Need advice on Cherry trees

[Danielb]

Hi,

I'm new to this group and gardening, having just bought my first house. I am currently attempting to tame my back garden (the previous owners had done nothing for a whole year), once I have expanded the lawn into the old allotment and border I would like to plant a cherry tree. But I am not sure about what type of tree or the best place to plant it. I want something that will stay pretty small (under 12ft tall) and will withstand the Scottish weather. Any advice on verities to look at or where to plant it?

Cheers,

Daniel

[zxcvbob]

Scotland is cold, isn't it?

Sour pie cherries are more winter hardy than sweet cherries, and most (if not all) varieties are self-pollinating. And the trees are naturally semi-dwarf. Sweet cherry trees are a lot taller (unless grafted onto a dwarfing rootstock) and they need a pollinator.

I live in Minnesota, and my cherry tree is either "Meteor" or "Northstar" -- I can't remember which. That probably doesn't help much if you are in the UK, but just look for any sour pie cherry variety you can get locally and you should be OK. With minimal pruning it should top out at about 12 feet tall, and begin fruiting in about 2 years.

Best regards, Bob

[Ben Sharvy]

South Florida is zone 10. Parts of Scotland are zone 8, parts are zone 9.

The USDA zone map is a blunt instrument.

[simy1]

Ben is correct. There are tropical gardens in the islands (Hebrids?) off the west coast. Zones only describe minimum temps. The Gulfstream makes sure there is never a frost there, even though it is the latitude of Anchorage. The max, on the other hand, may never exceed

70F.