How Many Kinds of Cherry Trees Are There?
Cherry Trees
There are many variations of the cherry trees that we can appreciate in different ways throughout the year. There’s no better time to take in the beauty of Nashville’s cherry blossoms than the month of April; the annual Nashville Cherry Blossom Festival will be held this year on Saturday, April 13th in Nashville Public Square Park. Visitors will be able to view many kinds of cherry trees in all their spring splendor!
Now let’s go over some of the main flowering and fruiting types of cherry trees, as well as an American canopy species that can be found throughout Nashville.
What Defines a Cherry Tree?
In the botanical world, the genus Prunus includes many of the most well-loved fruit trees, including plum (“prunus” in Latin, lending its name to the group), apricot, and peach, as well as cherry. It’s the little red fruits that distinguish cherries from their Prunus relations.
The cherry, a stone fruit like others in the Prunus group, has a single hard pit in its juicy, fleshy form, which hangs from tree branches from thin stems. Although thought of as a berry due to its smaller size, it technically isn’t one, as berries contain many tiny seeds. Three major types of cherry trees grow in Nashville:
Edible Cherry Trees
Ornamental Cherry Trees
The American Black Cherry Tree
Types of Edible Cherry Trees
Cherries are one of the most beloved fruits, enjoyed fresh, dried, in pies, on ice cream, or in any of the many other ways they can be prepared, preserved, or included in a recipe. The range of cherry varieties adds to the fruit’s versatility, as size, color, and degrees of sweet and sour give each type of cherry a unique flavor and use.
Some of the main cultivars of fruiting cherry trees include:
Bing (Prunus avium) – Bing cherries are the most popular sweet cherry to eat fresh, famous for their bright red color. The fruit trees grow to about 35 feet tall and usually live for up to 30 years.
Rainier (Prunus avium) – Another popular sweet cherry, rainier cherries have a yellow and orange color to them. These trees usually reach 15 to 25 feet in height and live for 20 to 30 years.
Chelan (Prunus avium) – These attractive cherries have a sweet flavor and a deep red, almost purple color. This species grows to 30 feet and generally lives up to 15 or 20 years.
Montmorency (Prunus cerasus) – The Montmorency cherry is a bright red, tart variety that is popular for pies and juice. These trees grow up to about 20 feet tall and live for about 20 years.
Types of Ornamental Cherry Trees
Ornamental cherry trees are prized for their early spring flowers in addition to their dense summer foliage and elegant winter silhouette. These trees are bred to focus on their blossoms and don’t produce the big, edible cherries that their fruiting cousins do, although the tiny fruits that they do produce are good sources of nutrients and energy for birds, insects, and other wildlife. Similarly, their flowers provide a great floral source for local pollinators. In general, both fruiting and flowering cherries come in dwarf sizes that add another layer of visual interest to an already intriguing type of tree.
Some of the main cultivars of ornamental cherry trees include:
Yoshino (Prunus × yedoensis) – The flowering Yoshino cherry tree is a favorite for springtime viewing, with delicate white or pink petals that bloom in soft bunches. Yoshino cherry trees can grow up to 40 feet tall and generally live for 20 years or longer with good care. You can see this type of cherry tree at the Shelby Avenue Arboretum!
Kwanzan (Prunus serrulata) – The Kwanzan flowering cherry tree is another popular species for its showy blossoms, whose layered pink petals resemble small carnations that fill the tree’s branches abundantly in early spring. This species grows to between 20 and 30 feet tall and lives for about 30 years on average. You can also see this type of cherry tree at the Shelby Avenue Arboretum!
Autumn blooming cherry (Prunus subhirtella) – The autumn blooming cherry tree (also called the Higan cherry or winter flowering cherry) is a particularly special variety that blooms in spring, then has a second round of pale flowers that blossom in the fall after the tree drops its leaves before winter. This cultivar grows up to about 30 feet and will live for several decades with good care.
The American Black Cherry Tree
While fruit cherries are native to the Mediterranean and ornamental cherries are native to East Asia, there are a few American cherry species out there, one of which can be found in Tennessee! The American black cherry tree (Prunus serotina) is native to the eastern United States. This canopy tree, which grows up to 80 feet tall and can live for a century, is distantly related to its understory cousins.
