Prunus avium
Rosaceae
Cherry
Parent plant of the edible cherries, it is a deciduous tree approx 15m high by 5m wide. Trunk has red-brown bark. Leaves are oval with serrate margins and a pointed end, turning yellow-crimson in autumn. Flowers are white and cup-shaped, occurring in spring. Fruit are red-black balls.
Uses
Suitable for parks and gardens, it is used as both an ornamental flowering tree and for its edible fruit.
There are so many ways to enjoy cherries:
Eat them fresh chilled in the fridge
As a snack - dried and chopped with nuts
As a cereal ingredient
Serve a small bowl or two with cold spreads
Use them to garnish seafood dishes
Use as an ingredient in Christmas cakes, cheesecakes, biscuits, fruit loafs and scones
Culture
Prefers full sun and a protected position in moist, well-drained soils. Frost tolerant and drought sensitive. Apply fertiliser for improved growth and fruiting. Prone to pests and diseases, depending upon locality. Avoid pruning during humid conditions as this can leasd to wood rots. Propagate by seed, or grafting and budding of cultivars.
Propagation
Will grow from seed, cuttings or grafting.
The best trees are produced by budding or grafting onto rootstocks of
prunus species (eg. vigorous plum cultivars) that are appropriate to
the situation.
Cultivars
No information available at this time...
Plant Health
Cherries may be prone to some pest and disease problems. Pests
include root weevils, nematodes and aphids. The pear and cherry slug is
also quite destructive on trees which are not growing vigorously. These
are the larvae of black sawfly and may be hosed off or sprayed with
insecticidal soaps. Birds are probably the greatest nuisance. Losses to
birds can be devastating. Commercial growers often use noise from guns
to scare birds away. The home gardener might use nets or hessian bags
around fruits to protect them.
Of the diseases, bacterial canker can prevent buds from opening and
cause yellowing and curling of leaves. There is usually a visible lesion
on affected branches which oozes gum. Silver leaf can cause whole
branches to turn white and die back. This is followed by purple fruiting
bodies and can cause death of the tree. Diseased material should be
removed and burnt.
Diseases may be avoided by selecting areas free of insect pests and
maintaining good weed control. Where needed copper based fungicides may
be applied. Trees may also sometimes be attacked by viruses and there
is no treatment for these. Good care and proper plant hygiene may help
since they are spread by aphids and nematodes.
More info
No information available at this time...
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