Thinking of planting dwarf cherry trees? If you live somewhere cold, a dwarf cherry shrub might be the best choice. In the 1940s, a breeder in Saskatchewan named Dr. Les Kerr began to work on making small, shrub-like sour cherry trees. When he died, researchers from the University of Saskatchewan took over and kept working on these plants until they were happy with how the fruit tasted.
In 1999, they made Carmine Jewel, which was their first dwarf cherry shrub. In 2004, they released “The Romance Series of Cherries,” which included cultivars with names like Romeo, Juliet, Crimson Passion, Valentine, and Cupid. These trees have more than one stem and can grow up to 8 feet (2.5 meters) tall. They produce sour cherries that are great for cooking, baking, and putting up in jars. Some of them are also good to eat right away.
What makes this group of cherry shrubs unique is that they can grow in very cold climates where other cherry trees cannot. Dr. Bob Bors from the University of Saskatchewan talks about their breeding program for dwarf cherry shrubs on episode 7 of The Urban Forestry Radio Show and Podcast.
Cherry trees that are full size can be two or three stories high. But small gardens that don’t have enough room for a full-size cherry tree can use dwarf cherry shrubs instead.
Dwarf cherry trees for places that are warmer
If you live in a cool climate and want to grow cherries to cook with or process, sour cherry shrubs are a great choice. But if you want sweet cherries to eat right away and you live in a warmer area (Hardiness Zone 5 or higher), you might choose a dwarf cherry tree instead.
How do fresh sour cherries taste?
So, if you live in a warmer climate (Hardiness Zone 5 or higher) and looking for dwarf cherry trees for sale, you can choose to grow either sour cherry shrubs or dwarf sweet cherry trees. If you live in a colder area (Hardiness Zone 2, 3, or 4), you won’t have as many options, so you should choose a sour cherry shrub.
But what if you don’t like fruit with a sour taste? Even though these are called “sour cherries,” that doesn’t mean they don’t taste great when they’re fresh. The word has nothing to do with the taste of the fruit. Instead, it refers to how scientists classify the plant.
So, both sour cherries and sweet cherries are in the genus Prunus, which also includes apricots and almonds. Sour cherries (Prunus cerasus) and sweet cherries (Prunus avium) are different species, and they have different and unique traits.
Most of the time, sour cherry trees (Prunus cerasus) are smaller than sweet cherry trees (Prunus avium) (Prunus avium). Sour cherry fruit is also smaller and darker when it’s ready to eat. The stalks on which the fruit grows are shorter. So, instead of assuming that the cherries on your sour cherry shrub will be sour, read the variety description to find out more about how the fruit tastes.
If you’re looking for a cherry orchard, your backyard probably isn’t the first place you think of. However, with these Dwarf Cherry Trees, you may not have to go very far.
You might not have to wait long, either, since many of these varieties bear fruit the first year after they are planted.
Great Choices of Dwarf Cherry Trees
Dwarf Weeping Cherry Tree Hiromi
The Hiromi Dwarf Weeping Cherry Tree is one of the smallest types of Dwarf Weeping cherry trees. The Hiromi looks more like a bush than a tree because it isn’t very tall and has a wide base.
Average size:3 – 6 feet tall, 2 – 4 feet spread
Rate of growth:
Pink.
Time to bloom: Spring
Pollinators:
Not fruit-producing
Years of pain:
Not fruit-producing
Weeping Snow Fountain Dwarf Cherry Tree
When it blooms in early spring, the Snow Fountain Dwarf Weeping Cherry Tree has a lot of blooms.
Average size:8 – 15 feet tall, 6 – 8 feet spread
Rate of growth: Slow
White.
Time to bloom: Spring
Self-pollinating: Cross-pollinating
Years of suffering:1 (inedible fruit)
Bing Cherry Tree, Dwarf
The well-known Bing Cherry comes from the Dwarf Bing Cherry Tree. These cherries are one of the best-known and most widely grown kinds of cherries in North America.
Size: 12–15 feet tall and 12–15 feet wide on average
Rate of growth: Moderate
White.
Time to bloom: Spring
The Montmorency Cherry Tree, the Black Tartarian Cherry Tree, and the Rainier Cherry Tree all pollinate each other.
Years of suffering:1
Sweetheart Cherry Tree, Dwarf
The Dwarf Sweetheart Cherry Tree grows bright red cherries that are very pretty. The tree is easy to grow and easy to fruit because it pollinates itself.
Size: 7–10 feet tall and 7–10 feet wide on average
Rate of growth: Moderate
White.
Time to bloom: Spring
Self-pollinating: Cross-pollinating
Ages to carry:2–3