Bonnie: Your yard isn't that small. You have plenty of room for a nice orchard but you need to think in terms of trees not over 12 ft tall. This requires a dwarf or semidwarf rootstock for many fruits. It also requires annual summer pruning, which is not as demanding or difficult as it might seem.

Sweet cherries are not the best crop for your area or soil. But if you must try one Lapins might be a better choice than Stella. Both are self fertile. Giesla 5 might be a good dwarfing rootstock for your cherry but be prepared to water in a dry spell.

Better crops for your area are likely to be peach, apple, asian pear, blueberries, blackberries, figs, some plums, and mulberries. Some varieties have been bred for the southeast. Try to find those.

The Fruitnut

I had Lapins on Gisela 5 from Raintree Nursery in DC/MD. It did real well and we always got lots of fruit. Luckily they were one of the few that ripened before birds and squirrels became pests. I did have to spray fungicide a few times a year for brownspot. The tree stayed about 10' tall by 8-10' wide, but could be pruned smaller. I tried to get it to grow MORE as it naturally lacked vigor.

Bonnieblueeyes I WISH I had a yard that big. My yard is perhaps 35 X 35 and I have both Cherry and Peach trees. They were both bought at a Nursery and are dwarf varieties. The Cherry is Stella and it is self fruitful, I get lots of delicious cherries but it is alot of work with the birds and squirrels. It is at it's max height as declared on the label---18 feet. The peach is Harrow Diamond and will apparently get to 16 feet, it is only 3 years old and is about 12 or so feet tall. I am in Toronto Canada and my soil is very clayish.

Hope this helps,

Ravi

Thank you so much Fruitnut, Kurtg, and trfanatic!! You have confirmed for me that i was looking at the right cherry trees. I really just want to nibble them right off the tree and i really wasn't wanting one you have to cook or add sugar too. Although cherry pie does sound good. You have made me so happy. I had written down and been reading on both Lapins and Stella also Vandalay and Sweetheart cherries so i feel so much better now :-) This year i have been bitten by the fruiting bug and my mouth just waters over the thought of fresh fruit! Im also glad you have confirmed for me that i do have room for my cravings. Im a city girl and have no knowledge of growing anything but flowers so i will probably be on here asking questions and hopefully not annoying you with all of them. LOL... Thank you so much and if you think of any other yummy stuff that might do good here ,please let me know. I trust experience way more than what a nursery says. Bonnie

Hi again Fruitnut i was rereading what you had written and i had been thinking of blueberries and mulberries. I like looking at the Edible Landscaping web site and they had a weeping mulberry that is only supposed to get about 10-15ft tall but again i am unsure because of lack of experience. I was really attracted to it though. What do you think about it? I would love to have blueberries and huckleberries too but i have read they are very fussy and need loamy acid soil to grow and i just dont have that kind of soil here. I was going to plant serviceberries instead because i read they are more hardy and taste similar to blueberries. I would just hate to waste years planting the wrong stuff when it usually takes fruit a few years to produce anyway. When is the best time to plant spring or fall? I did buy a small dwarf peach tree last year ( Bonanza peach? )and it bloomed like crazy and my little peaches were setting and we got a late freeze in April and it killed my little peaches :-(~~~They were the size of a thumbnail and so many of them. Oh well maybe next year. Love to hear what you think. Bonnie

Bonnie: I have no experience with serviceberries and have never heard much talk here about them. That leaves me feeling there might be a good reason. But you have to expect that about half what you plant won't work out. Just tear it out and try something else.

I remember a weeping mulberry from my youth. Tree was small and so was the fruit. For fruit I'd try Illinois Everbearing. But the weeping trees are pretty and would be nice in the right spot.

You could grow blueberries. Just make a raised bed of acid organic material and keep them well mulched. I grow mine in pots. With the correct varieties, even that can be worth the trouble.

In your area you can plant all winter starting as soon as things are dormant. Nov thru Febr is much better than anytime later.

The Fruitnut

You might call Finch Nursery and see what they think about Rabbiteye blueberries in your area.

They are not nearly as fussy about soil as southern or northern highbush. I have them on the water in MD and near the north of their tolerance.

In any case, I think it's worth the gamble. They are realtively inexpensive at Finch's but do grow slowly.

Thanks again Fruitnut and Kurt. I had not really thought about container planting. I have seen those big totes at wal mart and i could poke some drainage holes in the bottoms (way cheaper than large flower pots)and have blueberries on my patio. The totes look really deep and i could get some acidic potting soil. Do you think that could work. I would really love to have blueberries too. Yummy Yummy :-) What about strawberries? Could container planting work for strawberries too. I have a large patio in sun from noon till dark but morning shade. Sorry i ask so many questions, im just really excited about getting a little orchard going. I cant believe i have waited this long and not put in fruit trees and wasted my time on just flowers. I have been bitten by the fruiting bug now though so full steam a head. Thanks so much for your time and input, Bonnie

Bonnie: Container planting will work for strawberries as well as blueberries. But unless your soil is really bad, you will get more fruit easier by planting both in the ground. I have had good crops of both in pots. I've grown strawberries in long 4-inch diameter PVC tubes with holes cut every 12 inches. The fruit was good just not very much.

Glad you are so enthused about this project. It is good clean fun and great fruit to eat.

