Cherry tree: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

Choose a sheltered position for your cherry tree in fertile, well-drained soil. Sweet cherries prefer sunshine; acid cherries also tolerate light shade. Avoid frost pockets and allow enough space for the variety and rootstock. Check pollination before buying: some cherries are self-fertile, while others need a compatible variety flowering at the same time.

Plant a bare-root tree during dormancy, from autumn to early spring, avoiding frozen or waterlogged ground. For a container-grown tree, favour mild conditions and keep track of watering. Moisten the root ball or briefly soak bare roots immediately before planting.

Make a hole wide enough to spread the roots, but only deep enough to retain the original planting level. Keep the root collar at soil level and the graft union above ground. Refill with the excavated soil, firm gently and water. Soil that is already suitable does not require routine deep ploughing.

Stake if needed and install supporting wires for a trained tree. Mulch without covering the trunk. During the first growing seasons, check moisture and ties, particularly in dry weather. For growing in a pot, choose a suitable rootstock and a sufficiently large container with good drainage.

Prune your cherry tree in dry weather, mainly in summer after harvesting. Do not routinely wait until early autumn, and avoid winter pruning: stone fruit trees are vulnerable to infections entering through wounds, including silver leaf and bacterial canker. Some training cuts on a young tree can be made in spring. Always match the work to the shape of your tree and the space available.

Start by identifying dead or damaged wood, then branches that cross, rub together or make the crown too crowded. Retain a framework of strong, well-spaced branches. Use clean, sharp tools, make tidy cuts and limit large wounds. If the tree has greatly outgrown its space, spread the corrections over several summers rather than reducing the entire crown at once.

Sweet cherries carry an important part of their crop on short fruiting spurs, so keep these productive structures. An acid cherry bears mainly on the previous year's shoots and needs more renewal of growth that has already fruited. Do not apply one rule that removes every old branch or every young shoot. Aim for a balance between retained productive wood and the replacement shoots needed for future cropping.

Pick your cherries fully ripe: they do not ripen further after harvesting. The season runs from early to late summer depending on variety and climate. Look for the ripe colour expected for your tree, as ripe cherries are not always dark red. Taste a few healthy fruits to check maturity instead of relying only on a calendar date.

Harvest in dry weather if possible and handle the fruit gently. Hold the stalk rather than the flesh and leave it attached to limit wounds and drying. Avoid pulling on small shoots or the fruiting spurs needed for another season. Place cherries in a shallow container without compressing them. Discard rotten or mouldy fruit and use sound but split cherries promptly.

Chill the harvest without delay and eat it soon. Storage life depends on fruit condition and temperature; an airtight container does not guarantee two weeks of freshness. Wash cherries just before use. To freeze them, sort, wash and drain healthy fruit, then remove stalks and stones according to your intended use.