Dwarf Cherry tree, how to make it a pretty tree

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VooDooU Yankton, SD Jun 26, 2017

I recently purchased this bare root dwarf romeo cherry tree. When it arrived it have quite a lot of leaf buds popping so I planted it, added the tree fertalizer, kept it watered but we had a really bad heat wave with 5 days of 90-95 F days in a row and the whole week was 86+. Every single leaf but died back and I thought I lost it as it sat sad and black for at least 2 weeks. I ordered a replacement and all of a sudden... life! This is it now. My concern is that all the new leaves are really low. How do I now shape it into the nice ornamental trees that they are meant to be?

This will be my first attempt at this sort of tree but its pretty much my dream tree! I dont want to mess it up and it would be amazing to end up with two nice ones.

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TomH3787 Raleigh, NC(Zone 7b) Jun 26, 2017

Just some general advice. Cherries are not really good plants for containers. Your area has rather extreme seasonal conditions (short, hot summers and long, cold winters) which means container-grown plants are exposed to harsh temperature variations. So container-grown plants will be baked in the summer and hard-frozen in the winter. Your best bet is to plant them in the ground (along with some mulch as appropriate) to ensure a better chance of survival.

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VooDooU Yankton, SD Jun 26, 2017

Thanks Tom, I had wondered and did plan to plant them in a year or two but right now there isnt a great spot for them. I was going to winter them in the garage in front of the window so they get some light and water every 2-3 weeks. I think thats what I read people did with container plants that were close to the hardiness zone. This one is supposed to be hardy to 4 and we were upgraded to a 5. We are in a really weird spot like 1 mile from Nebraska and close to the Missouri river. We pretty much miss every severe weather in the area.

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NebFlowerKid Davenport, NE Jul 30, 2017

Quote from VooDooU :
Thanks Tom, I had wondered and did plan to plant them in a year or two but right now there isnt a great spot for them. I was going to winter them in the garage in front of the window so they get some light and water every 2-3 weeks. I think thats what I read people did with container plants that were close to the hardiness zone. This one is supposed to be hardy to 4 and we were upgraded to a 5. We are in a really weird spot like 1 mile from Nebraska and close to the Missouri river. We pretty much miss every severe weather in the area.


Given this additional information I think your idea will work. Let your little tree establish with some shelter from extremes for a year or two. Is your garage protected at all or will the tree get down to twenty below in there? Get your area ready, then plant in spring after frost danger, or in late fall after terrible summer heat.

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