Cherry trees picking

Hi, I have an allotment since 2020 and am trying to create a fruit forest. My idea is to have different varieties of each fruit (most on dwarfing rootstocks), so the picking season can be extended. Is this approximate cherry tree planner I created ok in regards to cherry picking times? Thanks, Dani

 

Hello and welcome @Danaya

 

Ill only say expect to net a cherry tree if you want any fruit

 

I have a Sunburst trained on my garage wall. When I netted it I had black fly on the shoots. You can't win!

 

Is it a big allotment? Even on a dwarfing rootstock, cherries get quite big when grown as free-standing trees. Local climate also plays a part in flowering and fruiting, so perhaps don't expect too much in the way of a 3-month cherry season.

 

I must admit commercially cherrys seem to be the fruit that has the shortest season.
They only seem to be available around here from about mid July until mid August if the weather is kind, I have known them to be gone first week in august due to splitting in summer rains.

 

Yes, indeed. All year really, or at least Dec-April Bullfinches (buds), sparrows (blooms), pigeons and blackbirds, starlingsJune-August.

 

The plot is 25m x 10m, its northern side (no neighbour there but it also works with the eastern side of a plot) is 25m long, so my tallest trees are planted there on St Julien A and Colt rootstocks. They are 3m apart, as that's usually how wide they become (1.5m from the centre of the tree). They can be even closer, if they are the same type of tree, for example cherries, as usually they don't fight but support eachother instead. Trees on smaller rootstocks I usually plant 1.5-2m apart but again, if it is the same type of trees, they can be grouped tighter tougher in twos, threes, or fours in triangular or rectangular shapes around 1m apart. My neighbour, for example, has two established cherry trees on colt rootstock that are about 1.5-2m apart and they are thriving. In a fruit forest, there are different sizes of thees, shrubs and even herbs around, but I try to position them in such a way, that they all get enough sunlight.