The Fruitnut

Thanks again Fruitnut, you give good advice. Im a homebody and really cant think of a better thing to do with my time than invest in yummy fruit :-) Shopping is not for me unless it involves plants or birds. LOL....I hope the birds dont eat all the fruit i want though. I dont mind sharing some but not all. I have a neighbor that has two big pecan trees and he hates squirrels so he catches them and carries them off. So i wont have to worry about squirrels just my birds. I really want cherries in the worst way though so i think i will plant both Lapins and Stella and maybe two nanking cherries also. Hopefully something will survive :-)

I had looked on the Finch nursery web site for blueberries and they had so many my eyes about crossed. So do you recommend a special kind? I liked one that said Climax and another said Bonita and then something light blue but i dont remember the exact name now though. I think you have to have two to pollinate for berries. Its a BIG fruit world out there and kind of scary to someone who doesn't know anything! So glad you are trying to help me. Hope i can join the fruit world soon :-) Bonnie

Two words for you Bonnie: bird netting. It's fairly cheap and quite effective for small crops like strawberries and brambles. Be sure to secure it very well along the edges, or a bird may get stuck under it and then you have a dead bird to dispose of.

Talk to the folks at Finch's they are helpful. We put in 30+ plants in our yard (for landscaping) so have lots of varieties ;)

I find having a couple to spread the season is better than worrying about size or taste.

Hi again, I have not bitten the bullet about the blueberries yet but i have ordered two sweet cherry trees. I ordered from Starkbros.com and i got Starkrimson sweet cherry semi dwarf prunus avium "Sweetheart" and i also ordered their Stella sweet cherry semi dwarf prunus avium "Stella". So i hope i did okay. They said they would arrive in October so i have to wait a little bit to get them and i hope they will survive the winter. I got two in case one doesn't make it. They also had a two in one apple tree with red delicious and gold delicious but they said antique and i didn't know what that meant so i didn't get it. It really sounded yummy though and i really dont want two apple trees so i thought that might be good. Any thoughts on that? They also had a two in one pear tree and i really love pears too but they were sold out, so maybe i can get one of those next year. Thanks everyone for the good suggestions and the bird netting idea ( alabamanicole ) and i will keep you posted on success or failure. Bonnie

Bonnie-
The problem with places like Stark is that they do not tell you what rootstock they use. The industry takes large liberties in describing growth characteristics.

I'd stick to one of the nurseries that tells you what you are getting in terms of both varieties and rootstocks.

Raintree nursery does a good job of this as does Adams county nursery. I suspect your Cherries will get rather larger unlike those on Gisela from Raintree.

Oh no thats not good. I dont want giant trees taking over my yard because i want to get other stuff too. I researched Stark Brothers before i bought there and everything i read about them was good, so i thought i was okay. I did order the semi dwarfs that are not supposed to get bigger than 12-15 ft. , because i thought i had room for that. How big does a cherry tree get? I hope i didn't mess up. They just sounded so good and i love cherries. I have heard two different things about planting trees. So im confused about it. One thing stated to not amend your soil because the tree needs to get used to the soil it will have to live in. The article said if you amend the soil the roots will keep going around and around in the amended soil and not spread out like they should and it will have a bowl affect. The other article said you need to amend the soil to give the tree a boost to help it grow faster and stronger. So i am confused about whether i should amend and fertilize or not?
Sorry, i told you i was new and confused and i would ask a lot of questions :-) This is my first house and i have been here for three years and i really want to get some fruit going to enjoy in the years ahead. Thanks for your help! Bonnie

You will enjoy the Starkrimson. I don't live in an area that has enough chill for cherries (although there are two new releases that might). However, I have given away cherry trees to relatives after visiting them as a hostess gift. Everyone that has received a Starkrimson is greatly impressed with the flavor. It is a Zaiger bred cultivar and it is exceptional.

is a Lapins cherry good/sweet?

How high does it rank as being the best tasting?

Hi Bonnie. I would suggest going with disease resistant pear and apples (fireblight and CAR) to get started. There is many dwarfing option available. Good luck from a neighboring state. Bill

Cali559:

Lapins is a good cherry here in my greenhouse. It's fruit is nearly identical to Bing and of course has the advantage of being self fruitful. I've tested a lot of varieties but only have one I'm sure I like better, Selah. It's bigger and firmer.

Is there any "bad" cherry?
In my opinion, whatever cherry fruits in your yard will ALWAYS be the best tasting! Pick based on your growing conditions, not the taste tests.

(from someone who has so far gotten a whopping total of 3 cherries from 4 trees, with the promise of two more this season)

I lived just south of Jackson, TN almost a decade ago bonnieblueyes, but had little luck growing cherries with the heat and humidity in TN. My apples, peaches, pears, blackberries, and rabbit eye Blueberries were a go though. Here in Northern Indiana the weather is better suited for cherries, I still find them a challenge, but have had one season where I was able to pick some fruit. Although this year the hard winter and pests took their toll and I didn't get any cherries. Good luck with whatever you grow. I have about 3/4 of an acre unlike the 5 acres I had in TN and still manage to have 4 sweet cherry trees, 2 sour cherry trees, 4 apple trees, huge garden patch, and an area behind the house with 14 blueberry bushes, 2 gooseberry bushes, and numerous rhubarb plants so with that said you should do fine with what area you have!! Good Luck!!