Cherry trees in spring

Cherries forming, Apr 2019

Last year our little Morello cherry tree was still recovering from being moved the previous year;  we only got about one pie's worth of fruit.  This year looks a bit better, and I've been trying to encourage some growth this spring by giving the tree a weekly dose of nitrogen via the wee bucket (yes, we pee in a bucket and use it on the garden). 

Fruit production looks much more promising this year, as does general growth.  It's a mini-dwarf tree, and I've been pruning it gently the last two years to get it more into a fan shape now that it's been moved next to the fence.  It might mean an small reduction in total fruit from this particular tree, but it means more food from the bed it's growing in (it, along with the fig and two apple trees are growing next to the fence in the main veg beds).

The larger Kordia cherry tree seems to have formed fewer fruits this year than last--and we only got about 50 cherries off it last year.  Oh well.  Maybe next year.  It's one of the few free-standing fruit trees in the garden, and I did prune it a bit hard last summer, to keep it open and not too bushy.

Twiggy cherry tree with willow wands (for making garden teepees), Apr 2019

And the newest Stella cherry tree was planted next to the south-facing garage wall this spring.  It was already naturally fan-shaped so I simply tied the branches down as they were.  It hasn't flowered, which is fine:  I'd rather it established well first, and give us plenty of sweet cherries in the future.