Plant of the Week – Ornamental Cherry Tree

April showers have arrived and with it, Spring flowers in our landscaping! As Indiana wakes up, flora and fauna begin to create a renewed world for us to enjoy. Each Spring feels like a new dawn, a fresh breath of air and a chance to make improve ourselves. This year lets work to improve our landscapes and the environment we call home! Check out this weeks Plant of the Week and decide if its right for your landscaping! It has been for our nations capital for years!

Why You Should Use Ornamental Cherries

Since its Spring, lets start there! A beautiful flush of blooms covers this tree each Spring, bringing a sense of life to your landscaping starting in late March to Early April. The blooms typically carpet the entire tree like a wig, temporarily giving it a pink hair style. Once the flowers disappear, a thick flush of green foliage takes their place. This same foliage can turn a beautiful red, purple or orange in the Fall, making this a beautiful tree year round. In addition to the beauty it brings to the landscape, this tree also is a great source of food for wildlife. The fruits it bares are too tart for humans, but birds think they are simply irresistible!

Where You Should Use Ornamental Cherries

There really isn’t the perfect location for a Cherry Tree in the landscape design sense. However, I typically like to use a weeping variety near a water feature or in a high traffic location in a landscape, like a patio. While I will often use a Cherry Tree with a more standard shape and larger size in the back of a property for a pop of color or as a stand alone tree in a front yard. Truthfully, when used in a location that both allows them to grow to their full potential, you can not go wrong.

How to Make Your Ornamental Cherry Happy

Horizontal Lenticels on the bark brings winter interest to your landscaping!

Ornamental Cherries prefer full sun and moist well drained soils. Find a cultivar that grows best in your area (ask your friendly landscaper for advice) making sure it both tolerates the weather and grows to a size suitable to the location you want to plant it in your landscaping. Protect your Cherry tree from strong winds, keep it well watered and fertilize to get the most from your Ornamental Cherry!

What Does Eagleson Landscape Co. Think

Minus a few issues with this tree, like root rot when it gets too wet, Ornamental Cherries are a standard go to tree for any landscape. Easy to grow and fairly tolerate of planting conditions(choosing the correct variety makes a big difference here) this is a great tree to chose for your landscaping. I’m giving it an A grade for its year round beauty alone, but the birds will agree that Cherry trees are the perfect addition to your landscaping! Read more about Ornamental Cherries here! Happy gardening this Spring!

Sam Eagleson