Cherry 'Crown Morello'

Where to Plant
Choose a position in full sun or partial shade with fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained soil. 'Crown Morello' is more tolerant of shade than sweet cherries and can even be trained against a north-facing wall. A sunny position will still help the fruits ripen well and develop their fullest flavour.

Planting Your Bare-Root Tree
Plant while the tree is dormant, avoiding periods when the ground is frozen or waterlogged. Unpack promptly and soak the roots in a bucket of water for around 30 minutes before planting. Dig a hole wide enough for the roots to spread naturally without bending or crowding them.

Position the tree at the same depth it was previously growing, using the soil mark on the stem as a guide and keeping the graft union above soil level. Spread the roots naturally, backfill with soil, gently firm and water thoroughly. Stake the tree if needed while the roots establish.

Watering & Feeding
Water regularly during the first growing season and during prolonged dry spells, particularly while the fruits are developing. Feed in spring with a suitable fruit tree fertiliser and mulch around the base with well-rotted compost or organic matter, keeping the mulch clear of the trunk.

Pruning
Morello cherries produce much of their fruit on shoots made the previous year, so aim to maintain a good supply of younger growth. Prune after harvesting in summer, removing dead, damaged or crossing branches and older fruited wood where necessary to encourage replacement shoots. Avoid winter pruning to reduce the risk of silver leaf disease and bacterial canker.

Do I Need Another Cherry Tree?
No. 'Crown Morello' is self-fertile, so you only need one tree to produce a crop.

Spring Blossom
Clusters of white flowers cover the branches in spring, providing an attractive display before the fruits begin to develop. The flowers also provide food for visiting pollinating insects.

Developing Fruit
The flowers are followed by developing cherries that deepen to a rich dark red as they ripen. 'Crown Morello' is a reliable cropper and produces much of its fruit on shoots made during the previous growing season.

When Will It Fruit?
Young fruit trees need time to establish before reaching their full cropping potential. Crops will increase as your tree establishes and develops a strong framework of fruiting branches.

Top Tip:
Don't remove too much young growth when pruning. The shoots produced this year will carry much of next year's crop, so retaining healthy younger branches is important for future harvests.

When to Harvest
'Crown Morello' generally ripens from late July into August. Exact timing will vary according to the season, growing conditions and where you garden.

How to Tell When Cherries Are Ready
Look for fruits that have developed their characteristic deep red colour. Morello cherries are naturally sharp, but their flavour becomes richer as they ripen fully.

How to Pick
Harvest cherries when fully ripe, as they won't continue to ripen after picking. Pick during dry weather where possible and handle the fruits carefully to avoid bruising.

Using Your Harvest
The naturally sharp flavour makes these cherries particularly good for cooking and preserving. Use your harvest promptly or freeze prepared cherries so you can enjoy them later in the year.

Top Tip:
If you're not sure whether your crop is ready, taste a cherry before picking the lot. Colour, juiciness and flavour are better guides than relying on the calendar alone.

Cherry Pies & Crumbles
The rich, sharp flavour of Morello cherries is made for cooking. Use them in classic cherry pies, crumbles and other baked puddings, where their natural acidity balances beautifully with sugar.

Jams & Preserves
Turn a generous harvest into intensely flavoured cherry jam, compote or preserves. Their strong flavour holds up particularly well during cooking.

Sauces & Compotes
Gently cook the cherries with a little sugar to make a rich compote for yoghurt, ice cream, pancakes or desserts. They can also be used to make fruit sauces for both sweet and savoury dishes.

Freeze for Later
If your tree produces more cherries than you can use straight away, remove the stones and freeze the fruit in portions ready for baking and cooking later in the year.

Top Tip:
Taste your cherries before adding sugar to recipes. Their acidity will vary according to ripeness, so you can adjust the sweetness to suit your harvest.

Bare-Root Trees
Your tree is supplied bare root while dormant, without a pot or compost around its roots. It will usually arrive with a woody stem and branches but little or no foliage. This is completely normal and fresh growth will begin as the tree comes out of dormancy in spring.

On Arrival
Unpack your tree promptly and don't allow the roots to dry out. If you can't plant immediately, keep the roots moist and the tree somewhere cool and sheltered until you're ready to plant.

Grafted Fruit Trees
'Crown Morello' is grafted, combining the fruiting variety with a rootstock that helps determine how strongly the tree grows. You'll usually be able to see the graft union towards the base of the stem. Keep this above soil level when planting.

Colt Rootstock
Your tree is grafted onto Colt rootstock, a semi-vigorous rootstock widely used for cherries. It produces a medium-sized garden tree, with its eventual size influenced by growing conditions, training and pruning.

What to Expect After Planting
Your young tree won't look like a mature fruit tree straight away. It will spend its early years establishing its roots and developing a framework of branches, with cropping increasing as the tree matures.