Wild black cherry trees, move or remove?

4 years ago

I have loggers working to remove a lot of trees from around my property, and yesterday I discovered a patch of wild black cherry trees!

I don't know if this picture will do justice, but:

I was facing East when I took the picture. They were all nestled in between a bunch of pine trees, but now they're in direct sun from around 2pm until dusk.

It looks like I have one in the back of this picture that's about 10' tall, it's the largest but sparse. I have another to the left of the picture that you can't really see, it's more like 8' tall. There's a third there that's not pictured, it's actually the largest but I don't see any leaves on it so it might be dead.

Then you can see three in the center of this picture; the largest is about 7' tall, the smallest is more like 4' tall.

You can see how close together they all are, though, which can't be good long term.

Would you recommend:

1. Leave it as is, let nature decide who stays and who goes;

2. Cut down all but the one that's in the most desirable location;

3. Cut down all but the largest; or

4. Either (2) or (3), but dig up the others and relocate them instead of cutting them down?

Or, are wild black cherry trees never going to be that pretty, so I should just eliminate them anyway? I actually bought several pyramid-shaped trees to go in this area, so they really don't fit in with the new plan at all! LOL

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Comments (7)

Anna (6B/7A in MD)
4 years ago
https://www.ecobeneficial.com/2015/02/powerful-prunus-visit-dr-doug-tallamy/

Move them if you don't want them there but don't cut them down. And plant some oak trees while you're at it.
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
4 years ago
I started out just cutting trees that were close to the house, then I expanded it to cutting loblolly field pines that were leaning towards the house and dangerous.

Then I expanded it a little more to open up an area where I can put more attractive trees. And while doing THAT I discovered a lot of unhealthy trees that were just hurting the ones that could be better.

And I just found today that a lot of my oak trees that I thought were healthy were being completely eaten up on the inside by ants! They cut one down that was right next to my garage, it was more than 36" in diameter but probably 20" of the center was completely eaten away :-O So now I'm having to take down the oak trees that are close to the house, too.

As for moving them, I found this that worried me:

Black cherry, like many large trees, develops an extensive taproot and therefore cannot be easily transplanted. Make sure you site your tree in its forever home for this reason.

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/plant-black-cherry-trees-for-the-birds-and-bees-stsetivw-vs~67621489

With the smallest at 4' tall, I'm concerned that the roots might be MUCH larger than I can handle with a shovel! So I expect that, if I can get them dug up at all, it'll probably kill them :-(
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
i wish you would move toward using the proper botanical names ...

if you are talking about prunus serotina... i have moved dozens of them ... and lost none ... they do NOT have tap roots [free range seedlings in sand] .. and besides.. tap roots are irrelevant.. their use is to hold the seed long enough to start growing roots .. and after that.. not much else.. its just another root ...

this is a prunus serotina .. moved in dormancy

if your are not talking about this tree.. so be it

ken
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
4 years ago
i wish you would move toward using the proper botanical names

Sorry, @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5! Most of the time I'm using PlantNet app to identify the plant, and it gives the common name. Further, when I talk about them locally, nobody knows what I'm talking about if I fall in to Latin... LOL

I'll try to do better :-)
Anna (6B/7A in MD)
4 years ago
Please read up on tree health. Also, snags are a pretty critical component of a healthy environment. Please consider the local flora and fauna, as well as migrators, in your selections.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/learn/trees/anatomy-of-tree
ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
4 years ago
last modified: 4 years ago
you can get IDs here or in the name that plant forum ...

in this case ..i want to know if you have black cherry fruit like you might buy at the store ... or if you are talking about the furniture wood tree.. aka serotina ... one might be worth keeping. the fruit tree ... the other is an over aggressive seeder that is nice to have one around.. but do you need a hundred of them.. and once you are able to ID them.. youll start seeing them everywhere.. i suspect ..

btw.. on my pix.. did you notice proper digging and root pruning for transplanting a DORMANT tree in early april in MI ... done right.. you do it when it doesnt have leaves.. and then dont get worried.. if they fall off ...

btw: the serotina.. smells of cherry pop.. when you break and mangle leaves and/or new growth .. at certain times of the year.... its very faint.. and might all be the power of suggestion.. lol ...

ken

ps: yeah.. and we call it pop around here.. none of that soda crap ... lol ...
Jason, zone 7A, near Greensboro NC
Original Author
4 years ago
I'm not sure which one it is, @ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5 :-( Here are some close up pics, what do you think?

yeah.. and we call it pop around here.. none of that soda crap ... lol ...

'Round here, everybody calls it "Coke". Mtn Dew? Coke. Dr. Pepper? Coke. Pepsi? Coke. Go to a restaurant, you'll inevitably hear someone ask, "what kind of Coke do you have?" LOL