Wild Cherry Sapling Trees

Wild Cherry Plants

Delivered by Mail Order Direct from our Nursery with a Year Guarantee

The Wild Cherry tree, Prunus avium, is a large, vigorous native tree with white flowers. It will grow on any soil with decent drainage.
Wild Cherry is not ideal for a clipped hedge, but it can be planted as a screening tree and pruned so that it branches low down.
It can grow up to about 25 metres high.

The plants on this page are young saplings. You can also buy larger wild cherry trees.
Browse all of our other varieties of wild and ornamental cherry blossom trees, edible cherry trees or all our fruit trees.

Wild Cherry saplings are only delivered bareroot, during winter (Nov-March).

Choosing a size:
When you are ordering a large quantity of Wild Cherry for a big planting project, we suggest that you buy the smaller, 60/80cm tall plants. They are cheaper than large plants, easier to handle and more likely to cope well with poor conditions.
Use the larger 150/175 tall plants if you want a full grown tree quickly.
All of our young trees and shrubs are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

General description:

Wild cherry trees are vigorous and wide spreading. Mature trees have a suckering tendency and, over time, a single tree can create a cloned thicket of itself over a large area. It looks lovely in spring, with simple, scented white flowers frothing out from the brown and green new leaves. The cherries are edible and a bit sweet, but the flavour isn't great unless you cook them with some sugar; best to leave them for the birds, who prefer these wild fruit to your precious cultivated ones.
It is not really suitable for a clipped hedge, Cherry Plum is much better suited for this.

Notes on planting Wild Cherry:
Wild Cherry trees will grow on any soil that isn't waterlogged in winter, preferring slightly moist sites: they won't grow well on very dry soil (bird cherry will do well on dry sites). They tolerate chalk in general, but don't do well on shallow chalk. They are hardy and even quite shade tolerant, but they will flower poorly if they get less than half a day of full sun.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the area where you intend to plant several months in advance. Destroy the weeds first: nettles, brambles and ground elder are tough. Then dig the soil over; remove rocks, roots and other rubbish. Mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.
If you have a heavy clay soil, it might be too difficult to dig over for most of the year. Heavy clay is fertile soil, so you don't really need to improve it; killing the weeds is still necessary.

Remember to water establishing plants during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass.
If you are planting in an area with rabbit and/or deer, you will need to use a protective plastic spiral for each plant, supported by a bamboo cane.
If your soil quality is poor, we recommend using mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of new trees and shrubs.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser.

After you plant your Wild Cherry trees, the most important thing to do is water them in dry weather. You will also need to weed around the plants. Both of these will be necessary for at least a year after planting.
Water thoroughly but not too often: let the soil get close to drying out before watering your plants again.

Special notes on caring for Wild Cherry:
Wild Cherry is a very tough plant that shouldn't need special attention once it has established. If pruning is necessary, it is best do it in winter. Always hire a tree surgeon to remove large branches.

Hygiene & Diseases:
Dead, damaged or diseased wood can be pruned off as soon as it appears.
Disinfect your pruning tools between every cut if there is any sign of disease.
Burn or dispose of any diseased material, do not compost it.

Did You Know?

Wild cherries are the ancestors of modern eating cherries. They may be true natives, but it is also possible that they were introduced to Europe and Britain by stone age humans. Local names include gean, crab cherry, hagberry, merry, and mazzard. 
The timber is pretty strong and polishes very nicely when it is used for decorative work. It burns well, even when fresh, and the smoke carries some of the flower's scent.