Cherry tree shapes
The tree shape is determined by the trunk height. A distinction is traditionally made between half-trunks, high-trunks and bush trees. In the meantime, many types of fruit are offered in specialist shops as column fruit or as dwarf trees for small gardens and for terrace planting. The decision for one of the aforementioned tree shapes depends on how much space you have available, how long you wait for the harvest and how high you want to climb to cut and harvest.
also read
- The sweet cherry as a half-stem
- Cherry tree in autumn
- The apple tree as a fruit tree with a half trunk
Special features and advantages of a half trunk
One speaks of a half trunk with a trunk length of about 100-150 cm plus the crown. The commercially available half-trunks are grafted on strong or medium-strong growing bases. With sweet cherries, therefore, pay attention to the bases that slow down growth, such as B. Weiroot 158, GiSelA 5 or bird cherry. For sour cherries, if the soil conditions are good, black cherry and for lighter soils, stone soft cherries are suitable as a base.
With regard to the location, the soil, the planting and the care, there are basically no special features to consider with a half-trunk cherry tree compared to other tree forms. If you buy your cherry tree as a half-trunk that is around two years old, it will take another 2-3 years, depending on the variety, for it to bear fruit. With sweet cherries in particular, it can be important for a good yield to have another cherry tree in the neighborhood as a pollinator.
A cherry tree as a half-trunk in the garden offers many advantages:
- Crown care and pruning as well as harvest 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 maintenance underneath unproblematic,
- the half-trunk cherry trees can live up to 100 years.
Tips & Tricks
Since the half-trunks (especially sweet cherries) are a few meters high, it must be taken into account that they will shade a larger area when fully grown. Depending on whether you want more or less shade on the terrace, plant closer or farther from the house.
