Hi, Jason! The North Star is a naturally dwarfing tree and is a really easy grow. I have one in a flower bed. It's loaded with blossoms in the spring and good cherries in the summer. I think you'll be happy with it. Misterbaby.

any advice to keep animals from eating them?

Thanks, Jason.

The animals don't bother mine. If you have a problem, it will be easy enough to throw a net over the small tree. Misterbaby

I seem to have a problem with rodents (especially squirrels) more than anything, but thanks for the advice. Jason.

Jason:

If you chose a Northstar cherry without research, your natural instincts guided you well. I have had two of them here, and both lasted nearly 25 years before succumbing to bacterial disease, which is the almost inevitable end of most cherry trees. You may be able to delay BC onset with annual dormant sprays of a strong copper solution (such as Kocide) and squeeze out a few more years.

I have never learned how these trees are propagated, and it may be from cuttings, but it is not surprising that a genetically dwarfed tree is not grafted. Whatever the propagation method, it seems much better to me than grafting to dwarfing rootstocks, which have not worked well for me.

I have always had lots of squirrels, but they have never bothered the cherries. However, I can't say the same for the birds, which do like the cherries, particularly mockingbirds and robins. The solution is to plant another Northstar and overwhelm them, or net the tree as suggested by Misterbaby. Watch for cherry fruit fly, which shows up in the cherries as a little white larva. You can defeat them by picking the tree clean each season, and cultivating around the base of the tree during winter to kill off the overwintering pupae.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA