Cherries are sold as two separate trees with separate demands. Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) gives the sweet fruit you eat straight off the branch, grows large and is often self-sterile. Acid cherry (Prunus cerasus), such as Skuggmorell, is self-fertile, stays around 3-4 m and carries fruit on a different kind of shoot, which changes the pruning. Which tree you plant, and when in the year you prune, decides whether you get a crop.
Sweet cherry and acid cherry are two different trees
In the nursery they look the same. The difference shows up when the tree needs pruning.
| Feature | Sweet cherry (Prunus avium) | Acid cherry (Prunus cerasus) |
|---|---|---|
| Height | 6-8 m on the rootstock Colt, depending on variety | 3-4 m, for example Skuggmorell |
| Pollination | Often self-sterile. Many varieties need another variety nearby | Self-fertile. A single tree is enough |
| Carries fruit on | Perennial spurs that flower several years running | Mostly last year's shoots, which crop only once |
| Pruning | Thin sparingly and leave the spurs alone | Renew every year by taking out branches that have finished cropping |
| Position | Full sun | Full sun, but takes partial shade better |
| Harvest | July to August | August |
| Hardiness | Needs a warm, sheltered position | Skuggmorell copes with cooler and windier positions |
| Use | Sweet, eaten fresh | Sharp, goes into juice, jam and pie |
The names get in the way. Prunus cerasus is sold as acid cherry, sour cherry, tart cherry or under the group name Morello, while Prunus avium turns up as sweet cherry, wild cherry, gean or mazzard. None of those words on their own tells you which species is in the pot. Read the Latin name on the label.
How to tell whether a variety is self-fertile
Sweet cherries have a built-in system that rejects pollen from their own flower and from closely related varieties, so fertilisation fails. The varieties are sorted into pollination groups, and two varieties from the same group will not fertilise each other however close they stand. That explains the tree that flowers white in April and stands empty in July.
Look for the word self-fertile or self-pollinating on the label. Stella, Sunburst, Lapins and Sweetheart set fruit on their own. Van, on the other hand, needs another variety nearby.
Room for one tree only: Choose a self-fertile sweet cherry variety or an acid cherry.
A neighbour's tree: A cherry on the other side of the hedge works as a partner as long as it is a different variety.
The insects: A cold, wet week of flowering is enough to lose the crop even on a self-fertile tree. A sown strip of seeds for pollinators next to the tree keeps the insects there.
The rootstock decides how big the tree gets
The variety is grafted onto a root section from another plant, the rootstock, and that is what controls the final size. The same variety can end up nearly twice as large on a vigorous rootstock as on a weak one.
Colt is the rootstock you see named most often in the trade. A sweet cherry on Colt lands at 6-8 m depending on variety, an acid cherry on the same rootstock at around 3.5 m. If you want a smaller tree, look for Gisela 5, which holds the tree at 3-4 m. A tree of 6 m cannot be covered with netting against birds, so the size is not a matter of taste.
Position, soil and planting
Cherries want sun, warmth and shelter. The soil should be well drained, rich in humus and preferably chalky. Avoid hollows where cold air collects, since the flowering in April and May falls inside the frost risk.
Timing: Bare-root trees are planted from autumn to spring while they are dormant, container-grown trees through the whole season. September and October work well, the same weeks as you plant bulbs and tubers for autumn planting.
Hole: Dig twice as wide as the root ball. The graft union should end up a few centimetres above the soil surface.
Spacing: Count on the final crown width of the tree, so 6-8 m between two sweet cherries on Colt and 3-4 m between acid cherries.
Support: Put in a stake for the first three years and tie loosely.
The root system sits shallow, just under the turf, so do not dig over the ground under the crown. Lay a layer of compost or grass clippings of about 5 cm out to the edge of the crown instead, and keep a ring of 30 cm around the trunk clear. Low perennials work too, as long as you plant them once and then leave them standing.
Why cherries are never pruned in winter
An apple tree has two windows, July to September for an old tree and February to April for a young one, which is described in the article on how to prune apple trees. Cherries have only one, and the spring window that works on apple is the one that harms stone fruit.
Silver leaf: The fungus Chondrostereum purpureum releases its spores during autumn and winter in damp weather, and the risk is greatest from September to May. The spores get in through fresh cuts. Affected branches get silver-grey leaves, wilt and die, and there is no treatment.
Bacterial canker: Pseudomonas syringae exploits the wounds left at leaf fall and forms cankers, sunken dead patches in the bark. In July and August the tissue of the tree is at its most resistant.
Gumming: If the cut is made when the sap is moving in spring, the tree answers with a sticky resin out of the wound. The tree loses nutrients and the wound stays open longer.
Prune straight after harvest, in July or August, on a dry day. The window is narrower than for apple. July to September includes September, but by then the spore season has already started. The same timing applies to plum trees and other stone fruit.
How pruning differs between the two types
Sweet cherries carry fruit on spurs, short thickened shoots that stay on the tree and flower several years running. A spur you cut off takes three to four years to replace. Prune sparingly for that reason: dead, damaged, crossing and inward-growing wood, plus a branch here and there to let light in.
Acid cherries carry fruit mostly on last year's shoots, and a shoot that has cropped once will not crop again. If you only take out dead and crossing wood, the fruit migrates out towards the branch tips, and the crown goes empty inside with a ring of fruit on the outside. Take out a few of the oldest branches that have finished cropping every year instead, down to a young side shoot that can take over. The same principle applies to peach trees, which also carry fruit on last year's shoots.
Netting against birds
Starlings and thrushes empty a cherry tree in two or three days, and they start before the fruit is ripe for you.
Timing: Put the netting up when the green fruit turns yellow or pale pink, not when it is red.
Mesh size: Fruit and protection netting is sold with a mesh of around 19 mm, which shuts out both starlings and thrushes.
Tension: Pull the netting over hoops or a frame so that it does not rest against the branches. A bird pecks straight through netting that lies on the fruit.
Fixing: Fasten the netting all the way down to the ground. Otherwise the birds get in underneath, and loosely hanging netting is what animals tangle themselves in.
Fruit that splits when it rains before harvest
A ripe cherry takes up water both through the roots and straight through the skin. The flesh swells faster than the skin can stretch and it splits. It happens in the last weeks before harvest, and a day of rain is enough.
Pick before the rain: If the fruit is nearly ripe and rain is on the way, harvest rather than wait for the sweetness of the last few days.
Keep the soil moisture even: A tree that has dried out and then gets heavy rain splits more than one that has stood evenly moist. Water during dry spells, keep the ground covered and do not water extra during ripening.
Harvest
Cherries do not ripen further after picking, so the flavour on the tree is the one you get. Harvest when the fruit has full colour and comes away easily, and cut off whole clusters with the stalk left on. Fruit with the stalk keeps several days longer in the fridge. The first real crop comes three to four years after planting.
Author: Emma Vogiatzi
Fact-checked by Erik Hoekstra
Last updated 2026-09-15