American black cherry trees produce tiny white flowers and small fruits, and while these small cherries aren’t generally cultivated to be eaten, they are sometimes harvested to make jam, wine, or brandy. The black cherry tree is an important hardwood timber tree, with its reddish-orange lumber used for furniture, doors, cabinets, flooring, and musical instruments such as pianos, violin bows, and drumsticks.
Considerations When Planting a Cherry Tree
When planting a cherry tree, you likely already have in mind whether it should be a fruit tree, a cherry blossom, or a black cherry canopy tree. From this starting point, there are a few things to consider when planting a cherry tree:
Most cherry trees grow between zones 4 or 5 through zone 8, meaning that Nashville, in zone 7b, gets winters that are just cool enough for cherries.
Cherries grow in any well-draining soil type, and while different types of cherries have slightly different pH requirements, they all prefer slightly acidic soil. Always confirm the soil requirements of a tree species before planting!
Water young cherry trees once a week in the first year to get their roots established, then once every 10 days if there isn’t any rain. Like other types of trees, cherries will sleep, creep, then leap over the first three years, then they will start to produce fruit after their fourth year.
Don’t plant cherry trees too close to each other. They need full sun, especially for flowers and fruit, and trees that are too close may shade each other or create conditions for mildew if moisture builds up in overlapping branches.
Prune cherry trees in the late fall or in winter, after the tree drops its leaves for the dormant season. An open interior for fruiting cherries helps them produce as much fruit as they can with good sunlight penetration into interior branches while directing energy to the strongest branches for productivity. Flowering cherries don’t need as much pruning as fruit-bearing trees.
Tips for Harvesting Cherries
Once a fruiting cherry begins yearly production, the tree may be productive for two or three decades with good care. Fruiting cherry trees (particularly the sweet, red-colored varieties) will attract animals, including birds. There are multiple tactics to protect your fruit throughout the season:
Netting for dwarf varieties and young trees can keep wildlife away, while mature trees get too big for nets to be an option.
Placing bird feeders nearby, but at far enough of a distance from the trees, can distract birds and keep them fed, increasing the chance that they will stay away from your fruit.
Owl figures and aluminum strips or plates can be used to deter birds from approaching the fruit-bearing branches.
Non-toxic bird repellent sprays also exist for fruit growers to spray their trees and keep birds away.
Cherries should be harvested before they drop to the ground. Fruits on the ground will attract animals and insects, while any untouched fruit will start to rot after a couple of days.
When harvesting, the stems should be clipped at the branch, rather than hand-picking the cherries by twisting and pulling, to avoid any ripping of the fruit’s flesh. Cherries should be washed after collection, then they can be enjoyed fresh, refrigerated for several days, or preserved in jars or frozen for long-term storage and future use.
What’s the Difference Between Sweet and Sour Cherries?
Aside from the flavor difference between sweet and sour cherry varieties, these types of cherries actually come from different species. Sour or tart cherries come from Prunus cerasus, while sweet cherries are produced by Prunus avium. Another major difference is that sour cherries prefer colder winters and tend to do best up to zone 6, a bit further north than Nashville.
In terms of uses, sweet cherries are often enjoyed raw, and tart cherries are used for dried snacks or to make pie filling, but both types of cherries are regularly used for jams, cherry juice, garnishes, and in baked goods of all kinds!
Ecosystem Benefits of All Cherry Trees
Whether a blossoming, fruiting, or canopy tree, all cherries are valuable in your yard as specimens within the wider ecosystem. Understory and canopy trees alike perform ecosystem services where they are planted, such as filtering air, stabilizing soil, and helping manage stormwater.
All kinds of cherries are deciduous, and they all have some type of flower and fruit in the spring. The small berries of ornamental cherries and the American black cherry provide food for wildlife, while the greenery of all types of cherries provides habitat cover. A cherry tree’s summer foliage shades the space around it, contributing to a cooling effect in the immediate area. In the autumn, all species of Prunus change color before dropping their leaves, and the trees continue to provide environmental benefits throughout the winter. From human, wildlife, and environmental perspectives, a cherry planted and well-cared for is a net positive for the local quality of life!
If you’re looking for one or more tree(s) for your yard, browse Nashville Tree Conservation Corps’ tree sale to plan your next planting. Check out the Shelby Avenue Arboretum to see the Akebono, Okame, Yoshino, and Kwanzan cherry trees in person! To help us plant and care for the trees around the city, consider volunteering with us! And sign up for our email newsletter to receive regular news and information on the trees we encounter every day in Nashville.