You want to plant a sweet cherry, but are now faced with the question: “Is the half-trunk right for me?” Here are some tips about the half-trunk that can make your choice easier.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of sweet cherry half-stems?
A sweet cherry half-trunk is characterized by a 1-1.20 m high trunk and a spherical crown. Advantages include better accessibility, shorter planting distances, suitability for small gardens and faster yields. Disadvantages include lower endurance and less space under the crown.
What makes the sweet cherry half-trunk?
Sweet cherries that have been grafted on half-trunks have a trunk that rises between 1 and 1.20 m high. Above this, the crown rises in a spherical shape that becomes wider with age. There are many sweet cherry varieties that have been grafted onto half-trunks. As a rule, you will mainly find half trunks in various tree nursery online shops.
In order to produce a sweet cherry on a half-trunk, it must be grafted onto a weak-growing rootstock such as 'Gisela 3', 'Weirot' or 'Colt'. A strong rootstock is used for the standard trunk.
What are the advantages of a half trunk?
These days, most gardeners plant half-stems in their garden - they know why. A sweet cherry half trunk has numerous advantages. For this reason, the standard tree was largely pushed out of the gardens
A semi-trunk has the following advantages over a standard trunk:
- Crown is easier to reach e.g. for detecting diseases, harvesting and cutting
- less planting distance is required (7 m is sufficient)
- also suitable for smaller gardens (60 square meters of space is enough)
- lower risk of accidents
- first good yields after 5 years of standing
What are the disadvantages of a half trunk?
But a sweet cherry on a half trunk does not only bring advantages. There are also disadvantages compared to the standard tree. The sweet cherry is less persistent on a half-trunk. It produces lower yields and there is not enough space under its crown to plant a sunny bed, shrubs or perennials. There is also no space for seating under the sweet cherry on a half-trunk.
Tips & Tricks
A half-trunk sweet cherry can be trained into a standard trunk. To do this, you must remove all lower branches every year. Over time you will get a standard trunk.