Fruit Tree Propagation - Cherries

Cherries

Until the 1970s, cherries were grown on the vigorous Malling F12/1, Mazzard (Prunus avium), or Maheleb (P. maheleb) rootstocks, which required much space and time before cropping began, thus the growing of cherries was not a realistic option on a garden scale. The introduction of the rootstock 'Colt' enabled trees reaching a maximum height of 12 to 15 ft (3.7 to 4.6 m) to be grown, and if trained as a pyramid it is possible to restrict growth to about 10 ft (3.0 m). The popular sweet variety 'Stella' can even be successfully grown in a pot on the patio when grafted onto a 'Colt' rootstock. A newer rootstock, Gisela 5, is slowly becoming available to gardeners and produces a tree smaller still than Colt, making netting for bird protection much easier.