The fast-growing winter cherry is quite undemanding and therefore very popular. However, you should follow a few care instructions.
The winter cherry (Prunus subhirtella) brings an expressive touch of color to the wintry garden. The snow cherry grows almost rapidly into a handsome shrub or small tree and is a real ornament for the front yard.
The ornamental cherry is not too demanding when it comes to caring for it. If you heed the following tips and advice, you will soon be able to celebrate your very own cherry blossom festival.
Watering the winter cherry properly
Especially after planting, the plants should be watered regularly so that they can develop well. The winter cherry must neither dry out nor receive too much water, which can quickly lead to waterlogging and attack the roots of the plant.
➔ Tip: Winter cherries are also watered on frost-free winter days.
In summer, watering should be avoided in the blazing midday heat. Therefore, use the morning and early evening hours for watering. On hot days, you can also water several times so that the soil does not dry out. To ensure that the water is distributed evenly, it is advisable to create a pouring rim. This is already done at planting.
➔ Tip: Watering edges should be regularly cleared of weeds and mulched.
Hobby gardeners can prevent waterlogging by adding gravel to heavy soil. This improves the permeability of the soil.
Watering the winter cherry in keywords:
- Water moderately but regularly
- Avoid waterlogging and drying out of the soil
- Use low-lime rainwater
- loosen up heavy soils with clay or gravel
- Create watering edge when planting
- Don't neglect watering even in winter
Fertilize the winter cherry properly
The nutrient requirement of winter cherries cannot be classified as particularly high. The flowering is promoted by fertilizers containing phosphorus.
➔ Attention: Most garden soils in Germany are richof phosphorus. It is therefore better to carry out a soil analysis before applying additional fertilizer.
The nitrogen content of the fertilizer should not be too high either. If this is the case, the shoots shoot up unattractively and there are no flowers.
You can't go wrong with compost. Since it is a natural fertilizer, the plant is not oversupplied and can obtain nutrients from the soil as needed.
Fertilize the winter cherry in keywords:
- moderate nutritional needs
- Phosphorus promotes flowering
- Compost strengthens the plant
Watering and fertilizing when kept in buckets
The winter cherry can also be kept in a bucket. Since the plants grow quickly, this will usually only be possible with young plants. In the bucket, the plant can only supply itself with water and nutrients to a limited extent via the roots. Therefore, choose sufficiently large planters and don't forget to water them regularly.
What types of winter cherries are there?
The genus Prunus includes about 250 different species. These include, for example, the apricot or the Japanese plum. The Japanese cherry comes in more than twenty different species.
An overview of some types of winter cherry
| Winter Cherry Style | Description |
| Winter Cherry Tai Haku | This strain can grow up to eight meters tall. The white flowers appear in clusters and contrast nicely with the copper red foliage. |
| Winter Cherry Mount Fuji | This winter cherry grows less intensively and is also suitable for growing in tubs. The white flowers appear on the almost horizontal branches. |
| Winter Cherry Kanzan | This is the most popular winter cherry in Europe. The plants can reach heights of up to twelve meters and have pink flowers. |
| Hokusai Winter Cherry | This variety grows about six meters tall and nearly twice as wide. The soft pink flowers are semi-double. |
| Winter Cherry Amanogawa | This ornamental cherry tree also looks good in small gardens. Nevertheless, a height of up to six meters is reached. The light pink flowers are very decorative. |
Pruning the winter cherry
Winter cherries are cut regularly, depending on the species or the desired growth habit. plants which in theStrive high are only slightly pruned. If a rather hanging growth habit is to be achieved, a more intensive topiary is necessary.
➔ Tip: Winter cherries should not be pruned radically, as this will cause them to lose their original growth form.
When should the winter cherry be cut?
The summer months are considered the ideal time. If the plant has to be pruned radically, for example because it is infested with pests, this can be done in late autumn or early spring.
What needs to be removed?
In any case, branches that impede the natural growth form, for example because they are too long or grow in the opposite direction, should be cut back. Likewise, all diseased or dead branches should be generously removed.
➔ Tip: Use sharp tools. This allows smooth cutting edges to be produced. Blunt tools will result in ragged edges and hard-to-heal wounds on the winter cherry.
How to propagate the winter cherry?
An easy way to grow new winter cherries is to propagate with sticks. Propagation by cuttings can take place on frost-free winter days. In any case, the winter cherry should already have dropped its leaves.
How to proceed with the propagation?
First select an already slightly woody shoot on the one-year-old wood and shorten it to about ten centimetres. Make sure that there are several pairs of eyes on the stick, otherwise no shoots can form on the new plant. The sprouting of the roots can be accelerated by treating the end of the stick with root powder.
The sticks are put into plant pots, which are filled with normal garden soil. The planters can remain outdoors and no additional precautions need to be taken with regard to the ambient temperature or the humidity required. You will find out whether the propagation was successful in spring when new shoot tips appear on the small branches.
Propagation by cuttings in keywords:
- cut slightly woody cuttings on one-year-old wood
- pay attention to the presence of several pairs of eyes
- Put sticks in planter
- if propagation is successful, new shoots next spring
Detecting diseases and pests on the winter cherry
The winter cherry is robust and only rarely ofaffected by diseases or pests. The following damage patterns have been observed sporadically:
- Bleed plants caused by winter moths
If there are no leaves in spring or if they suddenly disappear again, the caterpillar of the winter moth is probably at work. The voracious caterpillars can cause immense damage in a very short time. It is important to intervene quickly, otherwise whole generations of caterpillars will attack the winter cherry. The female winter moth cannot fly and therefore loves short distances to her hiding places.What needs to be done?
If you have a lot of patience, you can start collecting the caterpillars. With a ten meter high tree, however, success will not really come. If, on the other hand, glue traps are attached to the trunk, the females can no longer get into the crown of the tree to lay their eggs there.
➔ Tip: The glue traps must be checked regularly or replaced. exchange, because the eggs are often laid directly on the glue ring. - Changes to the leaves caused by shotgun disease
Winter cherries that are infested with the fungus Stigmina carpophila show pitted leaves on which red-brown spots can be discovered. The fungus is robust and since it hibernates in the leaves, the plants are affected again the following year.What needs to be done?
So far there are no effective remedies on the market. The hobby gardener must therefore become active himself and remove and burn the affected leaves as quickly as possible, or dispose of them with the residual waste. A decoction of field horsetail has proven to be a natural way to combat the fungus.➔ Tip: Moisture promotes the spread of shotgun disease.
Overwintering the winter cherry
As a winter bloomer, the ornamental cherry is protected against frost and special protection will not be necessary. Only the open blossoms are sensitive to frost.
If the plant is kept in a bucket, the planter should be given winter protection made of brushwood so that the planter does not freeze over completely and the roots die because they can no longer absorb nutrients from the soil.