Amateur Gardening – 21 May 2019

24 AMATEUR GARDENING11 MAY 2019

Floweringcherrytreesareusually

availablein containers.Asa generalrule,

thelargerthepot,theolderandlarger

thetree– andthehighertheprice.

Donotsimplydiga plantingholeand

dumpmanurein thebottom.Instead,

preparetheplantingareafirstbyforking

overtoloosenthesoil,andworkingin

somewell-rottedorganicmatteror

baggedsoilimprover.Thendigyourhole.

Firmthebasebeforesettingthetree

in theholesothatthetopof therootball

is a littlebelowthegeneralsoillevel.

Thiswillallowwatertocollect.

Firmthesoilwell,thensecure the trunk

to supports (see below).

Once in place, fi rm in well

Planting your cherry

The winter cherry

Supporting young trees

Twostakes,oneon

either side, is ideal

Firmsupportis crucialuntilnewroots

havespreadoutintothesurroundingsoil

andtakenhold.Onetallstakealongside

thetrunkis nottherightapproachhere.

Positiontwostakes,oneoneitherside

andoutsidetherootball;knockin deeply,

leaving 16-20in (40-50cm) above ground.

FORcherryblossomin thecolder

monthsyouneedPrunusxsubhirtella

‘Autumnalis’.Althoughthebestdisplay

comesona warmdayaftera runof

coldones,in somewintersflowers

willopenalmosteveryday.

Thistruewintercherryusedto

getmuddledwithwhatwasonce

calledP. subhirtella‘PendulaRubra’,

a spring-flowering,deeppinkvariety

thatsomegardenersboughtthinking

it wasautumn-flowering.It’snow

classifiedseparatelyunderP. pendula,

which makes things a lot clearer.

Staking early on give trees the best start

Problematic

prunus

Twoof thebestknownAGM-

winningfloweringcherrieshave

hidden problems. These are:

‘Amanogawa’

Withitsnarrow,uprightgrowth,

‘Amanogawa’seemsa fine tree for

a smallgardenand

itsfragrant

semi-doubl

pinkflowers

in late

Apriland

Mayare

prolific.

However,

underthe

weightof

snowor

heavyraint

uprightbranchescan

leanoutwards,makingthetreelook

ratherridiculous.Theonlysolutionis

tolooptwinearoundthebranches

to keep them in place.

‘Kanzan’

Withlarge,double,purplish-pink

flowersthatcoverthetree,‘Kanzan’

is genuinelydramatic,butit has

beenplantedfartoooftenat the

expenseof otherfinevarieties.

‘Kanzan’alsoseemsespecially

susceptibletodisease.Theanswer

istoplantthesimilar‘Fugenzo’

instead;notonlyis it lessdisease-

prone,butit alsomakes a smaller,

more elegant tree.

Threadgalvanisedwirethrough

a 6-8in(15-20cm)lengthof plastic

hosepipe.Loopit aroundthetrunk,

pulltightwiththetreeverticaland

securethewiretothetopof onestake.

Repeattheprocedureandsecure

the wire tightly to the other stake.

Work organic matter into the soil

Prunusxsubhirtella‘Autumnalis’

fl owers in winter

GAP

Sally J White/

 ornamental-trees.co.uk

Optfor

‘Fugenzo’

(pictured)

over

‘Kanzan’