I should add that im zone 4b nw iowa, soil usually isnt an issue around here...

I grow trees in what could be described as beach sand (not far from the Mississippi River)... Trees grow great. Use mulch. Lots and lots of mulch...don't doctor up your holes..just use native soil. You can sometimes get woodchips for free.

Thanks for the input, feel much better about planting in that spot now.

For fruit trees I'd much rather have too poor a soil that too rich a soil. Easy to overcome by method mentioned above. You'll be surprised in how few years there is a noticeable--and thickening--organic-rich developing A-horizon in the upper sand.

Looks like you have perfect soil, [sandy clay] for cherry bushes, better then black soil!

I'm very glad to hear that the preference is for too poor soil than for too rich, as my soil is extremely sandy and I suppose low in nutrients. Just as an add-on to the mulching question, in the case of poor/sandy soils, what would be some suitable/recommended mulches? I have access to an unlimited supply of pine/casuarina needles, and was reading somewhere that newspaper/cardboard can work as a weed barrer/mulch as well?

Surprised to hear this, I always assumed that every plant would like black nutrient rich soil. Turns out the place in my yard that I chose is perfect for my mini orchard. BahamaDan, I don't see why pine needles or cardboard wouldn't work for mulch. Pine needles probably wont help retain moisture as well as some other choices though. I'm new to this so take my advice with a grain of salt.

I do not buy the theory that fruit trees like poor soil than rich soil. But I believe the theory that, do not amend the native soil and plant with the native soil you already get.

A lot of vegetables and fruits are grown in California. Do they have poor soil? no. The soil there is very rich. You get more yield from rich soil and the CA fruits taste great. Then we have the Washington apple. It is a stretch to say that rich soil makes poor fruits.

Some fruits do well in poor soil because other plants can't grow and the land would be available. Jujube is a good example. Of course jujube still wants rich soil, but it can grow well in poor soil too.

The only fruit I can think of that prefers poor soil is wine grape. For wine grape, you want low water content, thick skin and small berry. Rich soil would make the berry too watery.

As to OP's question, do not amend the soil with compost or potting soil. But do loosen the soil if you can, and dig a generously large hole. Put down root starter fertilizer or bone meal, mulch well. Water diligently the first year or two and get root established.

Cherry is not that easy to grow IMOP. It is affected by chilling requirement, last frost, various insects and birds, etc... But the fruits are rewarding. Good luck.

For me, too rich of a soil leads to too much vegetative growth and, with some fruits, fireblight risk. Fruit quality was not the point. Maybe drier California can control overgrowth by careful irrigation but here it rains a lot.

Disease is another issue, nothing to do with types of soil. In general, rich soil retains water and nutrients better. You can grow Wonderful pomegranate in the poor soil in Texas, but the ones from California are larger and more juicy.

So I do not get the idea that rich soil produces poorer fruits....