Montmorency cherry

Backwardsvg

Shohin
Messages
472
Reaction score
350
Location
Chicago
USDA Zone
5b
I am looking for some advice on these cherry seedlings. They are about 4-5 inches already and very sturdy. My question is I’ve never worked with cherry trees for bonsai, I’d assume you handle them like any other deciduous tree? I know this type has decently large leaves but it is my moms favorite and I really want to make a bonsai for her.

Anyone have pics or helpful tips from their own cherry trees?
 

LittleDingus

Omono
Messages
1,635
Reaction score
3,063
Location
Chicago, Illinois
USDA Zone
5
I've planted a montmorency in the yard of every house I've lived in: this is house #4!

The pattern has been:
* plant a 2-3 year old tree
* wait 5-6 years before it was large enough to make enough cherries for a pie
* live it up with delicious cherries aplenty for a year or three :D
* move and start over :(

I thought I would cheat that system a bit this move. I bought a 2-3 year old tree a couple of years ago to grow in a large grow bag hoping to shave a year of two off the wait after the move.

That's not going to happen. It's still a small tree that will be years to decent amounts of fruit. I maybe saved a year...we'll see.

For bonsai, the amount of fruit is, of course, not an issue. But the slow maturity can be. I had thoughts once of montmorency for bonsai...I gave up on those plans. Instead, I picked up a couple of romeo and a couple of juliet hybrid cherries. They stay short and can be grown well in containers. I got them at the same time as the montmorency. They've flowered several years in a row now and set a dozen or so cherries last season. They never get taller than about 8' Two went in the ground last season...I hope to get the other two into bonsai pots this year.

If you're starting montmorency from seedlings, you're at least 6 years from cherries even if in the ground. In a pot, likely much more. It will not thicken appreciably in a pot. Not for a long time. It might depend on what your goal is. Keeping it alive in a pot should be easily doable. Creating something that looks like a refined bonsai...probably not. It should eventually flower if not fruit in a pot...but you're probably looking at a decade if grown entirely in a pot.

Do you have a place you could put one in the ground for a few years? Pruning it with a hedge trimmer to keep it compact should work better than keeping it in a pot. Montmorency tends to grow tall for a few years before filling in lower with branching. But they back bud easily so constant pruning should fill it in faster.

That's just my experience with trying to grow them as vehicles to serve my cherry pie addiction ;) ...and yes, I have montmorency in ground at the new house...plus 8 other cherry varieties :) They went in last spring. I'm guessing 5 years before cherries on most of them. The romeo and juliet were setting some fruit in their grow bags so I'm hoping for a decent amount of cherries this year!
 

Backwardsvg

Shohin
Messages
472
Reaction score
350
Location
Chicago
USDA Zone
5b
Ah yes we have made many many cherry pies with these and thats where I got these seeds! But sounds good maybe i will just grow them out for a few years and try a few different things to see what happens! Thanks for the advice.
 

Wires_Guy_wires

Imperial Masterpiece
Messages
6,411
Reaction score
10,635
Location
Netherlands
Prune for direction instead of wiring.
I've been growing cherries for a couple years now and they tend to snap instead of bending. So I switched my technique. Cut them flush on large cuts and leave stubs on smaller cuts to counter the dieback.
If you're going to wire, wire the shoots when they're young.
 
Top Bottom