How to grow Cherry
Updated October 2026
Cherries come in two kinds: sweet cherries for eating fresh, and sour (tart) cherries for pies and preserves. Sweet cherries need long, cold winters, moderate summers and usually a second variety for pollination, so they suit the Pacific Northwest, California's valleys and the cooler Midwest and East. Sour cherries are hardier, self fruitful and grow much further north.
📖 Our full guide: How to Grow Cherry
Not to be confused with: Barbados cherry (acerola) is an unrelated tropical shrub that Florida gardeners grow in place of true cherries. Bush cherries such as Carmine Jewel are hardy sour cherry hybrids for the far North.
Where to plant
Plant cherries in full sun with good air movement, in deep, well drained, slightly acid soil. UC notes cherries cannot tolerate poor drainage from hardpans, claypans or waterlogged ground, so plant on a mound or raised bed where drainage is doubtful, and never in a low spot. Sweet cherries bloom fairly late, which helps them escape some late frosts.
Sweet cherries need about 800 to 1,200 hours below 45°F (7°C) and moderate summers; in very hot summers the fruit doubles, and on the foggy coast disease is a problem. They suit Northern California's valleys, the Pacific Northwest, the Mountain West, the Mid-Atlantic and the southern Midwest. Most cherries do not get enough chill in Florida, the Gulf South, Texas, the desert or Hawaii, although low chill sweet cherries such as Minnie Royal and Royal Lee are worth trying inland in Southern California. In the Northern Plains and Alaska, grow hardy sour or bush cherries such as Evans, Carmine Jewel or Meteor.
Choosing a variety
University of Illinois Extension suggests the sour cherries Montmorency, Meteor, Suda Hardy, Mesabi and North Star, all self fruitful, and the sweet cherries Black Tartarian, Glass, Rainier, Stark Gold, Stella, Van and Windsor. Plant two or more sweet cherry varieties for cross pollination; Stella is reported to be self fruitful and can be planted alone. Meteor and North Star are natural dwarfs, and Gisela rootstocks keep sweet cherries smaller.
How to plant
- Plant bare root trees while dormant, as soon as you receive them, and never let the roots dry out. Soak the roots in cool water for 6 to 12 hours first.
- Dig a hole about 1.5 to 2 feet (45 to 60 cm) wide and 1.5 feet deep, trim broken roots and spread the rest in their natural position.
- Refill with the original soil, without amendments or fertilizer, firming as you go, and keep the graft union about 2 inches (5 cm) above the soil.
- Water in well. Fertilizer is usually not needed in the first year.
- Cut the tree back to about 24 to 32 inches (60 to 80 cm) above the graft union in the first year to start a low framework, and remove crossing limbs and suckers.
Watering and feeding
Keep soil moisture even, especially in the first year and while fruit is forming. UC suggests up to 3 to 5 gallons (11 to 19 liters) a week for young trees, watering sandy soils every 3 to 5 days and heavier soils every 1.5 to 2 weeks. Water established trees deeply and infrequently around the drip line, not at the trunk, and avoid frequent light sprinkling.
Feed with nitrogen each year in spring, or split between spring and just after harvest. Keep nitrogen modest as harvest nears; too much gives softer, poorly colored fruit and more pest problems.
Pruning and care through the year
- Train sweet cherries to a central leader or, as UC suggests in California, an open vase with 3 or 4 main scaffolds. Sour cherries can be trained either way.
- Cherries fruit on long lived spurs that produce for 10 to 12 years, so mature trees need little pruning: thin out crowded, dead and diseased branches.
- Do major pruning while dormant; pruning in summer has a greater dwarfing effect. Do not overprune, as sunburned bark invites borers.
- Paint exposed trunks and limbs with white interior latex paint diluted half and half with water.
- Net the tree as fruit colors; birds strip cherries fast.
Harvesting
Cherries do not ripen after picking, so pick when fully colored and firm. Taste sweet cherries to be sure. Sour cherries are ready when they pull off easily without the stem. Pick quickly if rain is forecast, as rain splits ripe cherries.
Pick with the stem on for storing; for cooking or canning, the stems can stay on the tree. Cherries keep about 10 days in cool storage.
Companion planting
Keep grass and weeds clear of young trees, and use low flowering plants to draw pollinators.
Good companions
- Nasturtium A low summer groundcover that flowers for pollinators.
- Garlic Narrow and low, so it barely competes with the tree.
- Chives A tidy edging for the tree ring with flowers for bees.
- Marigold Bright flowers that draw hoverflies and other beneficial insects.
Keep apart
Avoid planting these close to cherry.
- Walnut Black walnut roots release juglone, which harms many fruit trees; keep cherries well away.
Pests and diseases
Birds and fruit flies take the most cherries; good drainage and sanitation prevent most disease.
Pests to watch for
- Birds Ripe fruit pecked or taken. Net the tree.
- Spotted wing drosophila Soft, collapsing ripe cherries with tiny larvae inside. Pick promptly and clean up dropped fruit.
- Pear sawfly (pearslug) Pear slug: small, dark, slimy larvae that skeletonize the upper surface of leaves in summer.
- Aphids Black cherry aphids curling the leaves of new shoots in spring.
- Fruit tree borers Gummy frass at the base of the trunk, often after sunburn or stress.
Diseases to watch for
- Brown rot Blossoms that wilt and brown in wet spring weather, and fruit that rots with gray brown spores.
- Bacterial canker Sunken, gummy cankers on branches and trunk, with dieback in spring.
- Leaf spot Cherry leaf spot: small purple spots on the leaves and early leaf drop, the most common sour cherry disease in the Midwest.
- Silver leaf A silvery sheen on the leaves of affected branches, with dieback; cut out infected wood.
Common questions
Do I need two cherry trees?
For most sweet cherries, yes: plant two or more varieties that bloom together. Stella is reported to be self fruitful. Sour cherries such as Montmorency and North Star are self fruitful and can be planted alone.
Can I grow cherries in Florida or Texas?
Not true cherries; they need far more winter chill than Florida, the Gulf Coast or most of Texas get. Many gardeners there grow Barbados cherry (acerola), an unrelated tropical shrub, instead. Low chill sweet cherries such as Minnie Royal and Royal Lee may crop inland in Southern California.
Why are my cherries splitting?
Rain on ripe fruit makes cherries absorb water and crack. Pick as quickly as possible when rain is forecast.
How do I keep birds off my cherries?
Net the tree as the fruit begins to color. Dwarf trees on Gisela rootstock or natural dwarf sour cherries are much easier to net.
When should I prune a cherry tree?
Do most pruning while the tree is dormant. Mature cherries need only light thinning, as they fruit on long lived spurs. Summer pruning has a stronger dwarfing effect if you need to limit size.
Which cherries grow in cold climates?
Sour cherries such as Meteor, North Star, Mesabi and Evans, and bush cherries such as Carmine Jewel, are far hardier than sweet cherries and suit the Northern Plains and Alaska.
Sources we checked: UC IPM: Cultural Tips for Growing Cherry; University of Illinois Extension: Fruit Trees for Home Gardens, Cherries; University of Illinois Extension: Fruitfulness and Pollination.
Loading sow calendar…