into borders.
To actually improve the attractive blossom, you could possibly underplant the tree with lovely spring bulbs, resembling white daffodils or tulips.
The very best cherry blossom bushes in your backyard
Prunus ‘Pink Shell’
Prunus ‘Pink Shell’ is a small, spreading decorative cherry with delicate, cup-shaped pink flowers and pale inexperienced leaves that flip orange in autumn. It’s wonderful for early pollinators.
Final peak x Unfold: 8m x 8m
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Form: Spreading
- Purchase Prunus ‘Pink Shell’ from Primrose
Prunus ‘Spire’
Prunus ‘Spire’ is a compact and upright decorative cherry that produces a formidable present of pink flowers from late March. Its vibrant foliage begins bronze, turning yellow and inexperienced in summer season, turning pink in autumn. It holds the RHS Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 8m x 4m
Form: Upright
- Purchase Prunus ‘Spire’ from Primrose
Prunus ‘Tai-haku’
An historic cultivar, Prunus ‘Tai-haku’, nice white cherry or hill cherry, bears white blossoms a lot bigger than most decorative cherries, up to 6cm huge. The beautiful bronze foliage turns inexperienced in summer season. A big, huge tree that wants loads of room, it holds the distinguished RHS Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 8m x 8m
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Form: Spreading
- Purchase Prunus ‘Tai-haku’ from Primrose
- Purchase Prunus ‘Tai-haku’ from Crocus
Prunus avium ‘Regina’
A superb cherry for each flowers and fruits, Prunus avium ‘Regina’ produces clouds of pure-white blossom in spring, adopted by giant dessert cherries with very good flavour in summer season. Nice for a small backyard.
Top x Unfold: 4m x 3.5m
Form: Rounded
- Purchase Prunus avium from Primrose
Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’
Reaching up to 2m, Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’ compact decorative cherry. Extra like a big shrub, it’s excellent for a small backyard and may also be grown in a pot. Showy white flowers blushed with pink burst from engaging twisted branches. It has wonderful pink and orange autumn color. It has the RHS Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 2.5m x 2.5m
Form: Bush
- Purchase Prunus incisa ‘Kojo-no-mai’from Crocus
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Prunus ‘Shirotae’
Prunus ‘Shirotae’ produces lots of aromatic, semi-double white flowers on darkish branches, adopted by fairly autumn color. Its flat crown and spreading behavior creates a shocking look. It holds the RHS Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 8m x 6m
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Form: Spreading
- Purchase Prunus ‘Shirotae’ from Crocus
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Prunus ‘Amanogawa’
Prunus ‘Amanogawa’ is a lovely decorative cherry with an upright or columnar behavior, therefore its widespread identify, the flagpole cherry. In late spring it’s smothered in semi-double, pale pink blossom, well-liked with pollinators. The foliage is green-bronze in spring and contemporary inexperienced in summer season. In autumn, the leaves flip orange and pink earlier than falling. Prunus ‘Amanogawa’ is among the finest bushes for small gardens. It holds the distinguished RHS Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 8m x 4m
Form: Upright
- Purchase Prunus ‘Amanogawa’ from Crocus
- Purchase Prunus ‘Amanogawa’ from Thompson & Morgan
Prunus cerasus ‘Morello’
The Morello cherry, Prunus cerasus ‘Morello’, also called bitter cherry, has lovely white blossom in spring, adopted by fruits which might be primarily utilized in cooking. It’s self-fertile (doesn’t want one other cherry close by for pollination) and bears giant crops. Morello cherries on smaller rootstocks may be grown as dwarf fruit bushes in pots or within the floor or fan-trained in opposition to a wall to save area. It may be grown in a north-facing web site. It holds the RHS AGM.
Top x Unfold: 4m x 4m
Form: Rounded, fan or dwarf
- Purchase Prunus cerasus ‘Morello’ from Thompson & Morgan
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Prunus cerasifera ‘Nigra’
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The black cherry plum, Prunus cerasifera ‘Nigra’ is a lovely, rounded tree and one of many first cherries to bloom in spring. It has darkish purple leaves and much of pink blossom that fades to white, opening from deep pink buds in spring. The purple-black branches are eye-catching, and the foliage turns spectacular shades of orange in autumn. It’s tolerant of air pollution, so well-liked for city gardens. The foliage turns spectacular fiery shades in autumn. It holds the RHS Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 10m x 8m
Form: Rounded
- Purchase Prunus cerasifera ‘Nigra’ from Crocus
- Purchase Prunus cerasifera ‘Nigra’ from Thompson & Morgan
Prunus x yedoensis
Prunus x yedoensis, the Yoshino cherry, is a swish tree that bears a profusion of white-pink flowers in spring. It’s a spreading tree with arching branches. Plant as a specimen tree in a garden, in order that its form may be appreciated.
Top x Unfold: 12m x 8m
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Form: Spreading
- Purchase Prunus x yedoensis from Crocus
- Purchase Prunus x yedoensis from Primrose
Prunus ‘Pandora’
Prunus ‘Pandora’ is a compact cherry with a ‘vase-like’ form, making it a very good tree for the smaller backyard. It has pale pink blossom in spring and orange foliage in autumn, and has been awarded the RHS Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 10m x 8m
Form: Vase
- Purchase Prunus ‘Pandora’ from Crocus
- Purchase Prunus ‘Pandora’ from Primrose
Prunus pendula ‘Pendula Rubra’
Prunus pendula ‘Pendula Rubra’ has a lovely weeping behavior. It bears lots of deep pink flowers, primarily throughout late winter and early spring. In autumn leaves develop fiery tints of orange and pink earlier than falling. Prunus pendula ‘Pendula Rubra’ has been awarded the RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) Award of Backyard Advantage.
Top x Unfold: 4m x 4m
Form: Weeping
- Prunus pendula ‘Pendula Rubra’from Thompson & Morgan
- Purchase Prunus pendula ‘Pendula Rubra’ from Primrose
How to look after cherry blossom bushes
Hold the soil moist after planting, for at the very least the primary 12 months. In spring, mulch with natural matter, resembling effectively rotted manure – this could assist retain moisture.
Cherry blossom bushes want no routine pruning however if you’d like to tweak the form or transfer crossing or useless branches, do that in spring or summer season when the tree is much less probably to undergo from silver leaf illness or canker.
Learn extra about rising cherries.
Widespread cherry blossom tree issues
Illnesses to look out for embody, canker, blossom wilt, brown rot and silver leaf illness. Silver leaf may be managed by pruning in spring or summer season.
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