Cherry trees are commercially available as tall or half-stems as well as bush trees. Due to its size, a half-stem is best suited for cultivation in the home garden. Numerous sweet and sour cherry varieties are available as half stems.
cherry tree shapes
The tree shape is determined by the trunk height. Traditionally, a distinction is made between half-stems, standard trees and bush trees. In the meantime, many types of fruit are offered in specialist shops as columnar fruit or as dwarf trees for small gardens and for planting on terraces. Choosing one of the above tree shapes will depend on how much space you have, how long you want to wait for yield, and how high you want to climb for cutting and harvesting.
Particularities and advantages of a half trunk
A trunk length of about 100-150 cm plus the crown is referred to as a half trunk. The commercially available half-stems are grafted onto strong or medium-growing rootstocks. With sweet cherries, therefore, pay attention to the documents that slow down growth, e.g. B. Weiroot 158, GiSelA 5 or wild cherry. For the sour cherry, the bird cherry is a good base if the soil conditions are good, and the sour cherry is a good choice for lighter soils.
With regard to the location, the soil, the planting and the care, there are basically no special features to be observed with a half-stem cherry tree compared to the other tree forms. If you buy your cherry tree as a half-stem that is about two years old, it will take another 2-3 years, depending on the variety, before it bears fruit. In the case of sweet cherries in particular, it can be important for a good yield to have another cherry tree in the vicinity as a pollinator.
A cherry tree as a half trunk in the garden offers many advantages:
- Crown care and pruning as well as harvesting are easy to carry out,
- with the moderate trunk length you may not need a tree stake or support,
- Underplanting in the trunk area possible and lawn care underneath unproblematic,
- the cherry trees as a half trunk can be up to 100 years old.
tips and tricks
Since the half-stems (especially sweet cherries) grow to a height of several metres, it must be taken into account that when they are fully grown they will shade a larger area. Depending on whether more or less shade is desired on the terrace, plant closer or further from the house.